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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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Celebrity Political Endorsements Have Their Pros and Cons
Pop musician Taylor Swift made headlines this week when she broke her longstanding silence on political issues and urged her Instagram followers to register to vote. Her plea — along with her endorsement of two candidates in upcoming Tennessee races for U.S. Senate and House—coincided with more than 166,000 new voter registrations between Sunday […]
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Reflecting on Hurricane Maria One Year Later
By: Dr. Fernando Rivera Associate Professor of Sociology Director, Puerto Rico Research Hub I clearly remember speaking on the phone with my father the day before Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico. I felt reassured knowing he had all of the essentials to withstand the impact of the storm, and I was confident we would speak […]
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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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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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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 RESTORES PTSD Clinic Renamed
By Rachel Williams The PTSD clinic of UCF RESTORES has been renamed in honor of alumus 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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OSIRIS-REx on Final Approach to Bennu
There’s no better tool to teach students about physics than to see it at work in the real world. That’s why UCF professor Humberto Campins decided to teach this semester despite the heavy research load he knows will be coming. “I thought about taking time off to complete my work for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission,” Campins […]
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Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation honors Larry Bradley ’94 for his contributions to space exploration Larry Bradley once discovered the most distant galaxy in the universe (at the time). Now he will be recognized by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation at the Innovators Gala in Washington D.C. on Aug. 25. Bradley has been selected as the recipient of […]
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UCF Coastal Working to Find Solutions for our Coastal Communities
By Rachel Stamford Recently, Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency due to red tide, a toxic algae bloom, that is devastating the southwestern coast of Florida. The UCF National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, also known as UCF Coastal, will serve as a mechanism to find solutions to this problem and many […]
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Screening Frogs for Infectious Disease
An undergraduate researcher has developed a method to screen frogs for an infectious disease that has been linked to mass die-offs of frogs around the world. Thanks to her method, scientists will be able to track the disease and try to figure out why it is triggering the deaths. Emily Karwacki, who recently earned her […]
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Arecibo With an Expanded View
The National Science Foundation has awarded a team of scientists $5.8 million to design and mount a supersensitive antenna at the focal point of the Arecibo Observatory’s 1,000-foot-diameter dish, which is managed by the University of Central Florida. The antenna, called a phased-array feed, will increase the telescopes’ observation capabilities 500 percent. The team, led […]
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The Future of Cryptocurrency
A UCF graduate, a group of students, and a first-of-its kind master’s program could help change the way we look at money. The very beginnings of the most widely known digital currency, Bitcoin, are veiled in mystery. Conceptualized and launched as an immediate response to the worldwide financial crisis in 2008, Bitcoin was the brainchild […]
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Matchmaking for Brands and Bloggers
Kristen Wiley ’14 never imagined that just a few years after graduation she would be choosing between a dream job offer and starting her own business. Had she accepted the offer, Wiley’s salary would have been almost unheard of for recent graduates in the marketing field. Instead, she chose the title of CEO for her own […]
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Congratulations, Summer 2018 Ph.D. Grads!
The College of Sciences celebrated its new Ph.D. graduates in a reception hosted by Dean Michael Johnson. Twenty students were recognized at the ceremony with their family members and faculty advisors by their side. Associate Dean Teresa Dorman honored each student individually by presenting their research and a brief description of their dissertation. Afterward, the group toasted […]
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UCF Professor Discovers First-of-its-Kind Material for the Quantum Age
A UCF physicist has discovered a new material that has the potential to become a building block in the new era of quantum materials, those that are composed of microscopically condensed matter and expected to change our development of technology. Researchers are entering the Quantum Age, and instead of using silicon to advance technology they […]
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UCF Researchers Develop App for Farmers
Canadian farmers have a new tool to help them fight pests thanks to the ingenuity of researchers at the University of Central Florida and the University of Manitoba. Researchers, led by UCF Associate Professor of biology Barbara Sharanowski, have developed the Mobile IPM app, which allows farmers to quickly identify crop pests and suggests effective integrated pest management […]
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College of Sciences Sets New Research Funding Record
The University of Central Florida received a record $183 million in research funding for 2018. It’s a 23 percent increase from last year and a 37 percent increase from 2015. Among the many projects that helped propel UCF’s research funding to its highest ever are the management of one of the world’s most powerful fully operational […]
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Using Math to Predict Disease
A UCF student is in Knoxville, Tennessee, combining math and biology to research mosquito-borne disease. Hanna Reed, a mathematics major, accepted the National Institute for Mathematical and Biology Synthesis’ highly competitive Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates. Reed heads to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville to work on a biology project. Reed has experience with […]
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Untraditional Path to Traditional Medicine
Alumna Uma Ramoutar is making history. She’s one of just 50 students selected for the first class of the Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine at Nova Southeastern University (NSU). Initially a biology major with a psychology minor, Ramoutar chose a different path to medical school in search of a broader education. “Though […]
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UCF Physics Professor: Yes, The Rock’s ‘Skyscraper’ Jump is Possible
In the soon-to-be-released film Skyscraper, a war veteran with a prosthetic leg sprints across the arm of a construction crane, launching himself in a seemingly insane jump toward the broken, open window of an adjacent building. The building is ablaze, and his family is trapped in a 240-floor building, above the fire line. Dwayne “The Rock” […]
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Alumnus Takes Legal Action for Minority Community
For alumnus Rishi Bagga, attending UCF was a last minute choice after visiting the campus with his older sister. However, majoring in political science was the obvious choice. “My first interest in politics came through my dad,” he said. “But the real kicker came when I joined my high school debate team; I loved hanging […]
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UCF Joins International Consortium Aimed at Helping Coastal Communities
The University of Central Florida recently became a member of the Blue Community Consortium, which aims to help develop sustainable and economically successful coastal communities worldwide. UCF’s National Center for Integrated Coastal Research – known as UCF Coastal – joined the consortium this month as part of its ongoing efforts to help develop sustainable, resilient and economically successful […]
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Physicist Selected for $750,000 Early Career Energy Grant
UCF physics Assistant Professor Michael Chini is one of 84 scientists across the nation selected today for a Department of Energy grant through the Office of Science Early Career Research Program. Chini, who has been an assistant professor at UCF since 2015 and earned his doctorate here in 2012, will receive $150,000 each year for the […]
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Physicist Works to Make Science Accessible
Jackie Chini is one of the UCF Department of Physics’ most well-funded junior faculty. Her awards from the National Science Foundation total over $1 million, and she’s achieved one of the most prestigious awards: The NSF CAREER Award. It all started in high school in her hometown in rural New Jersey in a physics class. […]
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Society and the Seven Deadly Sins
James Wright is no stranger to publishing, having already written 25 books and over 300 articles and essays. Now, this retired sociology professor adds another publishing success under his belt- as of May 16, his new book, Lost Souls: Manners and Morals in Contemporary American Society, is out in the world! In Lost Souls, Wright […]
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The Science Behind Zombie Ants
Biology Assistant Professor Charissa de Bekker is working to figure out how a fungus is manipulating and killing ants. A zombie invasion is happening in Central Florida, but humans aren’t the ones at risk. Rather, some of nature’s tiniest creatures — carpenter ants — are the victims. Since 2016, biology Assistant Professor Charissa de Bekker, Ph.D., has been studying […]