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Apply now to the NSF REU EXPLORE @ UMBC!

The Earth and Space Institute (ESI) is excited to participate in the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site hosted at UMBC next summer 2026.

Interested undergraduates receive a stipend, housing on UMBC’s campus, and will lead a specialized research project under the guidance of scientist in the field.

ESI scientists Drs. Richard Xu and Brent McBride will be mentors in projects related to ESI’s Earth remote sensing instruments, HARP2 (spaceborne) and AirHARP2 (aircraft). Students in these projects will gain experience in Earth system science and data processing, lab work, and field campaigns.

The REU will be held from June – August 2026! Click the buttons below for more information and how to apply.

Learn more about ESI-led projects! Apply now here!

ESI and UMBC celebrate 500 days of HARP2 in space!

Our NASA collaborators joined in to toast PACE's continued success.

Pre-launch calibration of HARP2 published in AMT!

Lead author Dr. Noah Sienkiewicz and ESI at NASA (see video).

New article by ESI graduate student Noah Sienkiewicz!

Sienkiewicz simulated and suggested suitable Earth observations for HARP CubeSat on-orbit.

ESI’s first retreat at the Maryland Science Center!

The group reflected on lessons learned while looking to the horizon.

AirHARP2 calibration in-prep for the PACE-PAX campaign!

ESI leads the calibration of the AirHARP2 suite at NASA GSFC.

Viewing the Earth with “Polarized Eyes”

Global HARP2 polarization data from April 19th 2024.

The Science of HARP2’s Cloudbows

Cloud properties are inferred from HARP2 data on 11 March 2024!

New aerosol information in HARP2 data!

Fine mode particles over Caribbean (capture on 21st-March 2024)

PACE HARP2 data publicly available now!

Every 2 days, HARP2 maps the entire Earth!

HARP2 Launch: 8 Feb 2024

Launch of the PACE satellite - Click to see the video.

Latest News

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Congrats to our ESRA Personnel on Service Awards

ESRA would like to congratulate our team members who were recognized at the 2025 Service Awards Ceremony, held on Thursday, December 4, 2025 at the UMBC Retrievers Activity Center. Cathy...

Posted: December 17, 2025, 5:03 PM

UMBC’s ESI leads novel field campaign in Bolivia to validate NASA PACE observations

From May 10-22, 2025, UMBC Earth and Space Institute (ESI) faculty Dr. Vanderlei Martins, Dr. Lorraine Remer, Dr. Xiaoguang Xu, Dominik Cieslak, and Ian Decker led a special field campaign, based...

Posted: October 10, 2025, 4:46 PM

headshots of Lorraine Remer, Richard Xu, and Ian Decker

Join ESI to Celebrate 500 Days of PACE in Space!

The Earth and Space Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) invites you to celebrate a significant milestone: 500 days of NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem...

Posted: August 12, 2025, 1:24 PM

ESI’s new thermal vacuum chamber is up and running

This past week, members of the Earth & Space Institute finished commissioning their new thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC), a breathtaking piece of engineering—literally! In the aerospace industry,...

Posted: August 8, 2025, 5:30 PM

For ESI undergraduate engineer Lars Sobieski, space hardware is both tech and art

Lars Sobieski, undergraduate mechanical engineer at the Earth and Space Institute, spends his day developing hardware and testing for future climate satellites. At ESI, he designs and fabricates...

Posted: July 22, 2025, 2:37 PM

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