Tesema Chekol, who teaches Global Environmental Change for UMUC, coauthored “Phytoremediation of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Contaminated Soils: The Rhizosphere Effect,” which appeared in Vol. 30 of Environment International, and “Assessing the Potentials of Using Phytoremediation for Pyrene Contaminated Soils,” which appeared in Vol. 14 of Remediation. He also chaired a session on phytoremediation at the Fourth International Conference on Remediation of Chlorinated and Recalcitrant Compounds held in Monterey, California, May 24–27, 2004.

Patrick Dingle, an adjunct associate professor who teaches geology and biology for UMUC Europe, has been issued research permits in the Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument and the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area in Utah to research Jurassic limestone. His family accompanies him on his research expedition, and he reports that his son even found a dinosaur skeleton on their last outing.

Eugene A. Scanlan, a UMUC adjunct associate professor in the Graduate School and president of eScanlan Company, a nonprofit management consulting firm he founded in 2001, was named Outstanding Fundraising Professional by the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

George Takacs, a part-time faculty member who teaches business and computer science and a member of UMUC’s Speakers Bureau, delivered a three-hour training program on July 15, 2004, to approximately 20 supervisors at People Encouraging People, a nonprofit organization in Baltimore serving primarily individuals with mental illness. The subject of Takacs’ talk: tools to improve leadership and performance results.