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From Dust to Outer Space
Story by Zenaida Kotala Adrienne Dove, a University of Central Florida assistant professor in the physics department, recently was awarded NASA’s Susan Mahan Niebur Early Career Award for her research on microgravity and dusty plasmas, collisions and planet formation. Her work is helping scientists who have been puzzled for decades understand some mechanisms of dust […]
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Faculty’s Notable Award Recognition
RIA Awardees The University of Central Florida Research Incentive Awards (RIA) program supports outstanding research, scholarly and creative activity that advances the body of knowledge in a particular field, including interdisciplinary research and collaborations. The below faculty members were recognized for their contributions to UCF’s key goal of achieving international prominence in research and creative activities. […]
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Physics’ Vertex Model for Speedy Solutions
Story by Mark Schlueb A well-known computational problem seeks to find the most efficient route for a traveling salesman to visit clients in a number of cities. Seemingly simple, it’s actually surprisingly complex and much studied, with implications in fields as wide-ranging as manufacturing and air-traffic control. Researchers from the University of Central Florida and […]
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Rising Stars
The COS Dean’s Distinguished Researcher and Rising Star Awards recognize the efforts of the most ‘research productive’ faculty and the outstanding value that they bring to their classroom teaching, as well as to the unambiguous value of the research mentorship that they offer to undergraduate and graduate students that are their apprentices. The applicants must have […]
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Lunar Knights Compete in NASA Robotic Competition
By Rachel Williams University of Central Florida students who make up the Lunar Knights Mining Club will compete this month in NASA’s national Robotic Mining Competition that was developed to help in the exploration of Mars. The eighth annual competition is May 22-26 at Kennedy Space Center. About 50 student teams from across the country […]
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New Program Teaches Students Civics
Middle school students across the state of Florida and all over the United States are learning civics through a program developed by the University of Central Florida’s Lou Frey Institute. Civics360 is an interactive civics review website provided by the Lou Frey Institute’s Florida Joint Center for Citizenship. It evolved from the Escambia County Civics […]
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Researchers with UCF Connections Honored with Asteroid Names
Original story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala. The University of Central Florida hosts a chapter of an out-of-this-world club, which recently grew by two. Planetary astronomer Noemi Pinilla-Alonso from the Florida Space Institute and UCF alumna Emily Kramer were honored when asteroids were named after them to recognize their contributions to planetary science research. That increases the […]
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Sociology Students Impress at Geographers Conference
University of Central Florida sociology students presented their remarkable research at the American Association of Geographers Conference in Boston, Massachusetts, held in April, 2017. Geographers, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) specialists, environmental scientists and more gather at the annual conference for the latest in research and applications in geography, sustainability and GIScience. Sociology students Kenisha Johnson, […]
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UCF Chemistry Professor Discovers Energy Breakthrough
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala, UCF Today A chemistry professor in Florida has just found a way to trigger the process of photosynthesis in a synthetic material, turning greenhouse gases into clean air and producing energy all at the same time. The process has great potential for creating a technology that could significantly reduce greenhouse […]
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COS Undergrads Shine at Showcase
Every year, the UCF Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, presented by the Division of Teaching and Learning, celebrates undergraduate research and creativity across the curriculum. The showcase gave University of Central Florida undergraduate students the opportunity to present their research and creative projects to the university community. Students from all fields and disciplines gathered at […]
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COS Faculty Join Elite Society
Eight University of Central Florida College of Sciences faculty were inducted into the Scroll and Quill Society on April 13, 2017. The society honors faculty members who have brought positive national and/or international attention to the university through their scholarly work. The faculty who were recognized have demonstrated sustained scholarly contributions over a period of […]
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UCF’s Conservation Efforts Highlighted by SeaWatch
Research conducted by University of Central Florida Department of Biology Pegasus Professor Linda Walters, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow Melinda Donnelly, Ph.D., and Winter Springs High School teacher Paul Sacks, Ph.D., was recognized in the Coastal Conservation Association’s (CCA) spring 2017 publication of SeaWatch. Walters has been an advocate for marine conservation for many years. She is […]
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Founders’ Day Honors Top Faculty, Staff, Students
University of Central Florida’s Founders’ Day Honors Convocation recognizes faculty, staff members and students for outstanding teaching, research, professional service and years of dedication to the university. Awards included the Pegasus Professor Award presented to College of Sciences Associate Dean Jana Jasinski, Ph.D., the UCF Reach for the Stars Award presented to UCF Biology Assistant […]
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COS Associate Dean Named Pegasus Professor
University of Central Florida College of Sciences Associate Dean Jana Jasinski, Ph.D., is one of five professors who joined a distinguished group of faculty members at the university this year: Pegasus Professor Award recipients. Jasinski and the other awardees were honored at the 2017 Founders’ Day celebration on April 5 in the Student Union’s Pegasus […]
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COS Professor Honored with Reach for the Stars Award
Kate Mansfield, Ph.D., is one of five of the University of Central Florida’s brightest early career professors. She was honored for her cutting-edge research, including her internationally recognized study of sea turtle migration. She received the Reach for the Stars Award as part of the celebration of Founders’ Day on April 5, 2017. President John C. […]
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NSC Professor’s Long-Term Research Earns National Recognition
Story by Nicholson News Melissa Dodd, Ph.D., has blazed the trail for research in corporate activism, a term that she has coined. Corporate activism, previously known as corporate social responsibility, takes an in-depth look at how corporations and businesses become engaged in social conversations and activism. Dodd’s research sheds light on the relationships between business, government […]
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Diverse Audiences & Cultural Understanding Highlight ICRCC
Story by Nicholson News When your conference theme focuses on “Megacrises,” you can be sure you’re going to be looking at the big picture. But one of the key takeaways from the seventh annual International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference was to also look at individuals and how they process megacrises differently from one another. […]
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UCF Team Studied Sea Urchins to Restore Reefs
A team of scientists from the University of Central Florida Department of Biology had its five year research project on endangered sea urchins published in the Bulletin of Marine Science. The research conducted by biology undergraduate student at the time Luke Chandler, along with Associate Professor Eric Hoffman, Ph.D., and Pegasus Professor Linda Walters, Ph.D., […]
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UCF Physics Team Finds Solution for Celestial Radiation
University of Central Florida Department of Physics Professor Dan Britt, Ph.D., and UCF planetary sciences doctoral student Leos Pohl believe there is an alternative to battling radiation in space. Research of the UCF scientists was recently featured in a New Scientist article, ‘Asteroid clay is a better space radiation shield than aluminium,’ published March 14, […]
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Pictures Worth a Contest Win
Three students and one lecturer were the winners of the Department of Biology’s photo contest this year. It comes as no surprise that these remarkable photos were chosen by the judges as the winners of the contest. “Orlando Wetlands Park is a particularly special place for me. It’s a nice, close place to campus that I’ve used […]
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Robots and Trust Issues
The expertise of Florian Jentsch, Ph.D., associate dean of the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida, was recently cited in an article on the Inverse web site. Jentsch, a psychology professor at UCF with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology and the Institute for Simulation and Training, specializes in human-automation […]
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Non-traditional Student Trades Computers for Career In Conservation Biology
After a 27-year career in software development, Orlando, Fla. resident Suzanne Connor faced a real challenge. The mother of two was laid off. “My last two years of my job, I was so unhappy,” Connor said. “I was kind of relieved when I was laid off. I knew I needed to find something that would […]
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UCF STEMS Throughout Florida Education
The University of Central Florida’s Center for Initiatives in STEM hosted the 12th annual Florida Engineering Education Conference on March 3, 2017. Over 200 teachers and professionals from all over Florida flocked to UCF’s Student Union to discuss teaching science, technology, engineering and math. The College of Engineering and Computer Science started the conference in […]
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UCF RESTORES to Host PTSD Seminar
UCF RESTORES and the National Alliance on Mental Illness of Greater Orlando will present a post-traumatic stress disorder awareness seminar on March 23 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. This seminar will be held in Classroom Building II room 206 on UCF’s main campus. UCF RESTORES is a clinical research center dedicated to the study of all […]
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Archaeologist Uses Satellites to Protect Ancient Sites
Story by Mark Schlueb, UCF Today University of Central Florida archaeologist Scott Branting, Ph.D., has gotten his hands dirty on plenty of digs, but some of his most important work now involves satellites instead of shovels. Since 2014, Branting has been a principal investigator on a U.S. Department of State project meant to track damage […]
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UCF’s Crime Lab Combats Human Trafficking Through Research
UCF Department of Sociology’s “crime lab,” a team of faculty and students, is trying to help police and nonprofit agencies better understand human trafficking in hopes of stopping it. While human trafficking is the latest crime the UCF team is tackling, it has been working with all sorts of crime data. The team works with […]
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UCF Physics Shines at APS Bridge Conference
The University of Central Florida’s Department of Physics was well represented at this year’s annual conference of the American Physical Society Bridge Program. Physics faculty and students made UCF proud with their participation and outstanding presentations at the conference held Feb. 10-12, 2017 in College Park, Maryland. The event included talks on physics graduate education, […]
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NCFS Hosts Laser Ablation Workshop
University of Central Florida researchers Matthieu Baudelet, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry, and Mauro Martinez, Ph.D., postdoctoral associate at the National Center for Forensic Science, presented at a workshop on Laser Ablation for Forensic Science Applications. The event was hosted by UCF’s National Center for Forensic Science on Feb. 8 and 9, 2017. The event, […]
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UCF Health’s Integrated Service Makes Headlines
Two University of Central Florida and UCF Health faculty are making headlines for their work and development of an integrated behavioral health service. News segments on WNDU in Indiana and KIMT in Iowa and Minnesota aired featuring Cerissa Blaney, Ph.D., and Maria Cannarozzi, M.D. The segments highlighted how the integrated system helped one of their […]
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Open Reef Drones Take on Environmental Conservation
Geographic information systems (GIS), and related geospatial technologies like drones, are being used to do wonders for our planet. With the growing issue of climate change and over-development, University of Central Florida researchers have taken the initiative to protect the areas with the greatest risks: islands and coastal areas. UCF Assistant Professor of GIS in […]