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CEO, Doctor and Harvard Grad Student
UCF biology alumnus Patrick Fullerton ’92 has a simple philosophy: Think big. “If people aren’t laughing at your dreams, you aren’t dreaming big enough,” he said. Fullerton, the son of a truck driver, is a first-generation college student who grew up with no professional leadership in his life. He said UCF made all the difference […]
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2016 30 Under 30
The 2016 30 Under 30 class gathered to be honored Saturday at FAIRWINDS Alumni Center during the Indoor Tailgate. They then were recognized on the field at Bright House Networks Stadium during the football game. This incredible group of individuals includes 12 alumni of the College of Sciences. Amanda Booz, ’13, Nicholson School of Communication Ms. Booz […]
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Medicinal-Herb Workshop Series
Story by Rachel Williams, UCF Today Amanda Lindsay was shocked when a homemade disinfecting ointment cured her severely cut knuckle. After the University of Central Florida Landscape & Natural Resources employee cut her knuckle down to the bone on a razor at a friend’s house, she turned to what most people would: a bandage and […]
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Biology Students Shine at ShORE Conference
Five students and three professors from the Department of Biology at the University of Central Florida participated in the Sharing Our Research with Everyone or Sh.O.R.E. conference on Sept. 23 at New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The conference was presented by the Institute of Marine and Environmental Studies at Daytona State College and the New Smyrna […]
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Snakes, Knightro and Yoga — Oh My!
Story by Bernard Wilchusky, UCF Today Snakes, Knightro and yoga — just a few of the animals, mascots and activities one can enjoy during Faculty and Family Fun Sundays, a monthly fall get-together for the UCF faculty in the Arboretum Park. This free event was the idea of Linda Walters, Ph.D., director of the Center for […]
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UCF Biologists Swarm Insect Conference
Thousands of scholars from all over the world gathered in Orlando with one thing in common: A love for bugs. The 2016 International Congress of Entomology conference was held at the Orange County Convention Center from Sept. 25 – 30. Faculty and students from the University of Central Florida’s Department of Biology played a large […]
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Hurricane Impacts Threatened Sea Turtle Nests
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today As many as 200 loggerhead sea turtle nests and 550 green turtle nests were estimated to have been lost in central and southern Brevard County because of Hurricane Matthew. Each nesting season thousands of threatened sea turtles lay nests along Central Florida’s coast, particularly on the shores of […]
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Biology Professor’s Heritage Inspired His Love of Nature
UCF conservation biology professor Pedro F. Quintana-Ascencio, Ph.D., grew up with lush forests as his backyard playground. He remembers walking through Veracruz, Mexico, listening to the wind playing in the trees and critters calling to each other all around him. His father would sometimes join him on horseback rides to a nearby river and lake. […]
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COS Staff Recognized at Annual Awards Program
The UCF College of Sciences was well represented at the 44th Annual Awards Program on Friday, September 2, 2016. The UCF Human Resources Department held the event in the Pegasus Ballroom where over 500 attendees gathered to celebrate the university’s outstanding USPS and A&P employees. View photos from the event here. Several College of Sciences […]
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The Distinguished Speaker Series is Back!
The UCF College of Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series is back with exciting new topics presented by renowned experts in their fields. This year’s 2016-17 series will be held monthly at Tuscawilla Country Club at 6:00pm, on the last Wednesday of each month, from September 2016 to April 2017 (excluding December). The Distinguished Speaker Series includes seven […]
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Living Shoreline Workshop Makes Waves in K-12 Classrooms
12 educators, representing eight schools throughout three counties, participated in the UCF Living Shoreline Educator Workshop on Sunday, August 28, 2016. Pegasus Professor in the UCF Biology Department Linda Walters, Ph.D., UCF Biology Post-Doctoral Researcher and Instructor Melinda Donnelly, Ph.D., and Paul Sacks, Ph.D., a science educator at Winter Springs High School, led the group […]
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Inspiring Women in STEM
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today Julie Delauriers squarely blames UCF Biology professor Linda Walters for where she is in her career today – attending one of the best veterinary schools in the nation. “She is such an inspiration,” Delauriers said from Purdue University. “She kept encouraging me, pushing me to do science research. […]
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UCF Scientists Investigate Restoration Efforts
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today A scientific answer to a challenge such as water pollution is only part of a long-term solution. For example, science may provide a way to clean water, but keeping it clean usually relies on identifying underlying causes and making a long-term impact on human behavior. A team of UCF […]
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GIS to Offer Certificate
Beginning this fall, UCF will offer a new Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This new GIS certificate will provide students with the interdisciplinary background in the geography and the technical skills in the application of GIS through a 4 course, 12 credit hour load. The certificate will not only enhance students’ ability to understand, […]
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A Summer of STEM
This summer, UCF hosted its STEM Summer Institute (SI) camps for Central Florida middle and high school students. The STEM Summer Institute (SI) offers a mix of activities designed to maximize learning through hands-on, individualized instruction in an effort to provide science, technology, and math related summer opportunities to students. The SI currently offers camps in […]
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UCF Professor Dives into Marine Ecology
With an appreciation for biology and oceanography, UCF Department of Biology assistant professor Geoffrey Cook, Ph.D., found the field of marine ecology to be a perfect fit. In 2005, Cook was admitted into the Biological Oceanography doctoral program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) where he received a Marine Biodiversity and Conservation NSF-IGERT graduate student fellowship […]
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Arboretum Goes Pokémon
If you’ve walked around UCF campus recently you probably have noticed students glued to their phones playing the popular game, Pokémon GO. The UCF campus is full of ‘trainers’ catching Pokémon and visiting ‘Poke Stops’ spread throughout campus. One Poke Stop in particular hopes to lure UCF students in for a special event. The UCF […]
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Biology Students Study in the Tropics
UCF Biology and Pegasus Professor Linda Walters, Ph.D., took a group of UCF students to the tropics in Belize this summer as part of her Tropical Marine Biology study abroad course. Offered every two years, this program gives undergraduate UCF biology students the opportunity to spend one week on an island to study marine ecosystems […]
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Permanent Home for Sea Turtle Research
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today The University of Central Florida and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have reached a historic agreement that will establish a permanent conservation research facility along the Brevard County coastline. UCF has run a sea turtle monitoring and research program on the beaches of the Archie Carr National Wildlife […]
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Grad Students Lead Science Summer Camps
The UCF Department of Biology and the Biology Graduate Student Association (BGSA) have collaborated with the UCF Chemistry Department and the Uknighted Chemistry Graduate Student Association (UCGSA) for the second annual Biology Integrated Orlando Training and Enrichment Camp (BIOTEC) and fifth annual Orlando Chemistry Tutoring, Enrichment and Training Camp (OCTET). BIOTEC, held June 27 – July 2, and OCTET, held […]
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UCF Led Team Discovers New Venomous Snake
Story by UCF Today An international team of scientists has solved a case of mistaken identity and discovered a new species of venomous snake. The newly discovered Talamancan Palm-Pitviper is a striking green-and-black snake living in some of the most remote regions of Costa Rica. The coloring is a characteristic it shares with its close […]
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Biology Student Receives Golden Opportunity
The UCF Department of Biology is pleased to announce that Shelly Gaynor has been named as the winner of the 2016 Golden Opportunity Scholars Award by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America and Soil Science Society of America. Shelly is a junior majoring in Biology and has been involved in undergraduate research […]
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Biology Student’s Research Seeds Success
UCF Biology student, Michelle Shaffer, has been awarded the July 2016 Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Award (DURA) for her ecological research. This award recognizes UCF undergraduate students who demonstate exemplary academic research in their field. Under the guidance of a mentor, the student’s research is submitted for review by the Student Undergraduate Research Council. Shaffer’s award-wining research, […]
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A Wild Summer for Biology Research Team
Alicia Huber, graduate student in the UCF Biology Department, has been working with a team of UCF students this summer at the Disney Wilderness Preserve to investigate its soil’s carbon storage. “It is well known that wetland ecosystems generally function as carbon sinks—their soils especially often store significant amounts of carbon,” explained Huber. “Although we […]
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Alumna UKNIGHTS for Orlando’s First Responders
University of Central Florida biology and psychology alumna Melyssa Allen, ’12, worked with departments and organizations across the university to assemble more than 150 care packages for Orlando’s first responders following the tragedy at Pulse nightclub. “I was listening to the radio the day after the tragedy at Pulse and heard that there had been […]
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UCF Biologist Studies ‘Coral Zombies’
Story by UCF Today Scientists have known for a while that coral reefs around the world are dying, and in a worst-case scenario they were counting on large, healthy-looking corals to repopulate. But a new study presented at the 13th International Coral Reef Symposium in Honolulu this week shows that these seemingly healthy colonies are “Coral […]
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Love Conquers Hate at UCF Vigil for Pulse Victims
Story by UCF Today Rain and lightning delayed but could not stop a vigil Tuesday night where the UCF community honored the victims of the Pulse shooting, vowing to conquer hate with love. Gathered in the University of Central Florida Student Union, attendees listened as leaders from the university, the student body, the LGBTQ+ community […]
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UCF to Remember Pulse Victims at Candlelight Vigil
Story by UCF Today The University of Central Florida community will join together Tuesday, June 14, to honor the lives taken during the act of terror at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. A candlelight vigil will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Reflecting Pond. The event is being organized by members of UCF’s LGBTQ+ […]
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UCF Hosting Several Blood Drives This Week
UCF encourages the campus community and the public to donate blood at several on-campus drives this week. Big Red Buses from One Blood will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, June 13, in front of the Student Union and also at Bright House Networks Stadium. President John C. Hitt, Student Body President […]
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UCF Community Copes with Orlando Tragedy
Our entire Knight family is mourning the victims of the Orlando terror attack. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and friends. To assist our students, faculty and staff during the difficult days and months ahead, the Division of Student Development and Enrollment Services will host a series of campus conversations and therapy support […]