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New Study Into Latinx Behavior and Politics Launched With Acceptance of Build and Broaden Grant
The political behavior and policy preferences of the Latinx community will be the subject of a new study in the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs (SPSIA). The study is funded by the National Science Foundation’s Build and Broaden 2.0 Grant, created to encourage research by scholars at minority-serving institutions to apply for grants. […]
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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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Film Festival Launches To Highlight Issues In the Latin American/LatinX Communities
The first Latin American/ Latinx Film Festival at UCF launches over September and October with the intention of shedding light on issues the Latin American and Latino communities face. The six films explore themes like gender issues, racism, colonialism and LGBTQ issues. The festival was created by School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs Lecturer […]
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Study Finds Critical Data Needed for Monitoring and Preserving Biodiversity is Missing
The world’s largest repository of raw genomic sequences from wild plants, animals and fungi is missing critical data necessary to monitor and protect the Earth’s biological diversity, according to a new study. The missing data includes the time and location the organism’s sample was collected, which is needed for monitoring the genetic diversity of populations. […]
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6 Trustee Chairs Named For 2021-2026
The University of Central Florida has many outstanding faculty members, and to continue to recruit and retain faculty who have world renown accomplishments, the UCF Trustee Chair Professorship exists. Created by former UCF President John C. Hitt in 2003, the Trustee Chair title is a prestigious one, and only held by a handful of faculty. […]
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‘CBS This Morning: Saturday’ Features UCF Professor’s Work With Oysters, Climate Change
A recent segment of “CBS This Morning: Saturday” highlighted UCF Pegasus Professor of Biology Linda Walters’ work with oyster reefs, which are vital to healthy waters in Florida. The segment kicks off with an interview with Walters and CBS anchor Lonnie Quinn at Mosquito Lagoon, which is part of the Indian River Lagoon and a […]
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Deadlines May Be Effective in Building Support for Climate Change Action
Human-caused climate change — including increased extreme weather and climate events — is here, according to the recently released United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2021 report, but the best way to communicate the concern is still debated. The panel’s previous report in 2018 was widely reported by media as setting a 12-year deadline […]
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Physics Post-Doc Lands First-of-its-Kind Fellowship For UCF
Research bringing quantum computers closer to reality recently landed a new Department of Physics graduate a Mathematical and Physics Ascending Postdoctoral Research Fellowship — a first for UCF. Justin Reyes, Ph.D ’20, received the maximum funding award through the U.S. National Science Foundation to support three years of post-doctoral research. The MPS-Ascend fellowship broadens the […]
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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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Students Sought for UCF’s First Graduate Student Advisory Council
UCF is looking for students to serve on its new Graduate Student Advisory Council launching this fall. Serving on the council is an opportunity to share experiences, identify and suggest solutions to challenges unique to graduate students, and to make recommendations to the College of Graduate Studies to build a welcoming and inclusive graduate community. […]
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UCF Moon Dust Research Blasts Off Aboard Blue Origin
University of Central Florida research has blasted off on another high-profile flight with the launch of spaceflight company Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket today. The research, an experiment to study charged dust behavior in microgravity, lifted off from the company’s West Texas location aboard the rocket and past the von Karman Line for three minutes […]
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Paper Gains Doctoral Student Second Place Award From Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Awards
Chemistry doctoral student Jordan Stanberry recently received second place in the Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Awards, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Fuel and Supply Chain. The award is linked to his research paper “Oxidative Dissolution of TcO2 by Mn(III) Minerals under Anaerobic Conditions: Implications on Technetium-99 Remediation,” published in […]
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Book Profiling Early Botanist Takes Spotlight in New Smithsonian Magazine
The biography of a little-known French botanist is bringing UCF to the pages of the prestigious Smithsonian Magazine. Biology Professor Emeritus Walter Taylor, Ph.D., along with Charlie Williams, retired librarian of Charlotte, North Carolina, and Eliane Norman, professor emerita at Stetson University, published “André Michaux in North America: Journals and Letters, 1785-1797” in March 2020 […]
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A Summer of Hands-on GIS Field Work for UCF Researchers
The Citizen Science Geographic Information Systems (GIS) team at UCF spent long days trekking through shoreline mud and sweating in coastal heat this past summer — and they couldn’t have been happier about it. The return to fieldwork follows a pandemic pause on critical shoreline mapping, which the team attempted to continue with limited success […]
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Alumnae Launch Podcast to Provide Insight, Perspective on “Twenty-Something” Life
Two UCF alumnae are using their voice to highlight the successes and struggles of being in your 20s with their podcast, “Twenty & Trying.” Charlotte Trattner ’20 came up with the idea of creating a podcast when the pandemic first started. Inspired by the book “Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter And How To Make […]
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UCF is 1 of 7 Universities to Win Grant to Support NASA’s Artemis Program
UCF will be a player in developing innovative technologies needed to support NASA’s Artemis program, which will return people to the moon and create a robust presence there over the next decade. The university has been awarded a $500,000 grant to create transformative space technologies by bringing together interdisciplinary teams of faculty and students to […]
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UCF Planetary Scientists Join Star-Studded MegaCon Guest List
University of Central Florida researchers will be putting the “sci” in “sci-fi” for the MegaCon science fiction and pop culture convention Aug. 12 through 15 at the Orlando County Convention Center. With a line-up that includes guests like Star Trek’s William Shatner and George Takei, MegaCon is the Southeast’s largest comics, sci-fi, horror, anime and […]
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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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Summer 2021 Graduates Head Out With New College of Sciences Degrees
UCF’S newest College of Sciences graduates crossed the stage Saturday at Summer 2021 Commencement. Among them was Nahla Turner, a psychology graduate who not only battled pandemic challenges in 2020, but a cancer diagnosis. A clean bill of health in October 2020 brought her to Saturday’s academic finish line and a new starting line pursuing […]
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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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Radioactive Contaminant Research Receives Boost from American Chemical Society
New research on radioactive iodine has received the American Chemical Society Award in Environmental Chemistry. Ilana Szlamkowicz recently received the award for her research in the fate of iodine, a radioactive contaminant that results from nuclear fission in the environment. “We’re trying to find ways to lower the risk of people encountering radioactive iodine,” Szlamkowicz […]
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Study of Medieval Migration Moves Forward with NSF Grant
A deep dive into the evolution of Christianity in medieval France will continue unabated thanks to a new NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. The $19,986 grant funds the work of bioarchaeology student Jane Holmstrom, whose research centers on two cemeteries in the remnants of Saint-Jean-de-Todon, near Laudun, France. Holmstrom’s research to date is built […]
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Study: UCF Tops Production of Ergonomics and Human Factors Research Papers
The University of Central Florida and five of its researchers produced the most articles in the world on the topic of ergonomics and human factors over an 18-year span, according to a new study. The study, published July 20, 2021 in the International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, examines the volume of research produced […]
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UCF Doctoral Scholar Named National Science Foundation Biology Fellow
The National Science Foundation has awarded UCF doctoral scholar William Beckerson one of a handful of national Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in Biology. The $138,000 award is a result of his work on promising research exploring a “mind control” fungus for medical applications to treat neurological disorders. Beckerson, a molecular geneticist, is investigating Ophiocordyceps, a fungal […]
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UCF Researchers Create Global Storm Surge Database
Storm surges can be deadly coastal hazards but the current historical tide gauge data that is needed to better understand them, and perhaps predict their impacts, doesn’t go far back enough in time. That’s why University of Central Florida researchers are working to reconstruct the missing data and compile the information in a newly created […]
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UCF Police Officer, Professor Recognized by Secret Service
A veteran UCF Police officer and a College of Sciences professor were recently honored by the United States Secret Service for their work with the federal agency. Detective Eric Walton, a 30-year veteran with UCF Police, and Michael Sigman, a chemistry professor at UCF, were honored with a surprise presentation as a thanks for providing […]
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Surviving Earthquake Motivates UCF Grad to Make the Most of Her Life
A decade has passed since a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti, killing roughly 250,000 people and injuring another 300,000. Many who survived were forced to live among the aftermath in makeshift tents. Soon-to-be UCF graduate Bianka Paul was one of them. Paul, who is earning two degrees in psychology and criminal justice this semester, remembers […]
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Fellowship Fuels Future Forage Fish Research
An ongoing study into the intricate food webs of Florida’s coastal environments recently received a boost from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The $15,000 fellowship was awarded to Biology graduate student Kira Allen, who is writing a thesis on the impact of freshwater diversion and sea level rise on Apalachicola Bay. […]