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Taking Risks Translates Into Rewarding Career For PoliSci Graduate
Fausto Cardenas, ’18, said it was the risks they took as a UCF student that taught them the road to change is built on taking chances. Born in Ecuador, Cardenas moved to the U.S. with their mother at age 4. Cardenas said their mother always had at least two jobs to support them during […]
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Gizmodo Taps Anthro Prof for Take On Dangerous Food
Quick. What’s a hefty fruit that can not only kill you with the wicked one-inch thorns on its thick exterior, but is so sulfurous on the inside that eating high concentrations could also prove lethal? If you guessed Southeast Asia’s durian fruit, you’re right. It was also Ty Matejowsky’s choice when he was approached by […]
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Botany Class Takes Students Outside Classroom
We walk by them every day, but most of us would be hard-pressed to identify, much less scientifically classify, the trees and flowers we see. Elizabeth Harris calls it “plant blindness.” “Our goal was to get students outside and actually open their eyes to what’s in their environment,” said Harris, Ph.D., a Biology associate […]
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Bottle Collection Sparks Lifelong Passion for Archaeology
Amanda Groff was certain in high school she had found the lost city of Atlantis. It was plotted on a map right next to all the ancient sites she would visit as a future archaeologist. “I was fortunate to grow up with a lot of curiosity in me. And I was doubly fortunate to […]
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Fall ’18 Ph.D. Graduates Honored At Reception
Seventeen students graduating with their doctorate degrees were honored at a reception Thursday. Dean Michael Johnson, Ph.D., along with the students’ faculty advisors and family celebrated the graduation with individual recognition and a champagne toast. Click here to view the full gallery of photos. The students are: Physics Daniel Bonior, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Eduardo […]
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Research Builds Molecular Profile of Proteins Linked to Alzheimer’s
In the search for a cause and cure for Alzheimer’s, it’s key to fully understand your suspects. That’s the objective of a joint research project between the colleges of Sciences and Medicine, which is focusing on the proteins commonly found in the brains of people with the neurodegenerative disease. Certain proteins and their shorter versions, […]
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UCF Research Flies Aboard 1st Virgin Galactic Space Flight
By ROBERT WELLS Virgin Galactic launched its first rocket into space today carrying a crew of two along with NASA-supported research projects, including one from the University of Central Florida. “It’s always exciting when you have something about to go up on a rocket,” says Joshua Colwell, a UCF physics professor whose research was […]
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Graduating Venezuelan Transfer Student Inspired to Start Nonprofit
By NICOLE DUDENHOFFER Nearing the end of any collegiate journey is typically a joyous time for most students. After years of juggling classes, working on projects and studying for exams, the end goal — a degree and chance at a better future — is within sight. However in 2016, when clinical psychology major Jennifer Martinez de […]
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Archaeology Is Family Affair For Husband-Wife Team
Some couples meet on a blind date, or get together through matchmaker friends. Others connect in in the Guatemalan jungle while studying pre-Columbian ruins. “Yeah, our story is a little atypical,” laughs Brigitte Kovacevich, Ph.D., who teaches along with her husband, Michael Callaghan, Ph.D., in the Anthropology Department. The couple became friends as students at Vanderbilt […]
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Undergrads Land Top Prizes At SHORE Conference
Julia Carlin is finding the big picture in something only visible under a microscope. The Biology senior‘s research into the harmful effects of microplastics on Indian River Lagoon wildlife was the subject of an award-winning presentation given at the SHORE conference Nov. 30 in New Smyrna Beach. Specifically, Carlin’s first-place oral presentation detailed how birds […]
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UCF Research Leads to Ban on Harmful Sunscreens
By Robert Wells The island Republic of Palau in the western Pacific Ocean is the first nation to ban environmentally harmful sunscreens, effective 2020, to protect one of the world’s most diverse marine ecosystems. Anyone selling banned sunscreens after the date will be hit with a $1,000 fine. The goal is to protect the islands’ […]
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COS Alums Among OBJ’s 40 Under 40
BY NICOLE DUDENHOEFER ’17 AND JENNA MARINA LEE Four College of Sciences alumni were among those honored at the Orlando Business Journal 40 Under 40 Awards, an annual celebration that recognizes successful professional who have created a big impact within their industry and in the local community. Honorees were selected from a group of nominees submitted […]
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COS Alumni Recognized For Career Achievements
Ten College of Sciences alumni were recognized Thursday for their career achievements at the 2018-19 Distinguished Alumni Awards. “Tonight’s awardees were selected based on their professional achievement, exceptional community service and reflection of the college’s mission to expand knowledge in the sciences, mathematical sciences, and communications,” COS Dean Michael Johnson, Ph.D., told the audience gathered […]
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K-12 Students Get Hands-On Civics Lesson With Mock Election
More than 245,000 K-12 students got a hands-on lesson in civic duty this year through a partnership between UCF’s Lou Frey Institute and Kids Voting USA. The students were spread out across 28 school districts that hosted mock elections this year using a ballot that reflected all the statewide races. The ballot was editable […]
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UCF Physics Alum Highlights the Importance of Workplace Accessibility
By: Nicole Dudenhoefer For many college graduates, finding a job within their field can seem just as daunting as earning a degree. But that task can be even more difficult for people with disabilities, considering last year’s unemployment rate for the group (9.2 percent) was more than twice the rate of those with no disabilities (4.2 […]
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IBM Partnership Boosts GeoBus
A first-of-its-kind mobile science laboratory recently received a big boost in funding thanks to a new community partner in IBM. The GeoBus is a 42-foot bus that, when complete, will be filled with technology like mini-drones, an augmented reality sandbox and virtual reality goggles that bring the world of mapping and geospatial technologies to […]
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Students Build International Bridges Through Filmmaking
Sponsorships from the India Center at UCF opened up the opportunity for eight students to travel to India this summer and grow their filmmaking chops. Six undergraduate and two graduate film students joined film professor and Fulbright Scholar Phil Peters in Kolkata on an innovative research project conducted by The India Documentary Lab. The […]
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New UCF, Moroccan University Partnership to Develop Exchange Programs
The international partnership will promote faculty exchanges, joint classes, research and other activities. By Gene Kruckemyer UCF and Al Akhawayn University in Morocco signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday creating an international partnership to promote faculty exchanges, joint classes, research and other activities. The agreement was signed by UCF President Dale Whittaker and AUI […]
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MyPoliticalScience Day Kicks off Second Event for Political Science Students
The Political Science department hosted its second myPoliticalScience Day in the Student Union on September 28. The event informed students about academic, extra-curricular, and career opportunities for students enrolled in Political Science and International & Global Studies, which are both housed in the Political Science department. The Political Science department held its first MyPoliticalScience Day […]
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UCF Selling Experimental Martian Dirt — $20 a Kilogram, Plus Shipping
The University of Central Florida is selling Martian dirt, $20 a kilogram plus shipping. This is not fake news. A team of UCF astrophysicists has developed a scientifically based, standardized method for creating Martian and asteroid soil known as simulants. The team published its findings this month in the journal Icarus. “The simulant is useful […]
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UCF RESTORES Clinic Receives Grant to Develop New VR Software to Treat PTSD
By Robert Wells A new $3 million grant from the Department of Defense will help the University of Central Florida’s RESTORES clinic develop its own virtual reality software to treat first responders, veterans, active duty personnel and civilians with post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related disorders. The clinic currently uses third-party software. However, the […]
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UCF Student Studies Algal Blooms Impact on Sea Turtles in Indian River Lagoon
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Long before the algal blooms on Florida’s Gulf Coast sparked surprise and outrage, University of Central Florida doctoral student Chris Long was studying the effects of similar episodes on threatened green sea turtles in the Indian River Lagoon. Algae blooms regularly hit the Indian River Lagoon and were especially intense from 2011 […]
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UCF Lecturer’s Service-Learning Research is Cover of Academic Journal
By Rachel Stamford A UCF chemistry lecturer’s pioneering service-learning research on sucralose in the Orlando Easterly Wetlands has put her on the cover of a premier academic journal. Dr. Emily Heider was a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Central Florida developing sensors to detect mercury in water before she was hired in 2015 […]
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The 2018-19 Distinguished Speaker Series is Here!
The UCF College of Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series is back for its fifth edition. Starting in September, six speakers will present on new technology and research in their respective fields. The 2018-2019 series will be held monthly (excluding November and December) at the Tuscawilla Country Club from September 2018 to April 2019 at […]
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International Study Suggests Ancient Globalization
Using energy consumption as a measure, a team of international scientists has found that ancient civilizations engaged in globalization more than previously believed, suggesting that an integrated global economy is nothing new and may have benefited societies for ages. This archaeological research is the first of its kind, because instead of focusing on specific regions […]
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UCF’s International Chemistry Exchange Program Changing Lives
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Carlos Salazar is wrapping up a month-long educational experience in one of UCF’s chemistry labs this week – and he says it has changed his life. “I had only read about computational chemistry and chemistry modeling back home” in Peru, Salazar says. “We don’t really have access to that, but now I’m […]
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UCF RESTORES PTSD Clinic Renamed
By Rachel Williams The PTSD clinic of UCF RESTORES has been renamed in honor of alumnus Jim Rosengren ‘81 and his wife Julia, who donated $1 million to the clinic. In a ceremony Friday, the Rosengrens and Deborah Beidel, the clinic’s director and a Pegasus professor of psychology, unveiled the new name: Rosengren Trauma Clinic […]
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Digging Up Rosewood
Anthropology visiting lecturer Edward Gonzalez-Tennant, Ph.D., spent the last decade of his life researching what happened almost a century ago in Rosewood, Florida. The recent release of his book, The Rosewood Massacre: An Archaeology and History of Intersectional Violence, and the last remaining house from Rosewood that was just put on the market, have brought the town […]
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Researchers Receive $1.25 Million Grant to Map Marine Ecosystems With Drones
By Rachel Wimmer You may soon be able to spot UCF drones collecting data all along the Pacific coast — from Baja California to Alaska. Timothy Hawthorne, assistant professor of GIS in the Department of Sociology, and his collaborators at the Smithsonian Institution, Cornell University and the University of California-Davis recently received a $1.25 million grant […]
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Pluto a Planet? New Research from UCF Suggests Yes
By Robert H. Wells The reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid, according to new research from the University of Central Florida. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union, a global group of astronomy experts, established a definition of a planet that required it to “clear” its orbit, or in other words, be the […]