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Legendary Sargasso Sea May be Sea Turtles’ Destination during Mysterious ‘Lost Years’
New research indicates that the legendary Sargasso Sea, which includes part of the Bermuda Triangle and has long featured in fiction as a place where ships go derelict, may actually be an important nursery habitat for young sea turtles. In a study led by a University of Central Florida researcher and published today in the […]
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UCF Scientist to Complete 100+ Hours of Research on James Webb Space Telescope
When the James Webb Space Telescope launches later this year, UCF researcher Noemi Pinilla Alonso will be among a select group of scientists worldwide who will have more than 100 hours of observation time awarded to conduct her work. The JWST telescope, which has been described as NASA’s next great space telescope, is a hot […]
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138 Faculty Promoted Across the University
After going through a rigorous evaluation process, 138 UCF faculty have been promoted and 45 have been awarded tenure for the 2020-2021 cycle. The process for promotion and tenure takes nearly an entire academic year as faculty are evaluated on three main areas: research, teaching and service. At UCF there are many types of faculty […]
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UCF Forensic Scientists Unlocking Unique Chemical Signatures In Tires
Skid marks left by cars are often analyzed for their impression patterns, but they often don’t provide enough information to identify a specific vehicle. UCF Chemistry Associate Professor Matthieu Baudelet and his forensics team at the National Center for Forensic Science, which was established at UCF in 1997, may have just unlocked a new way […]
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Stout, Hancock Elected as Fellows of National Academy of Kinesiology
Two UCF faculty were recently honored as fellows of the National Academy of Kinesiology, a privilege considered the pinnacle career achievement in the discipline of kinesiology. Pegasus Professor Jeffrey Stout from the College of Health Professions and Sciences joins the 2021 class alongside the College of Sciences’ Pegasus Professor Peter Hancock. Both are the first academy fellows […]
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Reach for the Stars Honorees Pushing the Boundaries of Earth and Space
This year’s Reach for the Stars honorees really live up to the award name. They are tackling some huge problems and are conducting research that betters society and improves the possibilities of the human race. The five honorees are: making space travel safer to expand our species’ reach into the galaxy; figuring out how to […]
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2021 Founder’s Day Honorees
BY ALLISON HURTADO ’12 The Founders’ Day Awards celebrate the outstanding academic achievements of our faculty members and students. As we recognize these achievements, we remember the efforts of those women and men who made this university a reality, and we prepare for the accomplishments of the future. In an extraordinary time, our faculty and […]
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UCF Biologist Awarded Grant to Unlock Plant Defenses, Improve Food Supplies
UCF Biologist Chase Mason today was awarded a $450,000 grant from the Foundation for Food & Agricultural Research to turn around “audacious” food and agricultural research, which may lead to more sustainable food supplies. Mason’s project focuses on determining the genetic control mechanisms that induce a plant’s natural chemical defenses against harmful pests and pathogens. […]
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Cliffside Burial Mystery Continues Unraveling Through Laboratory Work
Ongoing work to unravel the secrets surrounding Peruvian cliffside burials is the focus of a recent feature in Archaeology Magazine. It’s been five years since Associate Professor J. Marla Toyne, Ph.D. returned to the Chachapoyas region in the Andes Mountains, but it hasn’t slowed down her investigation into why the ancient Chachapoya people created the […]
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New UCF Nanotech Gives Boost to Detection of Cancer and Disease
Early screening can mean the difference between life and death in a cancer and disease diagnosis. That’s why University of Central Florida researchers are working to develop a new screening technique that’s more than 300 times as effective at detecting a biomarker for diseases like cancer than current methods. The technique, which was detailed recently […]
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Math Professor is ‘Rock Star’ in the World of Physics, Thanks to New Stellar Wind Model
Not many people may imagine that an expertise in applied mathematics would make someone a “rock star.” But UCF mathematics Professor Bhimsen Shivamoggi is certainly a celebrity in the world of physics these days. American Scientist magazine this month notified Shivamoggi that a blog featuring his work — the first systematic theoretical formulation to describe […]
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Florida Academy of Sciences Names UCF Biologist as 2021 Medalist
The Florida Academy of Sciences today named UCF Biology Professor Linda Walters its 2021 Medalist during its annual conference. The Academy, which is an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, honors one Floridian each year based on the nominee’s contributions to the advancement of science and outstanding efforts to share that […]
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Deborah Beidel Receives Advocacy Award
UCF RESTORES, which began as a government-funded research initiative in 2011, has grown to serve as an invaluable resource to the Orlando community, the state of Florida and beyond. The nonprofit’s unique approach to treatment — including the first-of-its-kind (in the U.S.) three-week intensive outpatient program — combines exposure therapy, emerging technology, and one-on-one and […]
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U.S. Army Awards Psychology Professor For Human Factors Work
A psychology professor’s work at the intersection of people and machines recently earned him the U.S. Army’s Civilian Service Achievement Medal. Pegasus Professor and Provost Distinguished Research Professor Peter Hancock, Ph.D., specializes in human factors, a unique discipline that blends human behavior and engineering. It’s behind the design of everything from medical equipment to smartphones […]
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A First-of-its-Kind Camera to Investigate the Moon’s South Pole
A thermal infrared camera aboard a lunar lander scheduled to head to the moon as early as 2022 could help determine which regions on the lunar surface have water trapped in them. Assistant Professor of Physics Kerri Donaldson Hanna is working with University of Colorado Boulder Professor Paul Hayne on NASA’s Lunar Compact InfraRed Imaging […]
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2021 Women’s History Month Honorees
Each March, Faculty Excellence honors 31 women for their impact on students and UCF’s campus community. This year, as we continue to charge on during a pandemic, our women faculty have not wavered in their commitments as mentors, role models, friends, researchers and teachers. This blog post will be updated daily during the month of […]
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Nicholson Faculty Lend Expertise to Global Pandemic Communications
Today’s global pandemic was just a worst-case scenario when Deanna Sellnow, Ph.D., and Timothy Sellnow, Ph.D., developed a communications plan for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2006. Still, the husband and wife team, both faculty in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media, are encouraged they could play a part in how […]
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Toy Telescope Launches Career Hunting for Life on Exoplanets
It all started with an inexpensive toy telescope Theodora Karalidi’s father gave her when she was 5 years old. “I looked through it and I was wowed,” says Karalidi, an assistant professor of physics at the University of Central Florida. “To five-year-old me, it was like millions of sparkling stars and I was hooked. Of […]
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Pegasus Professor Accepted Into National Academy of Engineering
More than 30 years in the lab advancing our understanding of lasers recently earned Pegasus Professor Peter Delfyett, Ph.D., one of the highest recognitions in his industry: membership in the National Academy of Engineering. While there are other NAE members on UCF’s faculty, this is the first membership earned from work completed at the university […]
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Identifying Implicit Bias Today Sets Stage for Future Inclusion Success
In recognition of Black History Month, the College of Sciences asked the Department of Sociology to write a short editorial on its current work to address racism in the workplace. By Drs. Elizabeth Mustaine, Scott Carter, Shannon Carter, Amy Reckdenwald and Yingru Li Committing to anti-racism requires that we not only examine individual-level interactions that […]
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2 Teams Awarded 2020 Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Arts and Wellness Innovation Awards
Two projects aimed at helping educate first responders and communicating the importance of vaccinations to new parents have been named winners of the 2020 Pabst Steinmetz Foundation Arts and Wellness Innovation Awards. The awards, which each receive a $25,000 grant, were founded in 2018 by Orlando’s Pabst Steinmetz Foundation to recognize cross-disciplinary teams building sustainable […]
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UCF Data Team Advances to Finals of Global COVID-19 Competition
World leaders don’t have a crystal ball to help them predict how the pandemic will look in the coming months, but a team of UCF data scientists are working to provide the next best thing. A group of faculty and graduate students from the departments of Statistics and Data Science and Computer Science have advanced with 47 other […]
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UCF Satellite Launches Successfully into Space from Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne Rocket
University of Central Florida planetary science continues its ascent as a leader in space research with another high-profile flight, this time aboard Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne, which was blasted into orbit Sunday from the company’s 747 carrier aircraft, Cosmic Girl. The launch took place at 10:50 a.m. at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. […]
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UCF Faculty Collaborate to Provide Students Free Course Materials
Textbooks and other required course materials can add significantly to the cost of a college degree, and UCF faculty are doing what they can to help. During the Fall 2020 semester, at least 31 faculty members provided their required course materials at no cost to students through the use of open educational resources (OER). These […]
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DNA Analysis From Chemistry Lab Provides Water Insights for Orange County, Orlando
Chemistry Assistant Professor Melanie Beazley, Ph.D., and her team have developed a groundbreaking biochemical analysis to identify excess contaminants and nutrients in Orlando’s local lakes caused by native Florida birds. The research, done in collaboration with Orange County and the City of Orlando, uses the DNA of contaminant-inducing agents against specific biomarkers to identify and […]
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Online Class Revamp Earns Psychology Lecturer Top Marks from UCF
UCF prides itself on the quality of its online learning, but the competition was extra steep in 2020 when digital instruction became the widespread norm. So it’s all the more impressive when the Department of Psychology’s Martha Hubertz, Ph.D., landed the annual award for exemplary leadership in online teaching. Hubertz received the Chuck Dzubian Award […]
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UCF Developed Sensor Passes First Test, On Track for Future Moon Missions
A prototype sensor that detects Moon dust by shooting lasers through the sky has successfully completed its first hurdle. That means UCF is one step closer to building the real instrument that could fly to the moon on a future mission. UCF researchers designed the Ejecta STORM instrument to scan the area around a lunar […]
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UCF Researchers Earn Top Spots in Their Fields in New Ranking of Scientific Impact
Three University of Central Florida researchers are among the world’s top 25 scholars in their field, and 100 are in the top 2%, according to a new study ranking career-long scientific impact of researchers from around the globe. The study, which appeared recently in the journal PLOS Biology, used a composite indicator based on six […]
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Founder of UCF Nanoscience Center Inducted Into National Academy of Inventors
Founding Director and Professor of the UCF Nanoscience Technology Center, James J. Hickman, Ph.D., has been honored as an inductee of the National Academy of Inventors for his outstanding contributions in the fields of both biological and non-biological nanoscience. UCF recruited Hickman in 2004 to establish the NanoScience Technology Center following recognition for his work […]
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New Book Provides Lifeline for Students Learning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
By NIKITTA CAMPBELL Students interested in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) now have another good reference book to help them get started: the Fundamentals of Recoupling and Decoupling Techniques in Solid-State NMR. The book by Physics Associate Professor Physics faculty Bo Chen, Ph.D., was just published by the American Institute of Physics, LLC (AIP). The book […]