UCF wins $250,000 grant for blended classes

The University of Central Florida is developing a national model for blended learning, a practice that combines web-based learning with traditional classroom instruction. The Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC) awarded UCF a $250,000 grant, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and others. NGLC is coordinated by EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit group that promotes the […]

Betsy Von Holle talks with ScienceWatch.com

Betsy Von Holle talks with ScienceWatch.com and answers a few questions about this month’s Emerging Research Front paper in the field of Environment/Ecology. Why do you think your paper is highly cited? Prior to our study, scientists believed that a primary reason for success of nonnative species in a given habitat was the diversity of […]

Year After Gulf Oil Spill, Dolphin Deaths Up

Graham Worthy, an expert ondolphins who ran Texas’s Marine Mammal Stranding Network for a decade and continues to monitor the Gulf of Mexico will be available to media today, the one-year anniversary of the nation’s largest oil spill. Worthy, a professor at the University of Central Florida, is analyzing data from his most recent survey […]

First Place at the State Science & Engineering Fair

Dr.Yan Fernandez, Assistant Professor of Astronomy Department of Physics, worked with his UCF student Jean-Marc Denis to help a high school student, Tana Hanberry, win first place at the State Science & Engineering Fair. The group focuses onresearch. Hanberry’s project involves studying the properties of serendipitously-observed asteroids in archival CCD imaging datasets. She won in the Earth and Planetary Science […]

Math paper explores new science, gets most downloads

“Reconstruction of planar Conductivities in subdomains from incomplete data” that was co-authored by Dr. Alexandru Tamasan made the top 20 articles fully downloaded earlier this year on the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics website. This mathematical paper concerns a new noninvasive method to quantitatively measure the electrical conductivity in a body. The method combines two […]

From Touch Tanks to Movies, UCF’s Service-Learning Delivers Science

College students in a marine conservation class created a touch tank so pre-K students could see the diversity that exists in a nearby watershed. Another group cast fifth-graders at Carillon Elementary School in a movie that explains why it is important to recycle. These are just two examples of how service-learning is incorporated into science […]

Physics professor sited as expert in Orlando Sentinel

From Mike Thomas of the Orlando Sentinel. By the time Challenger exploded in 1986, it was painfully obvious the shuttle could not provide the routine access to space that we were promised. But because of the huge investment and lack of alternatives, we were locked into a lemon. The space station was designed in the […]

Video featuring UCF professor from the Orlando Sentinel

Scientists around the world are documenting increasingly severe invasions of ascidians — which survive by consuming plankton filtered from the surrounding seawater — and which are overpowering oysters, mussels and clams, also filter feeders. Possibilities for why that’s happening include rising sea temperatures brought on by climate change; worsening water pollution; and overharvesting of the […]

Marketing major competes in national surf competition

With the East Coast Championships about to get underway, it was an excellent time to chat with University of Central Florida team captain Amy Nicholl. The 21-year-old from New Smyrna Beach, Florida is a National Champion and has won multiple East Coast Regional and Conference titles in both individual and college divisions. Amy recently added another […]

Students win national ethics bowl

The tensions were high at the National Ethics Bowl. Senior ethics bowl team member Catherine Perrault checked her pulse; it was at a constant 80 BPM. She knew she was ready. An hour and a half filled with arguing and critiquing had passed and after discovering the judge’s scores, the team discovered they had won. […]

Students continue the fight to save Arboretum

UCF has requested the release of 7.85 acres of land protected by a conservation easement from the St. Johns Water Management District. This area is a portion of the 82-acre Arboretum that educates students and the community about nature and protects the environment. Patrick Bohlen, Arboretum director since the fall of 2010, said this area […]

UCF alum Marla Weech joins Central Florida News 13

From Hal Boedeker of the Orlando Sentinel Where’s Marla Weech? That long-running mystery was solved Tuesday, when the longtime Orlando anchor joined Central Florida News 13. Her on-air debut should come in late April. “I will be so excited to be back on Central Florida airwaves,” said Weech, who will be a reporter and a […]

Sea creature threatens oysters

A mysterious sea creature ofunknown origins has been found in Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County. The creature that looks like bunched up bright red daisy petals is an ascidian, better known as a sea squirt. But exactly how it gotinto the lagoon and where it came from has researchers puzzled. The only thing scientists […]

Professor helps native country

When John Malala looks at his home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, it’s not the same country he remembers. The fertile, resourceful land, is now impoverished and war torn. But he has hope since starting the John Malala Dignity Foundation in 2007. The foundation attempts to help the Congolese become educated and self-reliant. Malala, […]

Equine therapy helps human career performance

Dr. Sandra Wise and Dean Van Camp share a light moment with their class, which includes students in the Masters program in Clinical Psychology at the University of Central Florida and Mental Health Counseling at Rollins College, while their equine teaching accomplices look on. “The Broussards have been unbelievably supportive of the program,” Wise said, […]

Land your dream job at COMM day, April 8

Students from the Nicholson School of Communication are invited to network with industry professionals and connect with faculty and alumni at the school’s COMM day, which will provide students with tips to improve their  job search skills. Events will be held from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, April 8, at the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center. The […]

New UCF research program

A pioneering program is coming to UCF where first year students will live and learn together while becoming research apprentices, an experience usually reserved for juniors and seniors. The Learning Environment and Academic Research Network (L.E.A.R. N.) will provide a living and learning community where students will live in a residence hall and take three […]

Professor featured in Orlando Sentinel

We first wrote about Dr. Deborah Beidel’s new research study a few months ago and are thrilled that several news organizations are becoming aware of her amazing project. Linda Shrieves of the Orlando Sentinel wrote this piece about the project that will combine virtual-reality simulation of wartime scenes with the smells of Middle East combat zones in […]

UCF on Discovery News

Robots can solve puzzles, assist with surgery, and even stand in for caregivers, but ask one to handle potato chips without crushing them and humans still prevail. Robotic hands just aren’t sensitive enough. A new material dubbed “frozen smoke” could be the skin they need for a lighter touch. “It’s a kind of very light […]

Miniature laser diode aims to speed up networking

The use of laser as a means of data transmission is hardly anything new, but the current crop of laser diodes can only handle so much stress, provided that they don’t fail in the first place. Luckily, the geniuses over at the University of Central Florida are about to deliver a smaller yet more intense […]

Cold water influx in Gulf may have delivered fatal blow to dolphins

A combination of factors probably led to this year’s rash of dolphin deaths, although plumes of cold water that entered Mobile Bay in January and February may have delivered the killing blow, according to one of the Gulf’s foremost dolphin scientists. Graham Worthy, a University of Central Florida researcher who ran the state of Texas’ […]

NSC teacher highlighted at international conference

Rick Brunson from Jerriann Sullivan on Vimeo. “Meet Your Teacher,’’ a video that journalism instructor Rick Brunson produced for his online News Reporting course, was highlighted and presented at the Sloan‐C International Conference on Online Learning, which drew about 1,200 college educators to Orlando. The video, which Brunson made as part of UCF’s IDL 6543 […]

VIDEO: UCF bug closet

UCF wins President’s volunteer service award

UCF was recently presented with the 2010 President’s Volunteer Service Award, Gold Level, which recognizes organizations that provide 15,000 volunteer service hours or more to their communities. The President’s Volunteer Service Award is a special recognition presented on behalf of President Barack Obama. It is part of a national recognition program created in 2003 through […]

Orlando Sentinel: Virgin Galactic CEO comes to UCF

Human space flights will now be a routine rather than a rarity. This is one goal a privately owned company has for its customers. So far more than 400 people have placed a down payment on making their dream a reality. The next potential flier could be you. The CEO and president of Virgin Galactic, […]

Space conference featured in The New York Times

The Physics Department is receiving a lot of attention for the space conference it is hosting in partnership with UCF. The 2011 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference started Feb. 28 and runs until March 2. About 400 scientists, engineers, and educators from around the world will be listening to leaders of commercial and public institutions talk about […]

‘Frozen smoke’ may improve robotic surgery, energy storage

A spongy substance that could be mistaken for packing material has the nanotechnology world buzzing. University of Central Florida Associate Professor Lei Zhai and postdoctoral associate Jianhua Zou have engineered the world’s lightest carbon material in such a way that it could be used to detect pollutants and toxic substances, improve robotic surgery techniques and […]

Students ship their project to space

Three UCF students are developing an experiment that they will be launched into space n late 2011 or 2012. “It was a bit intimidating at first,” said Josh Steele, a computer engineering major from Jensen Beach, who’s building an experiment that will help test theories about how planets form. Steele and two other undergraduates are […]

Goodyear Blimp take students, professors for ride

Earlier this month, the Goodyear Blimp circled about 1,000 feet over UCF. The big surprise, though, was that College of Sciences students and professors were inside the famous blimp. Doug Grassian, public relations manager for Goodyear and a UCF alumnus, arranged for a group from UCF to ride in the blimp. Journalism instructor Rick Brunson […]

Orlando Sentinel: Stephen DeCanio talks climate change at UCF

Could you wear five sweaters over your clothes everyday? You could imagine that it would be hot for a human to handle, especially in Florida’s climate. Hopefully this isn’t part of your daily attire, but as these “sweaters” continue to pile on elsewhere, Earth is getting too hot for comfort. Stephen DeCanio, professor of economics, […]