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Graduating UCF Film Student Completes Environmental Documentary
Making people care through the power of filmmaking is Vince Marcucci’s mission. The day after he graduates from UCF with a bachelor’s in film, he’ll show his first documentary series — an 80-minute, four-part feature following a day in the life of four Florida naturalists — during a private showing to cast, crew and local […]
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New Data Science Degree Offers Launch Pad into Analytics Career
Data science involves much more than crunching numbers, and a new bachelor’s starting this semester reflects the wide range of disciplines involved. Data science is the process of exploring and interpreting the world through data. The Data Science B.S. calls the Department of Statistics and Data Science home, but students in this emerging degree […]
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UCF Part of Historic Move to Build Space Ports Around Earth
NASA’s move to develop new destinations in space announced Dec. 2 is an exciting moment in history and UCF is right in the middle of it. UCF is a member of the academic coalition that is supporting Blue Origin’s Orbital Reef project to build a commercially owned and operated space station to reside in low-Earth orbit. […]
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From Foster Care Youth to Community Advocate
Growing up with a single mother who suffered from drug abuse and mental health issues, Diamond Whitley was determined to change her trajectory and pursue a path to a better future. Her motivation to go to college started at a young age. Even though her mother wasn’t always present, Whitley was surrounded by people who […]
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UCF Names Its Microgravity Research Center in Honor of Stephen W. Hawking
The University of Central Florida today is one step closer to becoming the first American university to name a research center after the late, world-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen W. Hawking. The UCF’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved on Thursday that UCF’s Center for Microgravity Research, would now be known as the Stephen W. Hawking Center […]
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New NSF-Funded Survey Aims to Understand Gender Inequity in STEM Fields
University of Central Florida researchers are starting a U.S. National Science Foundation-funded project to identify systemic gender inequities impacting university STEM faculty so that they can be addressed by the institution. The $300,000, two-year project will focus on UCF. The project will study STEM faculty’s perceptions of departmental culture through the frameworks of organizational justice […]
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UCF Sets Dreamer On Path to Becoming Full-Time Veterinarian
Rachel Williams ‘13, DVM, is in the business of making big impacts on communities of small animals. The graduate of the UCF pre-veterinary studies program notes there hasn’t been a time in her life where she was inclined to do anything other than take care of critters and creatures of all kinds. While Williams currently […]
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UCF Physics Professor Named Jefferson Science Fellow
UCF Physics Professor Humberto Campins has been named a Jefferson Science Fellow and will report to Washington D.C. beginning Nov. 21 to spend a year advising the U.S. Department of State. Campins is an international expert on asteroids. He is part of NASA’s historic OSIRIS REx mission, which is headed back to Earth with a […]
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Physics Student Rises From Humble Origins To Prestigious Internship
Every day is a learning opportunity for Franklin Romero Vega, whether it’s in a fast-food kitchen or pursuing a career in nuclear fusion. The physics major’s path to a prestigious internship this fall with the Department of Energy Office of Science is a winding one. But Romero Vega sees each stop on the journey as […]
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21 Faculty Members Inducted into UCF Scroll and Quill Society
The 21 new inductees of UCF’s Scroll and Quill Society represent a broad spectrum of academic expertise, such as fiction writing, artificial intelligence, police-community relations, nursing and terrorist recruiting tactics on social media. The Scroll and Quill Society celebrates faculty members who for at least a decade have made scholarly contributions of impact to advance […]
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17 Teams Awarded Almost $5 Million in Jump Start Awards
Seventeen faculty and staff projects will receive about $5 million in Jump Start funds to advance UCF’s impact under President Alexander N. Cartwright’s 2021-22 Strategic Investment Program. “I am delighted that we were able to fund so many strong proposals and only wish that we had the resources to support more of them,” says Michael […]
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2021 Another Record Year – Five Consecutive Years of Rising Research Funding
Despite a pandemic that slowed the economy; delayed or derailed some federal and private agencies’ spending plans; and frustrated supply chains, UCF generated $212.9 million in research awards — up more than $8 million from 2020. The total doesn’t include any CARES nor Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds, which the federal government provided in response […]
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Maggy Tomova Joins the College of Sciences Today as Dean
Maggy Tomova, Ph.D., officially joins the University of Central Florida today as dean of the College of Sciences. Tomova, 44, brings deep research and leadership experience to the role, most recently as associate dean for the 18 departments that fall under the Natural, Mathematical, and Social Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences […]
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UCF Part of NASA Mission Launching Saturday to Explore Trojan Asteroids
UCF Physics Professor Dan Britt is counting down to Saturday morning when NASA’s Lucy mission is set to blast off from the Space Coast. Britt, a physicist and geologist, is part of the science team that will analyze the data Lucy collects from the Trojan asteroids near Jupiter. This area of the solar system is […]
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UCF Student Selected as Orlando’s Second Poet Laureate
For Shawn Welcome ’17, serving as Orlando’s second Poet Laureate is the culmination of years of supporting poetic expression and storytelling in the city. From studying at UCF to working with a variety of area organizations, including the Orlando Boys & Girls Club and Hope CommUnity Center, he has deep roots in the Orlando community. […]
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UCF’s Brightest Shine During Luminary Awards
The UCF community celebrated the accomplishments of 15 exceptional faculty members at its annual Luminary Awards Night. UCF leadership lauded faculty members for being leaders in their fields and conducting work that has had a significant impact on the world. COVID-19 disrupted plans for the recognition ceremony in 2020 so UCF honored the 2020 and […]
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UCF Has More Than a Dozen Research Projects Aimed at Returning the U.S. to the Moon
When the U.S. returns humans to the Moon in the coming years, there’s a good chance that University of Central Florida research will have played a role in the return, whether from landing there safely, harvesting its resources, or training the next generation of space scientists. The university, known for its extensive space research, currently has […]
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Tezcür Tapped to Lead School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs
The School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs recently appointed Güneş Murat Tezcür, Ph.D., to become its second director. Tezcür studies political violence, politics of identity and democratization, with a focus on Iranian, Kurdish, and Turkish human geography. He has published more than two dozen scholarly articles in journals including American Political Science Review, Comparative […]
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Education Opens Second Chances For Scholar With Rough Upbringing
Christian Bolden, Ph.D., ’10, is living proof that second chances exist. “If there should be one takeaway from my story it’s that people can change and they can do better if people don’t give up on them,” he said. Today Bolden is a distinguished associate professor of criminology and justice at Loyola University in New […]
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New Dean Named for UCF’s College of Sciences
Maggy Tomova will become the next dean of UCF’s College of Sciences on Oct. 18. She joins UCF from the University of Iowa, where she currently serves as the associate dean for the Natural, Mathematical, and Social Sciences in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Her appointment by Michael D. Johnson, interim provost and […]
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Scientists Work to Ensure Solutions to Red Tide Don’t Cause More Harm than Good
A team of experts from Florida and Massachusetts are evaluating a technique that may help eliminate the algae blooms that cause massive fish kills, stink up neighborhoods and disrupt the Florida economy. A recent large-scale experiment promises a deeper understanding of how marine life responds to a red tide mitigation technique called clay flocculation. Red […]
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Department of Physics Gains Experienced Leader, Scientist As New Chair
A longtime fixture in the UCF Department of Physics and world-recognized planetary sciences expert was recently appointed chair of the department. In an interview with the College of Sciences, Pegasus Professor Josh Colwell, Ph.D. shares his journey to this point and his vision for the future. College of Sciences: What sparked your interest in space? […]
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Alumnus-Developed App Improves Communications, Eases Anxiety During Hospital Stays
The long, anxious wait for news about the outcome of a loved one’s surgery just got a little shorter thanks to the ingenuity of a UCF alumnus. The “Ease” app, short for “Electronic Access to Surgical Events,” allows clinicians to send secure texts, photos and video updates to patients’ families in real time during a […]
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UCF Awarded $800,000 Grant to Establish Center on Materials Research and Education
The U.S. National Science Foundation has awarded the University of Central Florida an $800,000 grant to help build a partnership with the University of Washington that will accelerate research in the areas of Ultrafast Dynamics and Catalysis in Emerging Materials. UCF was one of 10 universities selected across the nation for the award. The funding, […]
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UCF Space Experts Work with School Teachers to Bring University Research Alive in Classrooms
When children return to school next week, students at four Central Florida schools will have new hands-on space science activities to look forward to, thanks to a collaboration with space experts at UCF. This past summer, teachers from East River High School, Wekiva High School, South Creek Middle School, and Mollie Ray Elementary spent time […]
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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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Virtual UCF Arboretum Expands Offerings For Digital Game Designers
The Virtual UCF Arboretum continues to expand its reach and impact, with the recent launch of a new library of 70 photorealistic plants for use in augmented and virtual reality. The free-to-use content pack of 3D plants on the Epic Games Unreal Engine Marketplace follows last year’s $25,000 Epic Megagrant from the same game maker, […]
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UCF College of Sciences Researchers Join Project to Fight Animal-borne Diseases
Two University of Central Florida College of Sciences researchers have been selected by a national philanthropic foundation as research fellows to help fight the threat of animal-borne diseases. Laurene Tetard, an associate professor in UCF’s Department of Physics, and Xiaohu Xia, an assistant professor in UCF’s Department of Chemistry, were selected as fellows by the […]
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UCF College of Sciences Researchers Join Project to Fight Animal-borne Diseases
Two University of Central Florida College of Sciences researchers have been selected by a national philanthropic foundation as research fellows to help fight the threat of animal-borne diseases. Laurene Tetard, an associate professor in UCF’s Department of Physics, and Xiaohu Xia, an assistant professor in UCF’s Department of Chemistry, were selected as fellows by the […]
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UCF RESTORES Provides Mental Health Aid at Surfside Condo Collapse
While in Surfside, Florida, a first responder working the tragic collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building approached Deborah Beidel with fine jewelry he found among the rubble. He was worried about who it belonged to and the significance it held. “With discoveries like this, you’re helping people get a part of their relative […]