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Chemistry Student Working to Develop Sustainable Technology to Clean Water Worldwide
Nearly 800 million people are without clean drinking water in the world, and for environmental chemist and second-year doctoral candidate Lorianne Shultz this is no small problem. In her area of study, materials chemistry for environmental applications, she looks to improve the methods used to purify water around the globe. Under the guidance of chemistry […]
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UCF Study Will Look at Transitional Housing Effectiveness for Survivors of Domestic Violence
Housing programs can serve as a lifeline for domestic violence survivors and their children – providing them with vital resources to leave abusive relationships and find safety. Various housing models are being implemented across the country; however, little is known about their long-term effectiveness. A team of researchers from the University of Central Florida, University […]
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OSIRIS REx Ready to for Touch-n-Go Maneuver on Tuesday, Oct. 20
Four years after it launched, NASA’s OSIRIS REx NASA mission is closing in on its big day. On Oct. 20, the spacecraft is scheduled to complete its touch-and-go move to collect a sample of asteroid Bennu. University of Central Florida Physics Professor and asteroid expert Humberto Campins is counting down the days. He is part […]
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Physics Alumna Named Interim Dean At Connecticut Community College
Fatma Salman’s journey in physics starts with dismantling battery-powered devices as a child and leads up to her recent appointment as interim dean of academic and student affairs at Manchester Community College (MCC) in Connecticut. Along the way, she raised five children, picked up two master’s degrees, a doctorate degree and became a U.S. citizen. […]
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Charter Faculty Member Provides Perspective On UCF Overcoming Historical Challenges
We hear “unprecedented times” often as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds through 2020 and into the next year. But someone with the long lens of history like Professor Emeritus Robert Bledsoe, Ph.D., a charter faculty member of UCF, can attest this is far from the first challenge the university has faced. “This university has weathered a […]
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TV Show ‘The Office’ Forms Basis for NSCM Professional Communication Class
Successful professional communication is as much about what not to say as it is the right way to negotiate a raise or write a thorny email, reasons Communication Assistant Professor Michael Strawser, Ph.D. And what better teacher of gaffes and miscues than the “world’s greatest boss” Michael Scott of NBC’s hit series “The Office.” “This […]
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UCF Announces 2020 Alumni Award Winners
UCF Alumni announced its slate of its Shining Knights award winners for 2020 — seven individuals recognized for their commitment to the university in the categories of Distinguished Alumni, Honorary Alumni, Young Alumni and Distinguished Student. They will be honored in a virtual ceremony on the evening Sunday, Oct. 18 to kick off UCF Homecoming […]
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Pandemic Inspires Creative New Partnerships to Complete Research
When the COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel at UCF, Assistant Professor Michelle Gaither, Ph.D., got creative. Gaither planned to conduct field research in various parts of the country this past summer to complete some of her research, but COVID derailed those plans. So, she and her team of students came up with another idea that will […]
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Alumnus’ Advocacy Secures Garbage Truck To Improve Dominican Republic Sanitation
By WHITNEY CHISHOLM ’17 The Dominican Republic holds a special place in my heart, going all the way back to high school when I was introduced to the future mayor of Santo Domingo. I stayed in close contact with the island for years and eventually landed a position as the city’s U.S. liaison. It was […]
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New Study: Face-Covering Use Up, More People Are Taking COVID-19 Threats Seriously
A new National Science Foundation-funded survey of six states has found that during the past two months, more people are wearing masks, vaccine uncertainty is on the rise, and many people are overestimating their risk of becoming seriously ill and dying from COVID-19. The results are in a new report published this month by the […]
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UCF Researcher to Build a System that Identifies Habitable Planets Based on the Color They Emit
Only a handful of the roughly 4,000 identified planets outside our solar system can potentially support human life — what experts call “habitable exoplanets” — but astronomers are certain there are many more. The best candidates were found when they crossed in front of the star they orbit. A silhouette is hard to analyze for […]
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UN Communications Coordination Committee Taps Psychology Faculty For Board Position
Associate Lecturer Chrysalis Wright, Ph.D., serves as the Honors in the Major program coordinator for the Department of Psychology. She was recently elected to the board of directors at the Communications Coordination Committee for the United Nations. In an interview with the College of Sciences, Wright shared the latest developments in her research into fake […]
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Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Food
Kicking off this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month celebration is Sociology Professor Fernando Rivera, Ph.D. director of the Puerto Rico Research Hub. Join Rivera as he shows us how to make a staple of Puerto Rican cuisine: bacalaitos. Bacalaitos, also known as fried codfish fritters, are flavorful and easy to make! Here’s how it’s done. [youtube v=”epiJdrJ64Jc”] […]
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Arboretum Donation Inspired By Work of Granddaughter
Kelsie Johnson’s thumb was decidedly not green growing up. So it was all the more surprising to her grandparents when Johnson ‘16 announced she was pursuing horticulture and environmental conservation as a career. “Kelsie has always been outgoing, but never did we picture her becoming involved in the Arboretum program or any of the outdoor […]
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Questioning Chemistry Benchmark Sets Stage for New Protocols
A little due diligence went a long way for a team of UCF chemists studying a fundamental catalytic reaction used by hundreds of research groups around the world. Assistant Professor Titel Jurca, Ph.D., and graduate student, Lorianne Shultz, in collaboration with Assistant Professors Melanie Beazley (UCF Chemistry) and Xiaofeng Feng (UCF Physics) published the initial […]
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New Equipment Expands Testing Capacity of REACT Cluster
By WILLIAM KADEN, PH.D. An interdisciplinary team of faculty led by Physics Assistant Professor William Kaden, Ph.D. has received funding to bring a new piece of equipment to UCF’s Materials Characterization Facility (MCF). The state-of-the-art Near-Ambient Pressure Xray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (NAP-XPS) apparatus – the only of its kind in the southeast U.S. – is made […]
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UCF Researchers Develop AI to Detect Fentanyl and Derivatives Remotely
To help keep first responders safe, University of Central Florida researchers have developed an artificial intelligence method that not only rapidly and remotely detects the powerful drug fentanyl, but also teaches itself to detect any previously unknown derivatives made in clandestine batches. The method, published recently in the journal Scientific Reports, uses infrared light spectroscopy […]
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UCF Offers Free Nature-themed VR and AR Applications to Help Students and Those Isolated Because of COVID-19
UCF is offering a free virtual reality environment and augmented reality app to help teachers supplement science lessons and provide some stress relief for those isolated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Maria Harrington, an information scientist and artist, created the applications as a way to advance virtual reality technology, while engaging the public in informal […]
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Semi-Metal Research Earns Physics Assistant Professor First NSF Career Grant
Physics Assistant Professor Yasuyuki Nakajima, Ph.D, has received his first National Science Foundation CAREER grant for research on semi-metal materials with characteristics of nematic superconductivity. “We are exploring materials that could potentially revolutionize information technology,” said Nakajima. “I formed the hypothesis that an unusual superconducting state called nematic superconductivity could be a key research ingredient […]
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Third Scholarship Recipient Chosen By National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation
A new scholarship for a Biology student will support her final undergraduate year studying and promoting sea turtle conservation. Christine Sarkis is the third 2020 recipient of the $10,000 scholarship from the National Save the Sea Turtle Foundation. She’s joined by two other students working in tandem with the UCF Marine Turtle Research Group, led […]
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New Scholarship Honors Legacy of Faculty Pioneer John T. Washington
A notable figure from UCF’s past is the inspiration behind a new scholarship created to help students build a brighter future. The name John T. Washington is probably familiar to campus visitors walking through the breezeway named in his honor, but his connection to UCF less so. Washington, Ph.D., was one of the first African […]
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New Grant Program for Grad Students Launched to Fund Research Fighting Social Injustice
Graduate students interested in developing social justice research projects have a new funding source through Citizen Science GIS in the Department of Sociology. The new initiative splits proposals into two areas: Amplify Knight Voices and Broaden Community Connections. Amplify Knight Voices funds projects that address “educational or environmental inequality; oppression; anti-racist practices and systems; and/or […]
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Alumna Blends Medicine and PoliSci To Create World-Changing Impact
At the intersection of political science and medicine sits the passion of Kezia Domond ’20, a recent UCF political science graduate with a calling to help those in underrepresented and underprivileged communities throughout the world. This upcoming fall, Domond takes a seat in Boston University’s Masters of Public Health program, where her hope is to […]
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Focus On Active Learning Improves Drop Rate for Calculus Classes
By ALLY FRIEDMAN A shift from rote memorization to active learning is producing measurable, positive results for students taking Calculus I. The Fall 2019 drop/add rate fell from UCF’s historical 54% to 18-22% across all calculus courses after Professor Eduardo Teixeira, Ph.D., deployed a technique called meaningful learning theory. The statistical majority grade also rose […]
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National Program Opens Door for More Underrepresented Students in Physics
When Taylor Douglas fell in love with physics and began to pursue it in college, she started to feel like an outsider. Most of her classmates were men and white. After earning her bachelor’s degree at Rowan University in New Jersey, she applied to several institutions to pursue a master’s degree, something only 6 percent […]
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Arecibo Observatory Returns from Tropical Storm Isaias Lockdown to Track Asteroid for NASA
The Earth has one less asteroid to worry about thanks to the research of an international team of scientists at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. Asteroid 2020 NK1 was spotted in early July by the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) survey team at the University of Hawaii. Little was known about the asteroid, […]
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Fellowship Opens Opportunity for Biology Grad Students to Test Drive Teaching
A new fellowship offered by the Department of Biology gives doctoral students the chance to experience what it’s like to be in charge of the classroom. The doctoral teaching fellowship debuts this fall, and walks Ph.D. candidates through the process of designing and teaching their own courses. Matthew Atkinson is one of the first to […]
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UCF Faculty Member Appointed to Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals
By ALEXANDRA SHIMALLA “I have desks all over the place,” laughed Eric Merriam. “I think I have four right now. I spend a lot of time at those desks.” Merriam is an associate professor, with a joint appointment to the Department of Legal Studies and the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs at UCF. […]
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COVID-19 Cases to Decline Beginning Next Month, UCF Research Finds
COVID-19 infection rates may be peaking in Orange County later this month and trending down toward December, according to new projections by data scientists at the University of Central Florida. The researchers from the Departments of Statistics and Data Science and Computer Science caution, however, that their projections — built using the latest artificial intelligence […]
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Research Team turns to Nanotechnology for Chemical Reaction Promoters
Noble metals, such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium are among the most versatile and efficient industrial catalysts for a large number of reactions, ranging from the purification of poisonous pollutants emitted by vehicle engines to the generation of commodity chemicals or clean energy resource, which benefits the environment and our society. But there’s a limited supply of noble […]