College of Sciences Celebrates 18 new PH.D.s
Thursday, Dec. 11, the College of Sciences celebrated 18 new Ph.Ds at a special graduation reception. The graduation celebration took place in the atrium of the Physical Sciences building. In attendance were family members of the graduates, faculty advisors and members of the Dean’s office staff.
Dean Michael Johnson and Associate Dean Teresa Dorman, of the College of Sciences, spoke to the new graduates. Following the presentation, they celebrated with champagne, toasting to the continued success of the Ph.D. graduates. The following day the graduation ceremony was held at the UCF Arena.
The graduates come from a variety of departments within the College of Sciences.
Congratulations to our fall 2014 Ph.D. graduates!
Conservation Biology
Melinda Donnelly
Advisor: Dr. Linda Walters
Dissertation: “Effects of biotic interactions on coastal wetland communities with applications for restoration”
Pejman Jouzdani
Advisor: Dr. Eduardo Mucciolo
Dissertation: “Theoretical and Numerical Studies of Phase Transitions and Error Thresholds in Topological Quantum Memories.”
Chemistry
Carolina Franco
Advisor: Dr. Cherie Yestrebesky
Dissertation: “Degradation of Hydrazine and Monomethylhydrazine in Fuel Waste Streams using Alpha-ketoglutaric Acid.”
Candace Kirkland
Advisor: Dr. Cherie Yestrebsky
Dissertation: “Photo-induced Protonation of Polyaniline Composites and Mechanistic Study of the Degradation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls with Zero-Valent Magnesium.”
Aditya Reddy Kolli
Advisor: Dr. James Hickman
Dissertation: “Action potentials as indicators of metabolic perturbations for temporal proteomic analysis.”
Astha Malhotra
Advisor: Dr. Lei Zhai
Dissertation: “Multifunctional and Responsive Polyelectrolyte Nanostructures.”
Binglin Sui
Advisor: Dr. Kevin Belfield
Dissertation: “Fluorescence Off-On Sensors for F-, K+, Fe3+, and Ca2+ Ions.”
Mengyuan Wang
Advisor: Dr. Kevin Belfield
Dissertation: “Synthesis of Fluorescent Molecules and Their Applications as Viscosity Sensors, Metal Ion indicators, and Near-Infrared Probes.”
Adam Woodward
Advisor: Dr. Kevin Belfield
Dissertation: “In Actu Et In Silicio: Linear and Nonlinear Photophysical Characterization of a Novel Europium Complex, and Coupling Computational Calculations in the Analysis of Novel Organic Compounds.”
Xiling Yue
Advisor: Dr. Kevin Belfield
Dissertation: “Application of Two-Photon Absorbing Fluorene-Containing Compounds in Bioimaging and Photodynamic Therapy.”
Modeling & Simulation
Charles Harris
Advisor: Dr. John Kincaid
Dissertation: “The Effect of Habitat for Humanity Homeownership on Student Attendance and Standardized Test Scores in Orange County Florida School District”
Physics
Aniruddha Dutta
Advisor: Dr. Helge Heinrich
Dissertation: “Quantitative Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy of thick samples and of gold and silver nanoparticles on polymeric surfaces”
Simranjeet Singh
Advisor: Dr. Enrique del Barco
Dissertation: “Dynamical Spin Injection in Graphene.”
Physics/Planetary Sciences
Emily Kramer
Advisor: Dr. Yanga Fernandez
“Studying Short‐Period Comets and Long‐Period Comets Detected by WISE/NEOWISE.”
Nathaniel Lust
Advisor: Dr. Daniel Britt
Dissertation: “Creation and Application of Routines for Determining Physical Properties of Asteroids and Exoplanets from Low Signal-To-Noise Data-Sets.”
AEHF Psychology
Stephen Serge
Advisor: Dr. Mustapha Mouloua
Dissertation: “A Multimedia Approach to Game-Based Training: Exploring the Effects of the Modality and Temporal Contiguity Principles on Learning in a Virtual Environment.”
I/O Psychology
Lauren Benishek
Advisor: Dr. Eduardo Salas
Dissertation: “Exploring the Hows and the Whos: The Effects of Self-Regulation Prompting and Goal Orientation on the e-Learning Process”
Rebecca Grossman
Advisor: Dr. Eduardo Salas
Dissertation: “How do Teams Become Cohesive? A Meta-Analysis of Cohesion’s Antecedents”