In Miller School of Medicine laboratories, biomedical researchers study the genomes of cancer cells. Meanwhile, scientists at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science measure meteorological fluctuations associated with hurricanes. And on UM’s Coral Gables campus, novel approaches to protecting fragile ecosystems and designing stronger structures are being tested.
These varied scientific pursuits all rely on top-flight computational science resources—just what UM’s Center for Computational Science (CCS) was recently created to provide. The CCS’s state-of-the-art data center links multiple computers and performs trillions of calculations per second, giving investigators unprecedented power to crunch complex research data and build productive collaborations. Based on the Miller School campus, the CCS also maintains offices on the Coral Gables and Rosenstiel School campuses.
“Whether it’s creating new drugs to fight disease, predicting climate change, or designing stronger skyscrapers,” says CCS director Nick Tsinoremas, “the computational approaches that we support make it possible for UM scientists to work on the leading edge of their disciplines.”
Highly technical and fraught with competing agendas, environmental issues are as complex as they are urgent. Nurturing effective, out-of-the-box solutions to these challenges is the mission of the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy.
Drawing on the University’s renowned programs in marine science, medicine, architecture, engineering, and environmental law and policy, the program’s cornerstone is an undergraduate double major combining scientific or humanistic coursework with environmental studies. An emphasis on real-world learning experiences further hones the skills of students, whose numbers have nearly doubled since the program was launched.
With faculty leading research in global locales from South America to Southeast Asia, the center also sponsors lectures and symposia on issues ranging from Arctic oil drilling to tropical ecosystem preservation.
“Faculty from around the University have found it very exciting to collaborate on our cross-disciplinary curriculum,” says Mary Doyle, professor of law and co-director of the center with Otis Brown, dean of the Rosenstiel School. “And with their unusually comprehensive perspective, our graduates will make significant contributions in the field of environmental management.”
Nearly half a billion years after life first emerged from the sea, we are more reliant than ever on this vast natural resource. Yet intense human exploitation of the marine environment increasingly endangers its health—and our own.
Understanding and optimizing the interface between human beings and the world’s oceans is the mission of the University’s NSF/NIEHS Center for Oceans and Human Health. One of only four such federally funded institutions nationwide, the center coordinates research and educational activities focusing on issues such as harmful algal blooms (popularly known as “red tides”) and microbial contamination of recreational marine waters.
The center is co-directed by Lora Fleming, an environmental health physician and epidemiologist, and Sharon Smith, a biological oceanographer. “Marine and biomedical scientists think in different ways, so working collaboratively can be a challenge,” Fleming says. “The center is all about forging links that allow us to benefit from each other’s perspectives and experience as we create this new discipline together.”
Susan Kaufman Purcell is director of the Center for Hemispheric Policy, which coordinates programs focusing on economic and political developments, business and trade, U.S. policy, and security issues that affect countries in the Western Hemisphere.
How has the center evolved since it was founded in 2005?
We’ve grown in visibility and influence—at the University, within the Miami community, and among thought leaders throughout the hemisphere. Our programs increasingly focus on political and economic developments in Latin America and their implications for the United States and its interests, as well as our own state and local economy.
What are highlights of some recent activities?
President Bush spoke at a major free-trade conference we cosponsored last fall, which highlighted proposed free-trade pacts between the U.S. and several Latin American countries. We also spearhead a series of task forces, such as one that investigated the growing role of China in Latin America. Findings and recommendations from these projects are distributed to key members of the hemisphere’s political and diplomatic communities and are available on our Web site.
What future directions do you envision for the center?
We recently received the third in a series of grants totaling $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of State. This latest grant will support two new task forces: one on energy security and cooperation, the other on sustainable development. These issues are very much on policymakers’ radar right now, and a thorough examination of how they can most effectively and equitably be implemented throughout the hemisphere is an important priority.
