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Alumnus Focuses on Sustainable Agriculture
Agriculture is a tricky business. With unpredictable weather patterns, soil degradation, threatening pests and limited land, farmers struggle to grow healthier, more productive and profitable crops. If farmers can’t grow crops, the number of people at risk of living in hunger increases. Biology alumnus Clay Scherer, Ph.D., works to fix that problem. He develops products […]
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Declining Bee Population to get Helping Hand
Bees are going to get a helping hand next year when a UCF biologist launches her nationwide Bee Wild project. Funded by the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, Barbara Sharanowski will coordinate a nationwide team of citizen scientists who will convert lawns into native wildflower havens especially designed to attract native bees and other […]
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Couple’s $6.6M Gift Will Boost Many UCF Programs
What do sea turtles, veterans, language programs, science and football have in common? They’ll all be better off thanks to the generosity of Jim and Julia Rosengren, who have committed $6.6 million to support those programs at the University of Central Florida. It is among the largest alumni commitments in university history. Combined with their […]
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11 Students Honored For Women’s History Month
The College of Sciences is proud of our 11 female students who were recognized as outstanding student leaders for Women’s History Month. Congratulations to the awardees! Sarah Davenport, Anthropology “Seek positive mentorship. Mentorship from the McNair Program and my faculty mentor are the reasons why I have been able to achieve and exceed my […]
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Biology Background Paves Way to Medical School
Dr. Jeff Buchalter came to the University of Central Florida in 1983 with his mind set on medical school. He started his academic career at Brevard Community College, a choice he intentionally made to ensure his best chance of becoming a physician. Even though Buchalter grew up in Titusville where the space industry is the […]
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Sea Turtle Diet Expert to Give Talk about Importance of Healthy Habitat
A University of Central Florida biologist who is an authority on what sea turtles eat will present on her work March 18 in a public seminar. The talk at the Barrier Island Center in Melbourne Beach will focus on what endangered and threatened sea turtles eat, types of habitats they depend upon in Florida, and […]
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Fish’ Super Power May Offer Clues About Biodiversity Evolution
by Allison Hurtado A group of international scientists, including a University of Central Florida biologist, recently discovered that a species of fish living in the north Atlantic Ocean has an ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions that are linked to the depth of its watery habitat. The unknown mechanism, which gives the roundnose grenadier […]
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Fruits and Veggies Made Friendly
How many books on nutrition do you remember reading during your childhood? Probably not many, since UCF Biology faculty Rani Vajravelu, Ph.D., wrote one of the first. Her recently published book, The Dog That Didn’t Like Leftovers, encourages young children and their families to open a dialogue about healthy eating. The book follows Lucy the […]
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Alumna Combines Health and Climate Change
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) awarded UCF alumna Linh Anh Cat a Next Generation Fellowship award. This award recognizes her research on patterns of fungal disease dispersion and climate change, as well as a review she wrote which links her work to public policy. Her public policy review calls for nations to cooperate […]
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Biology Student Aims for Vet School
Biology student Nicole Santana uses a hands-on approach to make a difference. While studying to becoming a veterinarian, she also works as a research assistant in anthropology assistant professor John Starbuck’s lab. Santana compares images of mice with Down syndrome to those without. She hopes to find differences in their skulls, something that can then […]
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National Coastal Center Launches at UCF
UCF has launched a national research center focused on finding big-picture solutions to threats facing coastal communities. In 2017, federal and local governments in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico spent more than $284 billion to deal with the impact of hurricanes and flooding, according to NOAA. “There’s a perfect storm coming,” said Graham Worthy, UCF biologist […]
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Congratulations, Fall 2017 Ph.D. Graduates
In a reception hosted by Dean Michael Johnson, Ph.D., the College of Sciences celebrated its new Ph.D. graduates in the Physical Sciences building. Thirteen students were recognized with family members and faculty advisors by their side. Associate Dean Teresa Dorman, Ph.D., honored each student by presenting their research and dissertation. A champagne toast followed to […]
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Cuban Immigrant Graduate Living Her Father’s Dream
by Christin Senior Jeanine Garcia was too young to remember the day her father Lazaro set sail from Cuba on a raft made of beer kegs and rope, armed with a parcel of food and a dream for a better life in America. When Garcia walks across the UCF stage Saturday to collect her Bachelor […]
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The Lost Years of Sea Turtles
by Barbara Abney University of Central Florida biologist whose groundbreaking work tracking the movements of sea turtle yearlings in the North Atlantic Ocean attracted international attention has completed a similar study in the South Atlantic with surprising results. South Atlantic sea turtles do not passively ride prevailing currents as historically assumed, but instead actively swim […]
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Where Turtles Eat Unlocks New Conservation Areas
by Allison Hurtado UCF alumna Simona Ceriani published a new study that finds sea turtles are what they eat – but where they eat may be even more important. Ceriani, who is a tenured research scientist with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, collaborated with three UCF Department of Biology researchers on the study, published […]
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Conference Grows Interest in Plant Science
The first annual Plants Beyond Limits Conference was held Friday, Nov. 10, at the University of Central Florida. Over 200 UCF students, alumni and visitors from the greater Orlando area attended. Tickets sold out online a week before the event making turnout a success. Many attendees expressed their excitement to be a part of the […]
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New Finding Sheds More Light on Zombie Ants
Charissa de Bekker, Ph.D., an assistant professor in biology, came to UCF earlier this year to continue her research on a fungal parasite that infects ants, hijacks their brains and controls their behavior to spread its fungal spores – a phenomenon that’s led to those infected being called “zombie ants.” Throughout her career, she’s found […]
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14 Faculty Awarded for International Impact
UCF recognized 45 faculty members Wednesday during the university’s inaugural Luminary Award presentations for making an impact on the world. Fourteen of the recipients are College of Sciences faculty members. The event, themed like Oscar night, honored those who are academic leaders in their field and are making contributions to the world that are having […]
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Student Researches Roses and Cabbage
Senior biology major Shelly Gaynor shares her interest in genetics and evolutionary biology with the ecological community thanks to the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates (NSF-REU) program. She is interested in polyploidy evolution, a process of genome doubling which leads to organisms with multiple sets of chromosomes. Her research investigates the influence of […]
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Coming Soon: The Plants Beyond Limits Conference
The Plants Beyond Limits conference, November 10, 2017, is a one-day event hosted at The University of Central Florida focusing on the relationship between humans and plants. The event will be open to UCF faculty, staff, students, and the greater Orlando community. Talks will include topics such as urban agriculture, holistic healing through plants, Florida […]
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The 2017-18 Distinguished Speaker Series is Here!
The UCF College of Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series is back this September with six UCF faculty who are experts in topics relevant to the natural, computational, social or behavioral sciences and the developments in their respective fields. This year’s 2017-18 series will be held monthly at Tuscawilla Country Club at 6 p.m., from September 2017 […]
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Knight Life: The UCF Turtle Team
It’s 9:30 p.m., the sun is down, and your shift is about to start. You put on your long pants, long-sleeved shirt, bug jacket and fanny pack with your nightly turtle kit. Out on the beach in Brevard County, in the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge, you’re starting your search for nesting female sea turtles. […]
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Faculty Leave the Knights to Tackle Tigers
The UCF College of Sciences is proudly sending off two faculty this fall – Chris Parkinson, Ph.D., and Cynthia Young, Ph.D. Parkinson is a professor of biology and founding director of the Faculty Cluster Initiative. He’s known among students for the Parkinson Lab, where students studied venomous snakes, lizards, marine turtles and small mammals. Parkinson […]
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Alumna Takes Conservation Studies Across the Pond
From the Everglades to the Florida panther, it’s no secret that Florida is home to many endangered ecosystems and animals. Conservation is a huge topic of conversation as it impacts the lives of most Floridians and researchers daily. For one University of Central Florida alumna, Florida piqued her interest in zoology and wildlife conservation and […]
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Real Science
The Biology Summer Field Institute isn’t a field trip into the woods. For the week of July 17, rising high school juniors and seniors become real scientists. Led by Jennifer Elliott, Assistant Director of the UCF Arboretum, students were broken up into four groups: wetlands health assessment, forest ecology, vegetation monitoring, and gopher tortoise studies. […]
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Stabilizing the Shoreline an Oyster at a Time
Linda Walters, Ph.D., and Melinda Donnelly, Ph.D. work together to stabilize Florida’s estuarine shorelines that have severely eroded due to storms and boat wakes. Since 2007 the duo’s work has restored 82 reefs and stabilized over 2000 meters of shoreline. Without volunteers and grants from various organizations, their work wouldn’t be possible. In early July, […]
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Arc Partnership Empowers Special Needs Community
By Zenaida Kotala A group of conservation biologists and a non-profit agency that advocates for individuals with special needs are partnering to help keep local waterways healthy. UCF Biologist Linda Walters, whose research and volunteer efforts help restore eroding shoreline and oyster habitats along the Mosquito Lagoon, is teaming up with The Arc of Indian […]
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TEDx Talk With Coastal Implications
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Albert Manero ‘16, president of Limbitless Solutions, will speak about the power of technology and art to help children unlock their identities during the relaunch of TEDx Orlando on Saturday, June 24. UCF biology Pegasus Professor Graham Worthy also will speak about the pressures of population growth on the […]
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Solving a Turtle Health Mystery
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Almost 50 percent of the green sea turtles in the Indian River Lagoon have tumors all over their bodies and despite data going back more than two decades, the cause of the disease remains a mystery. University of Central Florida assistant professor and biologist Kate Mansfield works on various sea […]
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A Mission to Save Sea Turtles
Story by Zenaida Kotala Sea turtles have been a major component of keeping the world’s oceans healthy for more than 100 million years. With many of the species being endangered or threatened, University of Central Florida researchers are continuing to do grueling research to help expand our knowledge of these creatures. June 16 was World […]