We proudly recognize faculty members and graduate and undergraduate students in the University of Maryland’s biological sciences community who recently received honors, awards and/or new positions.
Faculty & Staff Members
- Norma Andrews, retired as CBMG professor emerita
- Kan Cao, CBMG Professor, was named UMD Entrepreneur of the Year for launching her anti-aging skincare line, Bluelene, from her company MBlue Labs
- Nicholas Fletcher, promoted to Biology senior lecturer
- Maira Goytia, Biology senior lecturer, Teaching Innovation Grant to revamp her “Anatomy and Physiology I” class
- Brantley Hall, CBMG assistant professor, Norma M. Allewell Prize in Entrepreneurship
- Antony Jose, promoted to CBMG professor
- Scott Juntti, promoted to Biology associate professor with tenure
- Paul Keen, CBMG program administrative specialist, CMNS Dean’s Staff Award
- Chan Lin, promoted to Biology senior lecturer
- Matheus Macedo-Lima, Biology postdoctoral fellow, R21 Early Career Research award from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
- Steve Mount, retired as CBMG associate professor emeritus
- Gilad Ofek, promoted to CBMG associate professor with tenure
- Zarna Pala, Terrapin Innovation Award and RISE Grant from the Division of Academic Affairs
- Errica Philpott-Barber, CBMG program manager, USM Board of Regents Staff Award
- Dorothea O'Toole, CBMG facilities manager, CMNS Dean’s Staff Award
- Sougata Roy, CBMG associate professor, $2.5M NIH grant after receiving rare ‘unicorn score’
- Paula Shrewsbury, Entomology professor, named Fellow of the Entomological Society of America
- Colenso Speer, promoted to Biology associate professor with tenure
- David Straney, retired as CBMG associate professor emeritus
- Sara Via, retired as Entomology professor
- Hadiya Woodham, promoted to Biology principal lecturer
Graduate Students
- Sondos Abdelhafeez, biological sciences, Community Engagement Committee Recognition Award
- Aisha Abdulkarimu, biological sciences, Drs. Wayne T. & Mary T. Hockmeyer Summer Fellowship
- Michael Adu-Brew, entomology, American Chemical Society's AGRO Division Travel Award
- Gabriela Arp, biological sciences, Summer Research Award
- Urja Biswas, biological sciences, Wallace Prescott Rowe Award and Edna O. Hockenson Summer Fellowship
- Adena Collens, biological sciences, Summer Research Award
- Cory Conrad, biological sciences, Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
- Maria (Rife) Corkan, biological sciences, Stefanie & Richard Vogel Summer Fellowship
- Helen Craig, entomology, AGNR's Cornerstone event post competition winner
- Aidan Danoff, biological sciences, Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award
- Wesley DeMontigny, biological sciences, Heven Sze Graduate Award In Biomolecular Sciences and Genetics
- Jenan El-Hifnawi, entomology, Society of Systematic Biologists’ Graduate Student Research Award
- Elizabeth Engle, biological sciences, Summer Research Award
- Katy Evans, entomology, Outstanding Graduate Assistant Award
- Eeshita Ghosh, biological sciences, Carroll E. Cox Award and International Graduate Research Fellowship
- Catherine Harvey, biological sciences, Isabel R. McDonald Service Award
- Carinna Householder, biological sciences, F31 Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health and Dr. Eugenie Clark Scholarship
- Sahana Kumar, biological sciences, Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award
- Michelle Launi, biological sciences, Dr. Devra Kleiman Memorial Graduate Fellowship
- Xuan Cindy Li, biological sciences, Andrew J. Moyer Outstanding Graduate Student Award
- Anna Mikkelsen, biological sciences, Edna O. Hockenson Summer Fellowship
- Aurelie Niyongabo, biological sciences, Philip J. Provost Graduate Fellowship Award
- Anna Phan, biological sciences, Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award
- Brendan Randall, entomology, Ann G. Wylie Dissertation Fellowship
- Ángela Sáenz, entomology, Maryland Forestry Foundation Mel Noland Fellow
- Maggie Schaefer, entomology, Ehrenfeld Award for her oral presentation at the Ecological Society of America’s annual meeting and 2nd place at the Mid-Atlantic Ecological Society of America's poster competition
- Asan Turdiev, biological sciences, MOCB-BISI M. Zain-Ul-Abedin Memorial Scholarship Award and Outstanding Graduate Research Assistant Award
- Yuxi Wang, biological sciences, Drs. Wayne T. & Mary T. Hockmeyer Summer Fellowship
- Rui Yin, biological sciences, Charles Carmello Outstanding Dissertation Award
Undergraduate Students
- Moumita Afrin, biological sciences & anthropology, Senior Marshal
- Ruhama Demissieruhama Demissie, biological sciences, Appleman-Norton Award for Plant Biology
- Camila Garcia, biological sciences, Sigma Alpha Omicron Microbiology Honor Society Initiate
- Maggie Grant, biological sciences, Hansen Outstanding Student Award
- Ekaterina Gribok, biological sciences, Hansen Outstanding Student Award
- Yasmine Helbling, biological sciences, first place in the Undergraduate 10-Minute Presentation competition at Entomology 2025 (ENTSOC) Conference
- Sarika Kapadia, biological sciences, CBMG Departmental Honors
- Navleen Kaur, neuroscience, Senior Marshal
- Cristianus Leahu, biological sciences, Sigma Alpha Omicron Microbiology Honor Society Initiate
- Haesung Lola Lee, biological sciences, CBMG Departmental Honors
- Saanika Mahashetty, biological sciences & management, Senior Marshal
- Jasmine Martin, neuroscience, CMNS Alumni Network Endowed Undergraduate Award
- Steven Mendelson, biological sciences, Senior Marshal
- Darin Michaels, biological sciences, Dr. P. Arne Hansen Award for CBMG Honors Program Outstanding Thesis
- Anthony Miramontes, biological sciences, Sigma Alpha Omicron Microbiology Honor Society Initiate
- Ipsa Mishra, biological sciences, CBMG Departmental Honors
- Arjun Rakheja, biological sciences, Senior Marshal
- Aditya Viswanath Viswanathan Ram, biochemistry & neuroscience, Senior Marshal
- Trisha Reddy, biological sciences, Senior Marshal
- Samuel Rosemore, biological sciences, CBMG Departmental Honors
- Swathi Sevugan, biological sciences & biochemistry, CMNS Alumni Network Endowed Undergraduate Award
- Jerry Shen, biological sciences & mathematics, Senior Marshal
- Tesia Shi (B.S. ’23, biological sciences; B.S. ’23, psychology), University of Minnesota, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
- Sanjida Soha, biological sciences, Sigma Alpha Omicron Microbiology Honor Society Initiate
- Bhargav Srinivasan, biological sciences, second place at student poster competition at the International Plant and Animal Genome Conference
- Alejandra Urquiaga, biological sciences, Sigma Alpha Omicron Microbiology Honor Society Initiate
- Olivia Velasquez, biological sciences, Appleman-Norton Award for Plant Biology
- Cindy Wang, biological sciences, CMNS Alumni Network Endowed Undergraduate Award
- Matthew Williams, biological sciences, Senior Marshal
- Caitriona Wright, biological sciences, Senior Marshal
- Grant Yang (B.S. ’23, biological sciences), Harvard University, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
