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Growing International Impact Focus Of New Global Perspectives Chief
Developing UCF’s place in the world is David Dumke’s mission. And Dumke is well-suited to the task. Since 2012, Dumke has led the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies. Now Dumke is taking on his next task: leading the office of Global Perspectives and International Initiatives. The leadership post was held […]
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$610K Grant Boosts Development of Radiochemistry Lab
One of UCF’s newest labs just received a $610,000 grant to advance the field of radiochemistry and produce a new generation of nuclear scientists. The grant from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was awarded to the Chemistry Department’s Vasileios Anagnostopoulos, Ph.D., whose research focuses on the environmental fate and geochemical transformations of radioactive contaminants, organic pollutants […]
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UCF Makes Lifelong Imprint on Alumnus
Ted Rassmann received much more than an education from UCF. Sure, a mathematics degree set him up for a successful career as an IBM executive. But it takes a special love for your alma mater to set up a charter fishing business after retirement called Old Knight Fishing Charters. Or send your twin sons […]
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Conference Promotes Cross-Discipline Approach To Research
Big problems require big answers. But often scientists are narrowly focusing on their own fields of research, or, as Jacopo Baggio, Ph.D., puts it, “Hunting for vertical solutions to horizontal problems.” Baggio, an assistant professor in the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs, recently collaborated with another researcher in Sweden, Örjan Bodin, to host […]
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Student’s Radiation Research Receives American Chemical Society Accolade
A student’s research into the long-term clean-up of nuclear waste recently earned him national recognition from the American Chemical Society. Specifically, Jordan Stanberry, who enters the Chemistry doctorate program this fall, is exploring ways to contain the spread of a major pollutant in nuclear waste called Technetium-99. He is currently confirming a methodology to make […]
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Nicholson Students Spotlight Indian Caste System in New Documentary
BY LISA MILLS, PH.D. A non-governmental organization (NGO) that fights caste discrimination with education is the subject of a new documentary directed by Lisa Mills, Ph.D., associate professor of film in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media. The NGO, Movement for Scavenger Community (MSC), was founded by Vimal Kumar, a doctoral candidate at the […]
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UCF Graduate Chris Van Dorn Channels Batman To Rescue Animals
Step aside Bruce Wayne. Chris Van Dorn ’17 is the real hero Gotham — and Orlando — deserves. Van Dorn’s mission to rescue animals dressed as Batman recently made national news, and bumped him closer to making his rescue mission a full-time opportunity. “It all started in the shower,” said Van Dorn, a sociology alumnus. […]
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Sorority Inspires PoliSci Grad to Pursue Legal Career Protecting Citizens
“You can’t be what you can’t see.” This is the motto Genevieve Bonan ’10 says carried her through her undergraduate studies at UCF, and still inspires her today. Bonan currently practices consumer protection law in the Consumer Protection Division of the Florida Attorney General. In her free time, she volunteers with various charities and organizations, […]
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Summer ’19 Ph.D. Grads Honored At Reception
The Summer ’19 doctorate degree students were recognized Friday 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 Anuradha Akmeemana, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor: Michael E. Sigman, Ph.D. Dissertation: […]
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Summer Commencement Launches Careers of New COS Grads
Rain didn’t dampen the spirits of UCF’s newest College of Sciences graduates on Saturday. Jeremy Ivy, 23, is a psychology graduate, and plans on applying to a master’s program at Florida Institute of Technology for registered behavioral therapy. These therapists are registered to treat children with autism and work with others that may have […]
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Department of Energy Selects UCF Assistant Professor for National Research Program
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA For a second consecutive year, one of UCF’s physics faculty members has been selected for the Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program. Physics Assistant Professor Luca Argenti is one of 73 scientists across the nation and the only one from Florida selected for the program, which includes a $750,000 grant […]
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Biology Master’s Student Chosen For Prestigious Pew Fellowship
A biology master’s student’s research just received a big endorsement from the prestigious Pew Charitable Trusts and the Florida Wildlife Commission. The national and state organizations are funding the research of Michelle Shaffer, ’16, who has spent the past five years studying the ecosystems and wildlife in the Indian River Lagoon in conjunction with the […]
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UCF Grad Battles Cancer and Loss While Earning Degree
BY NICOLE DUDENHOEFER ’17 When Erica Catron ’19MA decided to go back to school three years ago she knew as a non-traditional student she would face more challenges than others. As a married woman in her 40s, raising a young boy and taking care of a household, she figured she’d have a lot to juggle […]
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Undergrad Recognized For Native American Research
An undergraduate’s research into the impact of rising sea levels on Florida’s Native American tribes recently earned her recognition from the Office of Undergraduate Research. Senior Sarah Swiersz’s interest in political ecology and climate change led her to study Florida’s coastal communities. She decided to focus on indigenous Native American tribes because of the way […]
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Trapped Tortoise Research Earns Award For Alumnus
An abandoned railway presents no obstacle to most people. But it’s a different story altogether if you’re crawling two-inches from the ground with a shell on your back. Exactly how railways impact the well-being and movement of gopher tortoises was the focus of UCF alumnus Rhett Rautsaw’s research while he pursued a master’s degree in […]
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UCF Biologists Hunt For Hidden Carbon
Car exhaust and factory pollution take a lot of blame for global warming. But a team of UCF biologists are on the hunt for a hidden storage of carbon that’s right beneath your feet. Plants spend their lifetime absorbing carbon dioxide, then deposit it into the soil when they die. If they’re trapped under water […]
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Political Science Department Becomes New UCF School
UCF has added a new school to its roster with the change of the Department of Political Science to the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs. While political science remains at the heart of the school and the academic curriculum, the new designation better reflects the broader scope of its mission and programs, […]
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Medieval Bones Reveal Diet Secrets
Jane Holmstrom doesn’t speak medieval French, but that hasn’t stopped her from learning from the long-dead residents of Saint-Jean-de-Todon in Laudun, France. The bioarchaeology doctorate student traveled at the beginning of May to an archaeological site about 90 minutes northwest of the Mediterranean city of Marseilles. The site sits on a hill just above […]
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PoliSci Degree Sets Up Successful Insurance Career
John Garceau’s successful career in the insurance business was built, in part, on the foundation of a Political Science degree from UCF. Garceau entered UCF after service as a signalman for the Navy. The G.I. Bill allowed him to pursue a philosophy degree, but, with extra credits available, Garceau also chose Political Science. With the […]
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New Photo Exhibit Captures Indian Festivals in Florida
A new photo exhibit opening this week in the John C. Hitt Library opens a window into the connection between Indian festivals and Central Florida. The more than 30 photos, commissioned by the Asian Cultural Association (ACA), follow more than a year of Indian festivals, including Holi, the Festival of Colors, and Navratri Garba. The […]
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Conference Casts National Spotlight On UCF Sustainability
UCF’s work to build a sustainable future came under the national spotlight last week (June 26-29) at the Association for Environmental Studies and Science’s (AESS) annual conference. The conference drew 200 representatives from more than 80 colleges and universities across the country to discuss the research and teaching underway on topics including fossil fuels, coastal […]
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NASA Awards $7.5 Million to UCF’s Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA NASA today awarded a $7.5 million grant to UCF’s Center for Lunar and Asteroid Surface Science (CLASS), helping secure the next five years of the center’s bright future. “This win goes a long way to ensure UCF leadership in space science for the Space Coast” says Professor Dan Britt, the center’s director, […]
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NASA Spacecraft Crosses Into Uncharted Territory
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA NASA’s New Horizons mission continues to fly toward the outer edges of our solar system, now more than 4.1 billion miles from Earth with a cruising speed of 33,000 mph. The mission has been going for more than 20 years, with its biggest claim to fame being the first close flyby […]
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UCF alumna leads Arboretum’s environmental initiatives, controlled burns
BY SHEA DAWSON As Jennifer Elliott sat in the UCF Arboretum office, a small trailer behind the Harris Corporation Engineering Center, an Arboretum staff member entered with bad news: the Cuban tree frogs were back. Cuban tree frogs are an invasive species in Florida that often eat native tree frogs and lizards. Elliott sighed. Though she […]
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UCF Research Impact: U.S. Virgin Islands Ban Harmful Sunscreens
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The U.S. Virgin Islands Tuesday became the first American jurisdiction to ban sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate effective Dec. 31, to help restore its coral reefs and marine ecosystems. Hawaii and Key West, Florida, passed bans that go into effect next year but they don’t go as far as this legislation, which […]
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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 […]