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Smithsonian Internship Enables Grad to Preserve Historical Sites With Data
A dream internship with the Smithsonian Institute is where non-traditional student Jennifer Larsen ’20 has put her degree in the Integrative Sciences to work. When she’s not balancing the homeschooling of her two boys and managing a personal disability, Larsen is virtually assisting the data collection in the Smithsonian Cultural Rescue Initiative, a collaborative […]
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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 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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The Nature Conservancy, UCF Coastal Join Forces To Study Protected Lands
Tens of thousands of acres of protected Florida habitats will receive deeper scientific scrutiny thanks to a new agreement between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and UCF Coastal. TNC has been on a mission since 1961 to guard prime Florida landscapes from development and conduct scientific research through a team that includes 50 scientists and land […]
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Arecibo Observatory’s Telescope Collapses
The instrument platform of the 305-meter telescope at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico fell at approximately 7:55 a.m. Puerto Rico time today, Dec. 1. No injuries were reported as a result of the collapse, but it caused damage to the observatory dish and surrounding facilities. Extent of the damage is being assessed. “Safety of personnel […]
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Arecibo Observatory Telescope to be Decommissioned After Second Cable Break
Following a review of engineering assessments, the U.S. National Science Foundation today announced it will begin planning the controlled decommissioning of the 1,000-foot-wide telescope at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The observatory, which UCF manages for NSF under a cooperative agreement, has for 57 years served as a world-class resource for radio astronomy and […]
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Alumna Quantifies Emotions and Feelings Using Power of Mathematics
Satisfaction and happiness are intangible, subjective emotions, but Statistics grad Donna Lockhart ’03 knows how to quantify those feelings into useful, actionable data. Lockhart currently leads the team that takes the pulse of guest satisfaction at Disney, and uses that data to make recommendations to senior leadership. While behind-the-scenes as the senior management consultant […]
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Political Opposites Unite to Teach Students Value of Common Vision
Today’s students are engaging in a world of politics that’s less meaningful conversation and more “angry team sports,” observes longtime Central Florida pundit Tico Perez ’83. Perez, an attorney and staunch Republican, recently did his part to reverse that trend by joining up with former Florida Representative and Democratic champion Dick Batchelor ‘71 to talk […]
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Critical Seagrass Mapping Project Continues Uninterrupted Thanks to Remote Instruction
Critical work mapping seagrass beds on the Pacific West Coast continues uninterrupted this fall thanks to innovative thinking from the Citizen Science GIS team. The seagrass (also known as eelgrass) project is funded by a $1.3 million grant from the National Science Foundation and helps researchers to measure seagrass meadow dynamics over time. This data […]
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Journalism Students Gain Valuable Election Coverage Experience
Presidential election night is considered the Super Bowl of journalism. Journalists are expected to deliver at the highest-level while under intense pressure in a rapidly changing environment. Sixteen journalism students and 20 radio-television students recently experienced the election rite of passage through a partnership with the Orlando Sentinel on Nov. 3. Orlando’s flagship newspaper has […]
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Oyster Reef Restoration Efforts Get Help from Potato Chip Byproduct
Longtime work to restore oyster reefs in the Indian River Lagoon has found a new, unusual ally: potato chips. The Coastal and Estuarine Ecology Lab at UCF has been experimenting with various products looking for an effective, biodegradable material for restoration that’s inexpensive. For the past 14 months the group has been testing a mesh […]
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Sea Turtle Nesting Season Winds Down on a High
Florida’s sea turtle nesting surveying comes to a close on Halloween and like everything else in 2020, the season was a bit weird. The number of green sea turtle nests on central and southern Brevard County, Florida beaches monitored by University of Central biologists were way up during a year they should have been down […]
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Telecomms Pioneer Recognized With Prestigious Schawlow Award
Video conferencing has kept the remote workplace humming during this year’s pandemic, and it was made possible through the work of researchers like Peter Delfyett, Ph.D., the 2021 winner of the prestigious Arthur L. Schawlow Prize in Laser Sciences. Specifically, Delfyett, a Pegasus Professor of optics and photonics, studies the application of semiconductor lasers to […]
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Charter Faculty Member Provides Perspective On UCF Overcoming Historical Challenges
We hear “unprecedented times” often as the coronavirus pandemic unfolds through 2020 and into the next year. But someone with the long lens of history like Professor Emeritus Robert Bledsoe, Ph.D., a charter faculty member of UCF, can attest this is far from the first challenge the university has faced. “This university has weathered a […]
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Pandemic Inspires Creative New Partnerships to Complete Research
When the COVID-19 pandemic restricted travel at UCF, Assistant Professor Michelle Gaither, Ph.D., got creative. Gaither planned to conduct field research in various parts of the country this past summer to complete some of her research, but COVID derailed those plans. So, she and her team of students came up with another idea that will […]
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Alumnus’ Advocacy Secures Garbage Truck To Improve Dominican Republic Sanitation
By WHITNEY CHISHOLM ’17 The Dominican Republic holds a special place in my heart, going all the way back to high school when I was introduced to the future mayor of Santo Domingo. I stayed in close contact with the island for years and eventually landed a position as the city’s U.S. liaison. It was […]
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Awards Presented to Artificial Intelligence, Big Data Projects for COVID-19 Research
Five research teams using Artificial Intelligence and Big Data have been awarded a total of $185,000 to conduct COVID-19-related research. Establishing the awards was the first act of UCF’s new Artificial Intelligence & Big Data Initiative announced this summer. The intent of the program is to seed the development of research projects that use these […]
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UCF Researchers Develop AI to Detect Fentanyl and Derivatives Remotely
To help keep first responders safe, University of Central Florida researchers have developed an artificial intelligence method that not only rapidly and remotely detects the powerful drug fentanyl, but also teaches itself to detect any previously unknown derivatives made in clandestine batches. The method, published recently in the journal Scientific Reports, uses infrared light spectroscopy […]
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New Scholarship Honors Legacy of Faculty Pioneer John T. Washington
A notable figure from UCF’s past is the inspiration behind a new scholarship created to help students build a brighter future. The name John T. Washington is probably familiar to campus visitors walking through the breezeway named in his honor, but his connection to UCF less so. Washington, Ph.D., was one of the first African […]
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Renewed Funding Keeps ICCAE Inspiring Intelligence Students for Five More Years
UCF students pursuing careers in intelligence will continue to receive competitive advantages thanks to renewed federal funding for UCF’s Intelligence Community Center for Academic Excellence (ICCAE). The five-year funding from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence is particularly helpful for minority students, who are historically underrepresented in intelligence careers. ICCAE Director Tom Dolan […]
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Nicholson School of Communication and Media Falls Fully Under COS On July 1
By IULIA POPESCU After consulting with the school’s faculty, the deans and director and the president, Interim Provost Michael Johnson, Ph.D., recently made the decision that the Nicholson School of Communication & Media (NSCM) will no longer be an “intercollege school.” In 2018, the new Nicholson School was established (and renamed the Nicholson School of […]
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UCF 1st in Florida, 3rd Nationally for Coveted National Science Foundation CAREER Grants
UCF leads the state and ranks third in the nation for the number of National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipients this year. Nine UCF has 11 confirmed awards as of June 3, and NSF has recommended two more for funding. In Florida, a total of 21 awards have been given so far, including four to […]
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UCF Study Finds Microplastics in Florida’s Birds of Prey for 1st Time
A new study from the University of Central Florida has confirmed and quantified, for the first time, the presence of microplastics in terrestrial and aquatic birds of prey in Florida, including hawks, ospreys and owls. Microplastics are small plastic pieces – less than the size of a pencil tip – that come from larger pieces […]
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UCF Grad Earns Pulitzer Prize
International reporting by Michael Schwirtz ’03 recently earned him one of journalism’s top awards, and his journey to this moment started, in part, with a desire to stay close to home. The DeLand native and political science graduate started globe-trotting when he was still in high school, including summers abroad in London and Europe. When […]
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UCF Library Resources Help Biology Faculty Find $177K in Savings
The collective efforts of three biology faculty members to find digital textbooks for their lower-level classes recently resulted in savings of $177,006 for 1,207 students. The savings were created in Biology I Honors and Biology II after their instructors moved the bulk of the class to online coursework and streamlined the curriculum. The only changes […]