SANS Seminar Series

From UMES to Ivy League and Beyond: Alumnus to share his success story

University of Maryland Eastern Shore alumnus Dr. Ayobami Ogunmolasuyi is the speaker at the next School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences’ 2025 Spring Seminar series on April 10.

In his presentation titled, “Navigating Success: From UMES to the Ivy League and Beyond into Consulting,” Ogunmolasuyi will share his academic and professional journey, starting from his time at UMES.

He is currently a consultant at Bain & Co., one of the world’s Top 3 management consulting firms. 

The seminar will be held Thursday, April 10, in the Carver Hall Auditorium on the UMES campus, beginning at 11 a.m.  

Ogunmolasuyi will talk about transitioning into management consulting and discuss the pivotal moments that shaped his career including how his undergraduate research at UMES laid the foundation for doctoral research on the mechanical properties of ice, the challenges and opportunities he encountered at Dartmouth College and his decision to explore opportunities beyond academia in management consulting.

He began his academic journey at UMES, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 2019. He obtaining a Ph.D. in engineering sciences in November 2024 from Dartmouth College, an Ivy League institution. As an undergraduate, he was distinguished as a Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation (LSAMP) scholar at UMES.

Ogunmolasuyi’s doctoral research explored the impact of soluble impurities on the mechanical properties of polycrystalline ice, as well as the mechanical factors that affect the densification of polar firn. 

His work during his Ph.D. studies earned him several prestigious awards, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, the NSF Joint Science Education Project Fellowship, and the Dartmouth PhD Innovation Fellowship.

UMES alumna to share journey to veterinarian and the power of mentorship

University of Maryland Eastern Shore alumna, Dr. Aleaya Bowie, will talk about her journey from student to veterinarian at an April 15 School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences’ Spring Seminar.

Bowie is a clinical veterinarian at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Her presentation, titled “From Student to Veterinarian: The Power of Mentorship, Networking, and Keeping an Open Mind,” will feature a candid discussion on how career paths evolve and change, emphasizing how mentorship, networking, and stepping outside your comfort zone can lead to unexpected yet fulfilling opportunities in veterinary medicine.

The seminar  will be held Tuesday, April 15, in the Carver Hall Auditorium on the UMES campus, beginning at 11 a.m.   The spring seminar series is part of the 135th celebration of the Second Morrill Act of 1890.

A board-certified laboratory animal veterinarian as of July 2024, Dr. Bowie completed her Laboratory Animal Medicine (LAM) residency at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, from 2021 to 2023.

She earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from North Carolina State University and holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where she was a first-generation college student.

Originally from Frederick, MD, Dr. Bowie now resides in Laurel, MD, with her dog, Guapo. She is passionate about advancing laboratory animal medicine and supporting ethical and high-quality animal research.

UMES Faculty Member Emerita looks back on 135 years of land-grant universities, HBCUs

Dr. Carolyn B. Brooks, UMES Faculty Member Emerita, is the featured speaker at the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences’ Spring Seminar on April 29.

Dr. Brooks, an award-winning educator at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore for more than three decades and a former dean of the School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, will speak on “135 Years of the Second Morrill Act: Shaping Land-grant Universities and HBCUs.”

The seminar was initially scheduled for Feb. 20, but was postponed due to inclement weather. It will take place from 11 a.m.-noon on April 29 in the School of Pharmacy and Health Professions building, Lecture Hall 1126, College Backbone Road on the UMES campus. 

The spring seminar series is part of the 135th celebration of the Second Morrill Act of 1890.

The seminar will also be available via Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88062916985 Please enter your email to join.

Dr. Brooks also served as executive assistant / chief of staff to President Dolores R. Spikes, research director of 1890 land-grant programs and academic department chair during her time at UMES.

The Richmond, Va. native joined the UMES faculty in January 1981 as a research associate specializing in microbiology.

In 2007, she became executive director of Association of 1890 Research Directors, an organization of administrators specializing in agriculture and food sciences at the nation’s 19 historically black land-grant universities, including UMES, where she maintained an office in her new role. 

Dr. Brooks was credited with attracting more than $4 million in external funding to support research and teaching initiatives as a UMES faculty member and administrator. 

Named a Distinguished African American Scientist of the 20th Century, her other career highlights include: the Maryland Association of Higher Education’s outstanding educator award; an excellence in science and technology honor from the White House Initiative for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and the UMES National Alumni Association’s faculty award for excellence and achievement. She is a member of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Agriculture Hall of Fame. 

She served as chair of the board of LEAD 21, a national program that provides leadership and professional development training for faculty and professionals within the land-grant system of about 90 institutions. 

Dr. Brooks also traveled extensively as a consultant or evaluator of research and academic programs at universities across the country as well as internationally. 

She is an alumna of Tuskegee University, where she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology. Her Ph.D. in microbiology is from The Ohio State University.

She retired in 2016.