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New Arboretum Master Plan Unveiled
The UCF Arboretum started as a 10-acre site in 1983 on what was then the edge of campus. Over the years several parcels were added to bring the Arboretum to its current size of 82 acres, but the original site remains the core area for the Arboretum program. It contains Arboretum facilities such as the […]
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Urban Forestry
The Urban Forestry Department at UCF was formed in 2004 with the mission of improving the campus aesthetics, mitigating hurricane storm damage, increasing tree diversity, improving ecosystem services and engaging with students through the Arboretum Program. Since 2004 the urban forestry team has grown to six individuals, five of which are certified arborists through […]
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UCF First Designated Bee Campus USA
Last year, UCF became the first university in Florida to be designated as a Bee Campus USA. Bee Campuses aim to increase communication about the importance of pollinators and what we can to enhance their habitats in our continuously urbanizing landscape. The Bee Campus program, which is operated through the internationally-renowned insect conservation organization, the […]
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Arboretum Community Farm and Garden Summer 2019
Eggplant, tomato, corn, sweet potato, peppers, melon…hungry yet?! These are just a few examples of the delicious produce grown in the Arboretum Community Farm and Garden for the summer season. Our Spring Newsletter highlighted the construction of the new garden, and now the garden is complete! Volunteers put in many hours at the end of […]
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Arboretum Director’s Message
Gardens are places where people grow plants, but gardens grow people too. University gardens in particular are committed to the growth and development of people through education, research and community involvement. In addition to helping plants and environments thrive, we help people thrive by creating beautiful, sometimes wondrous spaces, by providing opportunities for people to […]
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Mission Reveals New Details About Saturn’s Rings
BY ROBERT WELLS | JUNE 17, 2019 Researchers are offering glimpses into the nature and composition of Saturn’s legendary rings by using data from some of the closest observations ever made of the main rings. Even though NASA’s Cassini spacecraft’s mission to Saturn ended in 2017, scientists are still poring over the copious amounts of data it […]
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“Sustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom” Discussion Series
UCF and Al-Bilad are pleased to announce the sponsorship of a 6-part “Sustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom” round-table discussion series which will run throughout 2019-2020. Al Bilad is one of the oldest newspapers in Saudi Arabia, having first been established in 1932 – the same year the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was unified. The series […]
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Nuclear Sub Visit Opens New Opportunities For Physics, Engineering Students
A recent trip to San Diego by two UCF professors sets up new opportunities for students interested in nuclear physics. Both Physics and Engineering were represented on the visit to the U.S. Navy’s submarine base, with Robert Peale, Ph.D., representing the former, and Sam Richie, Ph.D., bringing the Engineering perspective. The pair headed home to […]
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Biology Major Receives Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship
BY JONATHAN GABRIEL ’06 Katie Stahlhut, a UCF biology major and National Merit Scholar, recently got a boost for her scientific aspirations, receiving the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Established by Congress in 1986, the scholarship, named for former U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, provides up to $7,500 a year in support of undergraduate students intending to do research […]
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Math Grad Pioneered Streaming Video Services
“I love the challenge when I hear a kid say they hate math.” For Yvette Kanouff, ’88, ’93, who has built a C-Suite career at companies like Cisco and Time Warner Cable using math, those words represent the chance to astound a struggling student with math’s possibilities. Just like an 8th-grade teacher did for a […]
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Statistics Launches Alumna Into High-Tech Career
Lesley Cheema, ’97, ’99 MS, was certain heading into college she wanted a career in mathematics. But that all changed after a meeting with former statistics professor Lorrie Hoffman, Ph.D., who introduced her to new opportunities in the manufacturing world that relied more on statistics than math. That perfectly suited Cheema, who was more […]
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Students Head To Belize For GIS Mapping and Teaching
BY TIM HAWTHORNE, Ph.D. Opening up one’s worldview. Exploring foreign landscapes. Interacting with new cultures. Engaging in research with communities. These are just some of the things that a group of 11 UCF students did this May with the UCF Participatory Geographic Information Systems (GIS) study abroad class in Belize. The class is part […]
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UCF History Instructor Explores the Cinema of West Bengal
BY DAVID MORTON Last summer I embarked on an extraordinary journey into India’s remarkable cinematic past and present. As a passionate enthusiast for international cinema, I was presented with an extraordinary opportunity to go behind the scenes to study one of India’s oldest and internationally prestigious motion picture industries. While many westerners may have at […]
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Security Studies Ph.D. Students Win Research Awards
Davide Dell’Isola and Sara Belligoni, Security Studies Ph.D. students in UCF’s Department of Political Science, were recognized with awards for their research presented at the recent Florida Political Science Association’s (FPSA) conference in Tampa. Dell’Isola won first prize in the graduate student best paper competition for his paper on “Immigration and the Demise of Social-democratic […]
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COS Grad Among Fulbright Winners
BY JONATHAN GABRIEL ’06 Five recent UCF graduates — include a College of Sciences alumna — have received prestigious Fulbright awards that will allow them to travel abroad to pursue research and educational opportunities or teach English. This year’s recipients will represent their alma mater in Montenegro, South Korea, Belgium and Brazil. The Fulbright U.S. […]
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Arecibo Observatory Debuts New Mascot at Puerto Rico’s Comic Con
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The University of Central Florida is storming the comic con world this week by participating in MegaCon Orlando and Puerto Rico Comic Con. Both events are geared for fans of science fiction, fantasy, anime and horror. They draw thousands of attendees who attend celebrity panels, shop for their favorite novelties, comics […]
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Research Holds Life-Changing Potential For Malnutrition Victims
Research underway in the National Center for Forensic Science carries life-changing potential for people suffering from malnutrition or exposure to hazardous toxins. Malnutrition is the source of a host of health issues, including zinc deficiency. Low amounts of the mineral can delay growth in children, suppress the immune system and even cause brain damage. The […]
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Three College of Sciences Faculty Receive NSF CAREER Awards
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA College of Sciences faculty represented half of the six grants awarded in the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development’s highly competitive CAREER program. The recipients represent some of the most promising early career scientists and engineers with high promise of leading major advances in their respective fields and who will serve as […]
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NPR News’ NextGenRadio Features UCF Students, Faculty
BY HEATHER GIBSON ’17MBA If there’s one thing UCF student Lillian Hernández Caraballo knows about journalism, it’s that you can’t miss a deadline. Her dedication to meeting an important deadline helped her land a coveted spot in the NPR News’ national training program, NextGenRadio. UCF’s Nicholson School of Communication and Media and WUCF-TV partnered with […]
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Mining the Moon For Ice Focus of UCF Research
BY ROBERT WELLS With space set to be the site of the next “gold rush,” University of Central Florida researchers are helping prospect a spot for a major first step in the upcoming scramble – creating a lunar mining outpost. The work will be funded through a recently announced grant from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts […]
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From Porcupines to Pigs, this UCF Psychology Grad Trains Them All
Many kids say they want to work with animals when they grow up. But only a small number of them are willing to scrub poop out of animal enclosures to reach that dream. Katelyn O’Rourke ’14 was among those willing to do anything. Now the psychology alumna’s hard work is paying off with a career that includes hosting […]
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Spring ’19 Ph.D. Grads Honored At Reception
The Spring ’19 doctorate degree students were recognized Thursday at a special reception. Graduates celebrated their achievement with their faculty advisors, family, College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson, Ph.D. and a special champagne toast. Click here to see the full gallery of photos. Chemistry Sameer Ezzat, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor: Andres Campiglia, Ph.D. Dissertation: Chemistry and […]
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Army Officers Return To Duty With Doctorate Degrees
Research that could shape the U.S. military’s combat readiness in the world theater was the outcome of two high-ranking officers pursuing their doctorates in Security Studies. U.S. Army Col. Joseph Funderburke and U.S. Army Col. David Raugh were both hooded today during the College of Sciences’ commencement ceremony. “Dave and Joe have been […]
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Professor Remembered For Changing Lives With Research
Professor Emeritus of Sociology James Wright, whose research was central to a modern understanding of poverty and homelessness, died Monday. He was 71. Wright was a prolific writer and academic, with more than 200 journal articles, 10,000 citations and 22 books to his name. He was also recognized as a Pegasus Professor in 2013 […]
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Department of Statistics Adding Data Science To Its Name
A name change is coming to the Department of Statistics to better reflect its direction moving forward. Starting May 6, the department will be formally known as the Department of Statistics and Data Science, a nod to its increased focus on training future leaders in the data science field. With a doctoral program already in […]
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Arboretum Founder’s Legacy Lives On With Boardwalk Naming
Hank Whitter, Ph.D., was once asked, “What’s going to happen to the Arboretum when you’re no longer here?” Whittier, who helped lead the movement in the early 80s for a protected green space on UCF’s campus, was not concerned. There’s always someone next in line whose passion matches your own, he explained. “Just look […]
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Psychology Student Recipient of 50,000th DirectConnect Diploma
BY GENE KRUCKEMYER ’73 On May 3, psychology major Hannah Holbrook will receive the 50,000th degree at the commencement ceremony for the College of Sciences. Holbrook, who came through DirectConnect from Lake-Sumter State College in Clermont, wants to eventually go to medical school to study emergency medicine. But first beginning in June she’s going to start […]
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Guest Speaker Explains India’s Election Year Political Climate
The 2019 Indian elections, which will be the largest exercise in democracy in world history, look increasingly competitive. While the incumbent, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, remains personally popular, his Bharatiya Janata Party is facing an unexpectedly robust challenge from the Congress Party and its coalition partners. Max Rodenbeck, South Asia bureau chief of The Economist, […]
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UCF’s Highest-achieving Students are Making an Impact through Research
BY NICOLE DUDENHOEFER ’17 Several of the 2019 Order of Pegasus honorees have studied fields as diverse as tidal flooding, migraine headaches, plastic pollution and other topics. Several of the 22 undergraduate students who received the 2019 Order of the Pegasus award, the university’s highest student honor, have participated in research during their time at UCF. This year’s […]
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Upcoming STEM Day Opens Learning Opportunities At Children’s Hospital
There’s not many opportunities that blend marine conservation and medical sciences. So Jacob Hromyak considers himself lucky to volunteer at PedsAcademy at Nemours Children’s Hospital. PedsAcademy is a pediatric school program that provides hospitalized children research-backed educational opportunities. It was founded earlier this year under the leadership of Megan Nickels, Ph.D., an assistant professor of […]