The Grad Gazette spotlights the College of Sciences (COS) graduate studies community and shares updates, deadlines and other relevant information.
Dear Students, Faculty, and Staff,
I’m excited to be stepping into the role of Interim Dean and for the opportunity to learn more about the amazing students and their studies across the College of Sciences. My own years as a graduate student were filled with breakthroughs, challenges, and setbacks, and the journey through those years was incredibly rewarding and fulfilling. This time of year can be a particularly productive time with unique opportunities to engage with your research, your mentors, and your colleagues.
I hope your summer has been going well and that you’re energized for the upcoming start of the new academic year or are successfully wrapping up your projects to graduate this semester. I look forward to meeting you and learning more about your research and activities. Thank you for your hard work and dedication, and thank you to our faculty and staff who are supporting our graduate students and programs.
Sincerely,
Joshua Colwell, Ph.D.
For Students Graduating in Summer 2025
The College of Sciences is excited to celebrate our Summer 2025 graduating master’s and doctoral students at our upcoming pre-commencement events. Graduates will receive an official email invitation — please mark your calendars if you graduate in summer and be sure to RSVP!
Master’s Pre-Commencement Celebration
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2025
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Location: Live Oak Ballroom
Doctoral Pre-Commencement Celebration
Date: Thursday, July 31, 2025
Time: 2:30 p.m.
Location: Live Oak Ballroom
Spring 2025 Master’s Pre-commencement
Spring 2025 – Doctoral Pre-commencement
Graduate Staff Spotlight
Welcome New Graduate Program Staff
Please join us in welcoming Giovanna Scheraldi, who recently joined the College of Sciences as the Graduate Admissions Coordinator for the Department of Mathematics. We are excited to have her on the team and look forward to the support she will provide to graduate studies in Mathematics.
Staff Awards and Recognitions
We are sharing a special congratulations to Elena Sequera! She is retiring following many years of support to graduate studies in the Department of Statistics and Data Science. We appreciate and thank her for her dedicated service and wish her the very best!
College of Sciences Employee Awards
These awards honor staff members who consistently go above and beyond to support the College of Sciences. They are known for taking initiative, collaborating effectively with others, and driving positive changes in their areas.
Congratulations to the COS graduate staff members who have been recognized this year – we are grateful for all you do to support graduate programs, students, and faculty!
COS ACE Award
- Dani Draper, Department of Psychology
COS Everyday Excellence Award
- Anelis Diaz, Department of Anthropology
- Michael Haney, Nicholson School of Communication and Media
- Kenneth Koloski, Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy (NSCM)
- Jana Mostafa, Department of Sociology
- Kyrie Ottaviani, School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs
- Donna Phillips, Department of Psychology
- Elena Sequera, Department of Statistics
- Esperanza Soto Arcino, Department of Physics
- Elizabeth Tummons, Department of Psychology
- Giovanna Scheraldi, Department of Mathematics
CGS College Partner Superstars
The College of Graduate Studies recently recognized four outstanding COS graduate staff members as “College Partner Superstars” for their exceptional contributions to graduate education at UCF. These superstars include:
- Bridgett Burk, Manager of Graduate Academic Advising, College of Sciences
- Dani Draper, Graduate Admissions Coordinator, Department of Psychology – Industrial and Organizational
- Giovanna Scheraldi, Graduate Admissions Coordinator, Department of Mathematics
- Esperanza Soto Arcino, Graduate Admissions Coordinator, Department of Physics
Congratulations to all the graduate staff members on well-deserved recognition and thank you for your continued dedication and support of our graduate students and programs.
Graduate Program Highlights:
Student Engagement Report
COS 2024-25 Graduate Faculty Fellow Dr. Victoria Pace and Senior Associate Dean Kerstin Hamann connected with COS graduate programs to summarize information regarding student engagement opportunities. The resulting report shares information about what programs are already doing to support their students outside of structured instruction to promote graduate student success. While engagement is but one part in students’ journey towards successful completion of their graduate degree, we hope that this is a helpful resource.
View the Graduate Student Success & Engagement: COS Graduate Programs ReportSummer and Fall 2025 Dates and Reminders
Summer 2025
- Monday, July 7: Thesis/Dissertation Defense Deadline
- Friday, July 18: Thesis/Dissertation Final Submission Deadline
- View the Academic Calendar for Summer 2025
Fall 2025
- Monday, July 7: Initial Thesis/Dissertation Committee Submission Deadline
- Friday, July 18: Doctoral Candidacy Submission Deadline
- Friday, August 8: COS Restricted Registration Deadline
For thesis, dissertation, research, internship, and independent study hours – submit forms via DocuSign - Sunday, August 17: Regular Registration Deadline via myUCF
- Monday, August 18: Fall Classes Begin
- View the Academic Calendar for Fall 2025
Student and Alumni Spotlight
UCF Graduate Student Awarded Prestigious Marine Conservation Scholarship Named After Distinguished Marine Biologist Susan L. Williams
Carla Perscky, a master’s student in the UCF Department of Biology and Navy veteran, received the Women Divers Hall of Fame’s (WDHOF) Susan L. Williams Memorial Graduate Marine Conservation Scholarship, a prestigious award that will help her fund critical research on how varying ocean temperatures affect tropical seagrass — a first-time study on this specific species.
As a first-generation graduate student, Perscky’s passion for marine conservation was shaped by her childhood in Panama, where she grew up in a culture deeply connected to the ocean. Her love for the sea led her to a career in the U.S. Navy, where she spent more than a decade as a boat captain and engineer, broadening her understanding of ocean ecosystems.
Following her military service, Perscky transitioned to the corporate world, but quickly realized it didn’t align with her passions and goals. Her desire to protect and restore ocean ecosystems was still at the forefront of her mind.
“I’m very mission-driven and I was looking for my next mission — the corporate world wasn’t it,” says Perscky. “But after I started volunteering with Dr. Linda Walters at the UCF Coastal and Estuarine Ecology Lab, it gave me purpose again.”
College of Sciences Hosts 2025 Distinguished AlumKnight Awards
The evening of March 27th was filled with joy, laughter, and community at the annual College of Sciences Distinguished AlumKnight Awards, to recognize the College’s most outstanding alumni.
Kelsey Larsen, Assistant Professor in the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs and Associate Director of UCF’s Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence, hosted the award ceremony.
“UCF is a university for the future. We are on the path to become a preeminent university in Florida. The College of Sciences is supporting that vision—increasing the number of students that complete their undergraduate education in four years, growing the number of doctoral degrees, and catalyzing research,” Maggy Tomova, former College of Sciences Dean, says. “Our strategic plan is helping shape the future aligned with three pillars: student success, research and innovation, and community and culture.”
Yvette Kanouff Awarded Honorary Doctorate Degree
The College of Sciences Spring 2025 commencement ceremony featured a special guest speaker, alumna Yvette Kanouff, who received one of the highest honors bestowed by UCF, an honorary doctoral degree. Kanouff earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from UCF and has remained engaged with UCF in the subsequent years, currently serving on the College of Sciences Dean’s Advisory Board.
“I am so humbled by this honor,” Kanouff says. “When I received my master’s degree, Dr. Ahmed Zayed — my ‘thesis father’ and mentor — told me that my work in math was worthy of a doctorate. However, I was not in a position to pursue that level of education at the time. I am so grateful, proud and honored to stand here now and receive this degree from UCF.”
In her commencement remarks, she expressed appreciation to her family and friends and spoke to the power of mentorship in her life, encouraging graduates to give back, especially to their alma mater.
Meet the College of Sciences 30 Under 30 Awardees
The College of Sciences is celebrating its eight alumni who were selected as 30 Under 30 awardees. These exceptional AlumKnights have gone above and beyond in their careers while making an incredible impact in their post-collegiate journeys at a young age.
Katy Sullivan, who received her master’s in political science in 2019, says that attending UCF has made a profound impact on her career and achievements. She shared that her love for politics sparked at a young age, as she grew up with an immigrant parent, and had experience learning about American politics from different perspectives.
“The most rewarding part of my career is celebrating the signature of bilateral treaty level agreements that have been several years undertakings that advance U.S. space cooperation and industry,” Sullivan says. “To see all your hard work become culminated through becoming a legally binding international agreement is very special.”
Doctoral Student Uses Applied Sociology to Create Change Locally and Globally
Lisa Rodriguez, a fourth-year sociology doctoral student in the College of Sciences, is using her academic path and shared experiences to make an impact in communities through research, outreach, and applied sociology. Grounded in her Puerto Rican heritage, her work spans a number of research areas, including disaster response and STEM engagement among youth.
In 2024, Rodriguez says she served as a Habitat for Humanity International Practicum Fellow in the Dominican Republic, a role focused on disaster response in rural communities. Drawing from both academic training and personal experience with hurricanes, she created workshops that helped residents prepare for the upcoming hurricane season.
“You build rapport with the community first and then offer resources and work together to come up with viable solutions,” Rodriguez says. “At the end of the day, that’s the point. To help people in these communities.”
College of Sciences Doctoral Student Combines Archaeology, Geospatial Science, and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University’s Spatial Data Lab
Bryce Peacher, second-year doctoral student studying Integrative Anthropological Sciences, is currently in a fellowship with Harvard University’s Spatial Data Lab. His unique research engages Geospatial Artificial Intelligence to look at ancient landscapes.
This unique form of storytelling, Peacher says, requires alternative techniques to generate more timely and informative results.
“My research focuses on training large language models (LLMs) to analyze ancient landscapes using archaeological datasets. Traditionally, archaeologists use GIS and remote sensing to understand how past societies interacted with their environments.” Peacher says.
Faculty Spotlight
UCF Psychology Professor Leads Student Volunteers to Support Mental Health Initiative at State Special Olympics Event
Dr. Megan Sherod, associate chair for academic programming and associate director of clinical training for the Clinical Psychology Master’s program in the UCF College of Sciences’ Department of Psychology, led a team of UCF graduate student volunteers from the psychology department and undergraduate volunteers from the College of Nursing to provide mental health screenings and mental health and wellness education to nearly 600 athletes during the Special Olympics Florida State Summer Games at ESPN Wide World of Sports this past month.
Sherod serves as a volunteer clinic director for the Strong Minds program, one of eight within the Special Olympics’ Healthy Athletes initiative. Driven by a passion for helping people with disabilities, she welcomed the opportunity to volunteer her time to provide services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
This volunteer experience, under Sherod’s direction, brought together UCF nursing and psychology students who conducted a series of screenings to assess emotional and cognitive well-being and offered developmentally appropriate education on mental health and wellness.
“By involving student volunteers, particularly those in health professions, we’re preparing the next generation of providers to understand and support people with IDD,” says Jennifer Miller, director of health programs for Special Olympics Florida. “Special Olympics Florida connects clinical training with real-world impact, helping reduce stigma, expand access and build a more compassionate, capable healthcare workforce.”
Critical Florida Sea Turtle Sanctuary Renamed in Honor of Late UCF Biology Professor “Doc” Ehrhart
In the heart of the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (ACNWR), a 34-acre stretch of conservation land, known as the Barrier Island Sanctuary, was renamed on April 26 in honor of the late biology professor Llewellyn “Doc” Ehrhart (1942–2022). This newly named sanctuary recognizes his groundbreaking research on sea turtle ecology and coastal conservation.
“Ehrhart would have been thrilled with this honor. He loved the barrier island deeply. While he ended his career as a sea turtle biologist, he began studying small mammals — so he always saw the bigger picture beyond just the beach,” Kate Mansfield, Professor of Conservation Biology, says. “I’m excited to share the connection between Doc, our lab, and this coastal landscape with future graduate students and interns. I hope it inspires the next generation of conservation biologists and shows that conservation efforts can succeed.”
UCF Research Team Discovers Breakthrough for 3D Carbon Printing
The research teams of Laurene Tetard, professor of physics at UCF, and Richard Blair, researcher professor at UCF’s Florida Space Institute, have discovered how to produce strong micro and nanofibers of carbon at room temperature, which can be implemented in a unique 3D printing process they have developed.
The team’s research, published in Nature Communications, studies how when exposed to light, boron-based catalysts can break down hydrocarbons into their component elements, such as hydrogen and carbon. Blair says that while carbon printing is common, their team has unexpectedly discovered an approach mild enough to print carbon fibers onto easily damaged materials like cotton.
Fernand Torres-Davila ’17MS ’16PhD, a UCF graduate student who had since completed a doctorate in physics, was conducting spectroscopic analysis when he noticed black spots forming under the laser, which were initially attributed to the decomposition of the catalyst surface. However, upon further investigation, the marks turned out to be carbon formed by the breakdown of propylene adsorbed on the surface.
A Note from the Senior Associate Dean
Thanks so much for engaging with COS Graduate Studies via this newsletter! We are glad to support a world-class graduate education, and you are each a part of that. You can visit our website for additional information and you are always welcome to reach out to me (Kerstin.Hamann@ucf.edu) or Bridgett Burk with any questions or concerns you may have.
I hope you found something in this edition that inspired you. Please reach out and share your stories about research, creative work, awards, or other interesting updates with us by sending an email to cosmarketing@ucf.edu.
Regards,
Kerstin Hamann
Senior Associate Dean and
Pegasus Professor