Inside UMassD August 6, 2026

Campus Community Accomplishments

Associate Dean of Engineering Iren Valova was featured in an article that examines current AI adoption and governance practices in higher education and discusses ways to integrate AI to support independent thinking amongst students.

Professor Mike Goodman (Public Policy) was featured in a Business Insider article about Massachusetts being ranked the best economy in the US and how innovation has driven growth. 

Professor Steve Cadrin (Fisheries Oceanography) and postdoctoral researchers Max Zavell and Alanna Mnich '24 recently co-published "A Review of Historical and Contemporary Evidence for Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Spawning Sites" in the Journal of Integrative and Comparative Biology. This review examines historical, confirmed, plausible, and collapsed Atlantic bluefin tuna spawning sites to address knowledge gaps and improve population modeling and sustainable management.

Professor Chad McGuire (Public Policy) was featured in an article about how New Bedford is addressing increasingly dangerous extreme heat events through cooling centers, splash pads, misting stations, and expanded beach access.

Professor Pingguo He (Fisheries Oceanography) and Assistant Research Professor Christopher Rillahan (Fisheries Oceanography) recently co-published "Seeing what the dredge misses: Assessing density-dependent catchability of a scallop survey dredge using direct video estimates" in Fisheries Research. This project evaluates the performance and catch efficiency of survey dredges across varying Atlantic sea scallop densities to improve the accuracy of biomass estimates and resource management.

Assistant Teaching Professor Paula Gomes Noversa (History) was featured in an article that discussed how immigration contributed to the growth of New Bedford and beyond.

Assistant Teaching Professor Basil H. Aboul-Enein (Health & Society) recently co-published "A scoping review of preventive interventions to reduce violence against women and girls in the Islamic Republic of Iran" in Aggression and Violent Behavior. This scoping review aimed to systematically identify, map, and critically appraise intervention strategies addressing violence against women & girls in Iran. Aboul-Enein also recently co-published "Promoting the HPV vaccine across the league of Arab states: A scoping review of interventions" in Journal of Cancer Policy. The article aims to examine existing interventions designed to promote and educate about HPV vaccination across the Arab states. 

The University received a $1.1M grant from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources to expand the geothermal energy system installed as part of the LARTS restoration project.

Dean Kevin Stokesbury (SMAST) received $159,240 from Clearwater Seafoods for "2026 Canadian Georges Bank and Browns Bank Drop Camera Survey." The project will use innovative underwater video technology that counts and identifies species while immersed in the ocean to gain a better understanding of populations.

Associate Professor Yuchoi Chang (Computer & Information Science) received $69,745 from the NSF for "Collaborative Research: Small: Immersive Multimodal Plan-to-Grasp Neural Decoders: Integrating Deep Graph-based and Adaptive Shared Control Theories". This project aims to advance non-invasive brain-computer interface technology to help people with upper-limb impairments control prosthetic arms using their brain activity.

Assistant Professor Micheline Labrie (Estuarine & Ocean Sciences) and Professor Miles Sundermeyer (Estuarine & Ocean Sciences) received a $250,000 award from MIT Sea Grant to develop and test a rapid-response monitoring system for wastewater contamination in shellfish growing areas. The project will use micro-uncrewed underwater vehicles, or micro-UUVs, equipped with tryptophan-like fluorescence sensors to track wastewater plumes from combined sewer overflows.

Sarah Valinezhad '26 was selected as one of 40 AXA Art Prize finalists nationwide. Her artwork will be exhibited this November at the prestigious New York Academy of Art.