A UCF research team just had its paper on how to improve graduate student teaching methods chosen as an Editor’s Pick in “Physical Review.” The journal is the flagship series of the American Physical Society, the largest society of physicists in the U.S. Among its newest offerings, added in 2005, is an open access online […]
Congratulations to the 2016 winners of UCF’s 30 under 30 from the Department of Political Science. They are: Anna Eskamani, ’12, ’15, Department of Political Science Ms. Eskamani is an extremely active member of the UCF and Orlando communities. She serves as the Associate Director of UCF’s Nicholson School of Communication, Adjunct Professor of Women’s […]
Story by By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today Humberto Campins grew up looking at the night sky and reading The Little Prince. The children’s story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is about a man who crashes his plane in the middle of the Sahara Desert. While he’s making repairs, a boy shows up. He is the […]
The discovery of the new exoplanet Proxima Centauri b seems like a story out of a science fiction novel – maybe because it actually is. The plot of science fiction author Stephen Baxter’s 2015 book Proxima is about an expedition to the actual red dwarf star Proxima Centauri and the colonization of an Earth-sized planet […]
Story by Jenna Marina, UCF Alumni Today When UCF Political Science alumnus Chris Seilkop, ’92, was named to his first Paralympics roster in 1996, his family was ecstatic. As Seilkop gears up for his fourth Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro this month – securing his place in history as Team USA’s first four-time, men’s sitting […]
Story by The UCF Burnett Honors College On an average day, Latin and sports do not go together in the same sentence. Unless, perhaps, you’re a contestant on “Jeopardy!” Luckily for UCF College of Sciences and The Burnett Honors College alumna Courtney Paulson, who graduated with a Bachelor of Science in statistics, she is well […]
Story by UCF Nicholson School of Communication Robert Littlefield arrived at the Nicholson School of Communication like most new employees figuring out parking and how to set up email. But unlike most new hires, Littlefield wasn’t exactly new to the faculty and staff on Aug. 1. The former professor of communication at North Dakota State University […]
Not many University of Central Florida graduates can say that they knew the esteemed John T. Washington, UCF’s first African-American faculty member. Alumna Carol Lawrence, ’71, and her husband, Jim Lawrence, ’71, had him officiate their wedding. “The late Dr. John Washington for whom the ‘old’ UCF student union building is named was a […]
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 […]
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today Two scientists at the University of Central Florida Chemistry Department have discovered how to get a solid material to act like a liquid without actually turning it into liquid, potentially opening a new world of possibilities for the electronic, optics and computing industries. When chemistry graduate student Demetrius A. […]
Peter J. Jacques, Ph.D., professor in the UCF Political Science Department, was recently published on The Cipher Brief regarding Water Security in the Middle East: a Call for Humanitarian Priorities. The Cipher Brief is a digital security-based conversation platform that connects the private sector with the world’s leading security experts. Dr. Jacques teaches environmental security in the UCF Security […]
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 […]
Steven Perham, ’12, ’14, attributes his confidence and success in his counseling career to his time spent at UCF. Graduating with his bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCF, Perham went on to earn his master’s degree from UCF’s Clinical Psychology program. “My UCF degrees trained me to work my hardest as a clinician, and I’m […]
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. […]
Four incoming UCF Psychology Department graduate students received awards from the UCF Summer Mentoring Fellowship Program. The campus-wide competitive fellowship program provides funding support from the College of Graduate Studies for underrepresented students to complete summer research projects before they begin graduate school. The four recipients included incoming Applied Experimental and Human Factors doctoral students Lindsay […]
This summer Cherie Yestrebsky, Ph.D., was named the chair of the UCF Chemistry Department. Dr. Yestrebsky has been serving as interim chair of the department since November of 2014, prior to her long-term appointment in June 2016. Before coming to UCF, Dr. Yestrebsky earned her doctorate in chemistry from the University of South Florida. She […]
UCF Chemistry Department senior Monica Cortez recently returned to the sunshine state from 11 weeks in North Carolina. Cortez spent the summer working full-time in a biophysics laboratory perfecting a tool that can be used to control biological processes on a nuclear level. Cortez was one of 12 students from across the United States that […]
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 […]
UCF Physics doctoral student Jenna Crowell was the winner of the best student poster award at the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (AOGS) annual meeting this summer. Supported by NASA’s Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), Crowell attended the annual meeting in Beijing, China from July 31- August 5. Her presented poster won the top […]
Güneş Murat Tezcür, Ph.D., the Jalal Talabani Endowed Chair of Kurdish Political Studies in the UCF Department of Political Science, recently published an innovative article in the flagship journal of the American Political Science Association. Under what conditions does an individual willingly risk his or her life for a political cause? Dr. Tezcür explains that […]
UCF Psychology faculty member Mindy Shoss, Ph.D., has been named a Professorial Fellow at the Centre for Sustainable Human Resource Management and Wellbeing at Australian Catholic University (ACU). In addition to her appointment, she has been invited to be a keynote speaker at the International Research Symposium on Social Identity in the Workplace and Employee […]
“When the media kept repeating the line about terrorists ‘hating us for our freedom’ during the run-up to the [Iraq War 2003], I remember thinking ‘Is that really true?’” This was the pivotal question that prompted UCF Political Science professor, Andrew Boutton, Ph.D., to pursue his interests in the field of political science. Originally from central […]
The UCF Department of Political Science has teamed up with the School of Teaching, Learning and Leadership to offer a certificate in civics teaching. The certificate, administered through the Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government, is comprised of a four course program designed to develop expertise in civics content, pedagogy and assessment. The certificate […]
Clint Bowers, Ph.D., has been appointed as interim chair of the UCF Psychology Department. Although this is a new role for Dr. Bowers, UCF is not new to him. For more than 20 years Dr. Bowers has worked at UCF, serving in positions throughout the university. With a passion for technology, Dr. Bowers oversees the […]
Several students and faculty from the UCF Security Studies Ph.D. program visited the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) in Tampa to present their research on August 11, 2016. CENTCOM personnel expressed interest in the students’ research, providing positive feedback and discussing collaboration on future events. UCF security studies doctoral student Chelsea Faherty works full time at […]
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, […]
“Back from Belize, Changed.” This is the shared sentiment of ten University of Central Florida students who traveled to Belize this summer as a part of the UCF Geographic Information Systems’ Belize study abroad experience from May 30 – June 10, 2016. UCF Citizen Science GIS is a collaborative, academic initiative that works in community-university […]
Houman Sadri, Ph.D., associate professor of Political Science at UCF, received a medal dedicated to the 20th Anniversary of the Assembly of People of Kazakhstan. Dr. Sadri, accompanied by his son Arman, received the medal at the Embassy of Kazakhstan in Washington, D.C. on August 4, 2016. The Embassy of Kazakhstan awarded Dr. Sadri with […]
Robert Vogan, a senior at UCF majoring in International and Global Studies with a minor in Spanish, spent his summer as an intern in Washington, D.C. There, he contributed to efforts to fight human trafficking in India. We asked Robert to share his internship experience. During the summer of 2016, I spent ten weeks in […]
Forensic scientists, scholars and students gathered at UCF’s National Center for Forensic Science (NCFS) for ‘DART Day’ on Friday, August 5. Direct analysis in real time – mass spectrometry, or DART-MS is an instrument that can analyze or screen any unknown gas, liquid, or solid sample within 5-10 seconds. NCFS and UCF Chemistry Professor Candice Bridge, […]