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Compelling Research on Disabilities in Ancient Cultures
A new article in Science Magazine includes a UCF anthropology professor’s research into attitudes ancient civilizations had toward people with conditions like dwarfism and cleft palates. The article reports on research presented at the first Workshop on Ancient Rare Diseases, which was hosted in Berlin, Germany. Overwhelmingly, scientists challenged the conventional view that people with […]
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Florida House of Representatives Clerk Credits UCF For Leadership Traits
The rules and procedures that keep Florida’s Legislature running smoothly are no accident. There’s rules for introducing bills, who gets to speak on the floor and for how long and voting procedures — just to name a few. Maintaining order and enforcing those rules falls to the clerk of the House of Representatives, currently Jeff […]
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UCF Class Spotlight: Space Law
BY LAYLA FERRIS ’18 Class Name INR 4404 – Space Law Description A look at how rules and laws regarding outer space pertain to nations, corporations and individuals — and who should be making and enforcing them. Instructor Robert Bledsoe When is it offered? Usually once a year How many students in a class? 20-30 Prerequisites […]
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Researchers Recruit Drones To Map Past, Determine Future
Drones have evolved over the years from novelty to a sophisticated tool deployed in the wake of natural disasters. Now researchers have unlocked its use as a time machine. The work is happening in the coastal communities of Belize, including Hopkins Village, where rising sea levels are threatening homes and livelihoods. Lain Graham, a UCF […]
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Seven COS Faculty Among UCF’s 2019 Women’s History Month Awardees
BY FACULTY EXCELLENCE UCF Faculty Excellence has chosen 31 women to honor during Women’s History Month, which begins today. The national observance was started in 1981 to recognize women who have shown a commitment to humanity and our planet. At UCF, these women have helped shape the university from its beginnings until today. For more […]
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Puerto Rico Research Hub Officially Opens Its Doors
The Puerto Rico Research Hub welcomed the public and the academic community to its new office space Wednesday at an official open house. Director Fernando Rivera, Ph.D., repeated his pledge to use the research expertise of the hub to improve the lives of the Puerto Rican community. “We want to be accessible. Our goal […]
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Scientists Gather to Discuss Future Objectives of Arecibo Observatory
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The Arecibo Observatory and its researchers hosted scientists from around the world this week to discuss the future of research at the Puerto Rican facility under UCF management. Planetary scientists, radio astronomers and atmospheric scientists discussed the status of the facility, what potential upgrades could mean for the future of the […]
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UCF Researchers Uncover Florida’s Past Before It’s Lost to the Sea
BY ROBERT WELLS As Florida’s Space Coast moves into the future, University of Central Florida archaeologists are taking a look back at some of the historic sites there before they succumb to erosion and rising seas. “People don’t realize how interesting it is and how valuable it is for our institutional and social memory to […]
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General Intelligence Won’t Be Enough to Prevent Ecological Disasters, UCF Study Finds
BY ROBERT WELLS High IQs aren’t going to be enough to stop an ecological disaster. It’s going to take social intelligence, too. That’s the conclusion of a new study co-authored by a University of Central Florida researcher and published Wednesday in the journal Nature Communications. The findings could help identify why some groups better manage shared […]
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Physics Assistant Professor Named UCF’s First Sloan Research Fellow
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Xiaofeng Feng has been named a Sloan Research Fellow, the first for the University of Central Florida. The award recognizes early career scientists that demonstrate high promise. Past Sloan Research Fellows have gone on to do big things. Collectively they have received 47 Nobel Prizes, 17 Fields Medals in mathematics, 69 […]
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Forensic Database Opens New Opportunities To Capture Sexual Assailants
Researchers from the University of Central Florida are a step closer to giving law enforcement officials a new tool to help track down rapists and other sexual offenders. Forensic scientist Candice Bridge, Ph.D., has spent the past two years leading a team in the development of a database detailing the chemical makeup of common […]
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Voiceless Find Community and Hope In Aphasia Choir
Robert Rosich is in the middle of naming the songs he performed with his friends over Christmas when the words get stuck in his throat. It’s a familiar sensation for Rosich, who has relearned to speak after surviving two strokes. But this time the words just won’t come out. So he tries a different […]
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PoliSci Student Among Glamour Magazine’s Top 10 College Women
A UCF senior’s advocacy for undocumented minors has earned her a spot as one of Glamour Magazine’s 10 College Women of the Year for 2018. Karen Caudillo’s tearful interview with the Guardian newspaper after a Capitol Hill hearing went viral when it was broadcast on social media, including to NowThis’ 14 million Facebook followers. Caudillo […]
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Bolivian Mud Could Be Key To Unlocking Ancient Agriculture
A group of Anthropology researchers are counting on some dirty work to unlock the secrets of past civilizations. More specifically, they’re studying Amazonian mud, carefully extracted from a Bolivian swamp and transported back to a laboratory on UCF’s campus. Their goal is to date the pollen and other biological sediments layered in close to five […]
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Land Protection Gets Boost with New Partnership
A new partnership between Conservation Florida and both UCF’s Biology Department and UCF Coastal increases the bench strength of statewide land protection work. The partnership aims to produce research, guidance and a multidisciplinary voice to land and wildlife conservation to propel advancement in the greater Central Florida region. Conservation Florida brings 19 years of land […]
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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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Biology Initiative Eases Transfer Experience
A pilot program in the biology department is championing new ways to create a smooth transition for transfer students coming to UCF. The centerpiece of the program is Transfer Advisory Peers, or TAPS, who pair up with incoming transfer students and offer guidance on everything from study spots to the best coffee on campus. “Having […]
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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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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 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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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 […]
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UCF Student Named a Peace Fellow
By Nicole Dudenhoefer Christopher Faulkner, a Ph.D. candidate in UCF’s security studies program, was recently awarded a Minerva Research Initiative and United States Institute of Peace Dissertation Write-Up Fellowship for his dissertation on child soldiering. More than 200 students applied for the award this year, but only 18 were awarded, with some of last year’s winners […]
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One Alumna’s Journey from UCF to HuffPost
By Jenna Marina Lee The day Lindsay Holmes ’12 moved into a tiny, way-uptown, three-bedroom apartment in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, she still couldn’t believe she was there on a one-way ticket. “It sort of reminded me of what I felt like when I started at UCF. It almost felt like extended vacation […]
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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 […]