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Fall ’22 Doctoral Candidates Honored By Associate Dean
A traditional toast and individual recognition from Associate Dean Teresa Dorman , Ed.D., sent 22 doctoral graduates into the next chapter of their careers. In her remarks, she said, “You have what it takes to be successful. You worked very hard for a very long time . . . but now you are done. Savor […]
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UCF Researchers Eagerly Awaiting First James Webb Space Telescope Images
UCF physics graduate student Olga Harrington Pinto is counting down the minutes until July 12. She is one of eight UCF researchers and one alumna who will be using the world’s mightiest space telescope as soon as NASA gives the go-ahead on Thursday. That’s when final checks on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) should […]
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Doctoral Candidate Receives FEMA Advanced Poster Award
BY: SARA BELLIGONI Emmitsburg, Maryland, 9 June 2022 School of Politics Security and International Affairs doctoral candidate Sara Belligoni received the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Advanced Poster Award while participating in the 24th FEMA Higher Education Symposium in Emmitsburg, Maryland. At the Symposium, held at the National Emergency Training Center, Belligoni presented her […]
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SPSIA Awards Two Graduate Students for Outstanding Work
The School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs recently recognized two graduate students for outstanding work in the terms of Summer and Fall 2021 and Spring 2022. Andrew Boutton, Ph.D., the MA Program Coordinator, chaired the committee that selected Gabriella Cuber and Craig Wilding to receive the Outstanding MA Thesis and Pollock-Ellsworth Award for […]
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UCF’s First Anthropology Ph.D. Graduate Looks Forward to Career
Jane Holmstrom is looking forward to a career that looks back in time when she graduates this weekend with UCF’s first integrative anthropological sciences doctorate degree. Her journey to Saturday’s hooding ceremony began twelve years ago when she took her first anthropology classes as an undergrad at Minnesota’s St. Cloud State University. That ignited a […]
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Fellowships Equip Students for Careers in Nuclear Chemistry
Three nuclear chemistry students will spend their summer deepening their expertise through fellowships with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The fellowships are based on their research and specialty, with Kyle Morgan and Ian Russell working in the DOE Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) and Jordan Stanberry working with the DOE Lawrence Livermore National Lab […]
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UCF’s First Ph.D. in Big Data Analytics Walks the Commencement Stage This Week
Big data can reveal clues to solving big problems. Patrick (Phuong) Pho ’18MS has used big data to develop models to prevent electricity theft and tampering. He also used it to predict major depressive disorder using genotyping data and he’s used it to develop models that forecast wait times at Walt Disney World attractions. He’s […]
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Student Research Week: Preserving History Through Field Work and Technology
Alexander Nalewaik ’21 enrolled at UCF as an undergraduate with one thing in mind. He wanted to merge his love of history, people and the outdoors into a major that would lead to a great career. Fast forward a few years and the anthropology alum is now pursuing a master’s degree in the field while […]
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26 Exemplary Students Awarded 2022 Order of Pegasus
Twenty-six students — ranging in disciplines from engineering to biology to education and others across the institution — have been named as 2021-22 recipients of the Order of Pegasus, UCF’s most prestigious student award for those who display incredible academic achievement, university involvement, leadership and community service. This year’s honorees joined UCF already having accomplished […]
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UCF Student Nanotech Team Designs Space Suit Material for NASA Competition
A group of six University of Central Florida students and alums from a range of fields designed and won the Best Technical Poster award as finalists in NASA’s recent Lunar Dust Challenge. They received the honor after NASA’s 2021 Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge Virtual Forum in November 2021. As part of NASA’s […]
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Fall ’21 Ph.D. Grads Given Warm Sendoff In Return of Longstanding COS Tradition
Eight doctorate graduates were given a warm congratulations and sendoff Thursday in a continuation of a longstanding College of Sciences’ tradition. The final toast was led by new COS Dean Maggy Tomova. Click here to see the full gallery of photos. Below is the full list of Ph.D. graduates for Fall 2021. Security Studies Tutku […]
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UCF Grad Student Leaves No Stone Unturned to Advance Space Exploration
This Knight leaves no stone unturned, not even on the moon. Autumn Shackelford is a physics doctoral student studying planetary bodies without atmospheres. Specifically, she is looking at the surface composition of the moon and Mercury. Being the first in her family to pursue the sciences, the Tennessee native was deeply influenced by science museums […]
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New Resource Makes It Easier to Find Research Collaborators Across Colleges
The Office of the Provost and the Office of Research have partnered to provide those conducting research and creative works at UCF a new resource — the Scholar Expertise Portal. The portal allows faculty and students to see what kind of research and creative works their fellow colleagues are working on. You can search by […]
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Students Sought for UCF’s First Graduate Student Advisory Council
UCF is looking for students to serve on its new Graduate Student Advisory Council launching this fall. Serving on the council is an opportunity to share experiences, identify and suggest solutions to challenges unique to graduate students, and to make recommendations to the College of Graduate Studies to build a welcoming and inclusive graduate community. […]
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Congratulations to the Summer 2021 Doctoral Graduates
Biology Jordan Dowell, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Chase Mason, Ph.D. and Pedro Quintana-Ascencio, Ph.D. Dissertation: “Genetics and Evolution of Specialized Metabolism In Wild and Cultivated Helianthus.” Christopher Long, Ph.D., faculty advisor, Katherine Mansfield, Ph.D. Dissertation: “Long-Term Changes in Juvenile Green Turtle Abundance and Foraging Ecology in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida.” Chemistry Sajia Afrin, Ph.D., faculty […]
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Radioactive Contaminant Research Receives Boost from American Chemical Society
New research on radioactive iodine has received the American Chemical Society Award in Environmental Chemistry. Ilana Szlamkowicz recently received the award for her research in the fate of iodine, a radioactive contaminant that results from nuclear fission in the environment. “We’re trying to find ways to lower the risk of people encountering radioactive iodine,” Szlamkowicz […]
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Study of Medieval Migration Moves Forward with NSF Grant
A deep dive into the evolution of Christianity in medieval France will continue unabated thanks to a new NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. The $19,986 grant funds the work of bioarchaeology student Jane Holmstrom, whose research centers on two cemeteries in the remnants of Saint-Jean-de-Todon, near Laudun, France. Holmstrom’s research to date is built […]
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Fellowship Fuels Future Forage Fish Research
An ongoing study into the intricate food webs of Florida’s coastal environments recently received a boost from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The $15,000 fellowship was awarded to Biology graduate student Kira Allen, who is writing a thesis on the impact of freshwater diversion and sea level rise on Apalachicola Bay. […]
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UCF Physics Bridge Program Produces 2nd and 3rd Graduates
By NIKITTA CAMPBELL The UCF Physics Bridge Program continues to produce successful graduates, with two of its Ph.D. students becoming the second and third UCF participants to graduate from the American Physics Society (APS) Bridge Program. Fernand Torres-Davila and Brian Zamarripa Roman walk the stage at the end of the summer semester. The Physics Department […]
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Forensic Hair Research Wins Recognition for NCFS Graduate Student
A forensics graduate student has earned the Forensics Sciences Foundation’s Emerging Forensic Scientist Award for his research on hair and color texture analysis. The research provides a quantitative method to analyze texture and color in hair strands. Associate Professor of Chemistry and Forensic Science Candice Bridge, Ph.D., characterizes David Funes’ research as a “solid step […]
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Ph.D. Grad Uses Grit and Determination to Forge Own Path to Medical Residency
Mahboob Ur-Rehman often heard “no” on the journey to his doctorate degree, but the physics student has a knack for opening closed doors. Ur-Rehman adds Ph.D. to his name at the end of this semester, a remarkable achievement for someone who left school during the 10th grade. A brief attempt at becoming an […]
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Archaeology Student Finds Unique Training Opportunity In Ocala National Forest
A U.S. Navy veteran pursuing his master’s degree in archaeology will serve his country in a different way this Spring. Anthropology student Taylor Collore will participate in a stewardship with the U.S. Forest Services and work directly with government officials to protect the Ocala National Forest. “Serving my country and giving back is something I […]
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Prestigious Fellowship Opens Fresh Opportunities For Nuclear Studies Ph.D. Student
Doreen Horschig, a doctoral candidate in the Security Studies program, has been awarded the Roger L. Hale Fellowship. This highly competitive one-year fellowship provides an exemplary individual with an outstanding opportunity to develop professional skills by working at a leading peace and security institution. She was also recently accepted into the Nuclear Scholars Initiative by […]
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Lab Work by Chemistry Student Sets Up Future Success Against Drug-Resistant Bacteria
Recent UCF graduate, Michael Greenberg ’20, is the recipient of the January Distinguished Undergraduate Research Award for his work on functionally engineered deoxyribozymes and their biomedical applications. With an interest in the medical sciences, Greenberg dove headfirst into his research opportunity with Department of Chemistry’s Yulia Gerasimova, Ph.D, and her accompanying research group. “A close […]
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Tips for Living With Academic and Pandemic Stress
Stress is a fact of life, but there are circumstances that make it worse. A global pandemic, national unrest and individual life challenges all compound our feelings of stress. Added to that is another academic and work semester separated from campus for many members of the UCF community. In this editorial piece, clinical psychology […]
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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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McKnight Fellowship Aids Research on Defining Science Success
A Physics graduate student is redefining what success looks like with the help of minority academics and the McKnight Dissertation Fellowship. Brian Zamarripa Roman traces his fascination with the cosmos to childhood, but it was only recently that he noticed the lack of representation in the scientific community — specifically, scientists who looked like him. […]
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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 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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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 […]