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OSIRIS REx Target on Asteroid Bennu Revealed, Next Step – Touch-and-Go in 2020
By ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The OSIRIS-REx team announced today, the selection of two sites on asteroid Bennu that they will target for sample collection next year. The selection of the two spots nicknamed Nightingale and Osprey sites represents a milestone in NASA’s first mission to collect a sample of an asteroid and bring it back […]
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Agreement Opens New Research Opportunity at State Park
A first-of-its-kind agreement between a Florida state park and a public university opens new research opportunities for students and faculty of disciplines ranging from biology to engineering. The agreement between UCF and Florida Park Service centers on a building in Econfina River State Park in rural Taylor County, about an hour southeast of Tallahassee. A […]
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Students Share Who They’re Grateful For This Thanksgiving
There’s a lot to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. So we asked College of Sciences students to narrow it down to a person that influenced their decision to pursue sciences as a career. Psalmiyah Barber Psychology Sophomore There was no hesitation in Psalmiyah Barber’s answer when asked what she was most thankful for this […]
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UCF Instructional Video Nominated For Regional Emmy Award
A powerful video detailing a journalist’s approach to her work has earned a Suncoast Regional Emmy Award nomination for the UCF team that produced it. The project, titled “Ethics in Journalism: A Morning with Nancy Alvarez,” explores the decisions the Channel 9 anchor made approaching news coverage of two major Orlando stories: the Pulse nightclub […]
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Physics Education Produces Twelve Teachers in Two Years
Adam LaMee has always had a passion for showing others the wonder of physics. So when UCF recruited him from his small, high school classroom to teach in their Physics Teacher Education (PhysTEC) program, it was a no-brainer. Now on its eighth year, LaMee’s passion has led PhysTEC to hit a major milestone: the 5+ […]
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NASA Funds 2 UCF Projects Focused on Returning to the Moon
By ROBERT WELLS Two new University of Central Florida projects will test innovative technologies designed to help astronauts return safely to the moon. NASA recently funded the projects that will help scientists better understand the nature of lunar dust so that its potentially damaging effects to equipment and spacecraft during lunar landings can be minimized. […]
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UCF Professor Part of Team Awarded the Sir Arthur Clarke Award
By ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA NASA’s New Horizons Mission Team, which includes UCF physics Professor Dan Britt, Thursday was awarded the 2019 Sir Arthur Clarke Award, one of the most prestigious space-exploration awards in the world. The award recognizes teams and individuals that have made notable or outstanding achievements in space activities in the past year. […]
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GIS Day 2019 Introduces New Careers to Central Florida K-12 Students
The Pegasus Ballroom was buzzing with drones and excited conversations Thursday for GIS Day 2019. GIS Day presents students with hands-on activities that teach them about GIS (geographic information system) mapping, drones and coding for apps. “Students use these apps and services every day, but they don’t realize that they are using GIS. We’re using […]
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Seema Shekhawat Joins India Center as a Fellow
The India Center welcomes Seema Shekhawat, Ph.D., as a Fellow. Shekhawat is a social scientist with a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Jammu in India. Her doctoral work focused on the intersection of gender, conflict and displacement in Kashmir. Her research and teaching interests include conflict, peace and gender, and […]
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Alumna Goes To Washington With PoliSci Degree
In the nine years after graduating from UCF, Nathalia Martins ’10 ’12MA has crossed paths with Washington D.C. movers and shakers, held a job with the Brazilian ambassador and started a new career path in public relations. Not bad for someone who didn’t have a clear plan when she arrived in college. “When I […]
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Award Created to Honor Legacy of Florida Civics Education Leader
The Florida Council for the Social Studies (FCSS) recently announced their first student-centered award in honor of Doug Dobson, Ph.D., a senior fellow at UCF’s Lou Frey Institute. The Dr. L Dobson Student Civic Engagement Award recognizes a student, or students, that have demonstrated outstanding civic engagement and leadership. For Dobson who has been one […]
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10 Things to Know About Impeachment
By Robert Stephens In September, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump. And while the word — impeach — has been around for four and half centuries, the history and meaning of it are often misunderstood. Few people may know this better than David Dumke. Dumke is […]
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Grant Offers Mobility for Psychology Researchers
Almost $600,000 in new funding from the U.S. Department of Defense allows researchers studying human behavior to escape the limits of the laboratory. Specifically, the grant funds tools that offer the freedom and mobility to study how people interact with their environments in real time. These include augmented and virtual reality devices, and tools that […]
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Behind the scenes at the Arboretum Spooktacular 2019
By Rachel Smith This year’s Arboretum Spooktacular drew nearly 200 students on Friday night after months of preparation and a long day of setting up. Nearly 30 volunteers for the event shuffled into the Arboretum trailer Friday afternoon and started taking boxes of decorations outside. About 15 of those volunteers would become part of the […]
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Hamann Named A Vice President of American Political Science Association
Pegasus Professor Kerstin Hamann, Ph.D., director of the School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs, was recently named a vice president of the American Political Science Association. The APSA, founded in 1903, is the leading professional organization in the field of political science with over 11,000 members in more than 100 countries. APSA’s mission extends to […]
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Director Named to Lead Center for the Study of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery
Professor Roberto “Hugh” Potter, Ph.D., was appointed this week to lead UCF’s Center for the Study of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery. The center answers several needs in an area of Florida particularly vulnerable to human trafficking because of its agricultural and hospitality industries. Affiliated faculty conduct research and provide consulting expertise to professions that […]
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Egyptian Exchange Student Soaks Up American Culture
Norhan Abdeldeyem was a bundle of nerves and excitement when an opportunity to study abroad presented itself. This was Abdeldeyem’s first time leaving Egypt, let alone entering the U.S. But she’s found a home at UCF, where she is studying actuarial science through the Department of Statistics and Data Science, with a double minor in […]
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UCF Receives $3.4 Million Grant to Help Homeowners Evaluate Property Risks
By ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA When buying a home, people often weigh the quality of the schools, crime rates, cost and property values into their buying equation. Rarely do they think about disaster risk, mostly because there is no easy way to do so. University of Central Florida Professor Chris Emrich and his team are about to change […]
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Class Spotlight: Mummies: Life After Death
Note: Answers have been edited for length. Associate Lecturer of Anthropology Sandra Wheeler, Ph.D., has been teaching at the University of Central Florida since 2010, with a specialty in bioarchaeology. Her course, called Mummies: Life After Death (ANT 4027), is a big hit among anthropological and non-anthropological majors alike. College of Sciences: How did […]
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Summer Research Program Provides Senior Fresh Perspectives
Senior Hannah Haynes is viewing her Anthropology classes through a new lens thanks to an invaluable summer experience offered through the National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates hosted at Southern Illinois University. Haynes was one of ten students chosen from a competitive application pool. The program spans eight weeks from June to July. […]
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Civic Education Champion Lou Frey Passes
Champion of civic education and former Congressman Lou Frey Jr., the namesake of UCF’s Lou Frey Institute, passed away Monday in Winter Springs. He was 85. Frey leaves a long legacy of service to the U.S. and Central Florida; he had a hand in both establishing Kennedy Space Center as the home of the space […]
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$1 Million Gift Brings India Center Endowed Chair Closer to Reality
An endowed chair position for UCF’s India Center continues its march toward reality with a new $1 million pledge. The pledge comes from Raj Toleti, ‘93MS, and family, including his wife, Aparna Toleti, ‘95MS, and brings the total for the fund to $2 million of a $5 million goal. Their generous commitment to the success […]
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Lifelong Impact of Professor Inspires Scholarship Fund
In a hectic world, it pays to pause and say “thank you.” That’s the philosophy of Chris Lombardo, who was struck not too long ago about his own inattention to showing gratefulness. More specifically, he realized the impact that longtime Political Science professor Roger Handberg, Ph.D., had on Lombardo’s career as an attorney. “The foundational […]
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‘Be The Diversity’ Says Latina Student Advocate
When Tamara Vasquez stepped onto UCF’s campus four years ago, she could still hear the echo of her grandparents’ advice. “They would always remind my cousins and I about the history behind our family name, and why success is important to achieve,” Vasquez remembers with a smile. A proud Afro-Latina, Vasquez is the first generation […]
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Lou Frey Institute Recognized For Its Work With Boys And Girls Clubs
The Lou Frey Institute of Politics and Government (LFI) was recently recognized for its work with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida’s After School Zone by the Florida After School Alliance (FASA). LFI was honored with the inaugural Special Recognition Award for their contribution to the civic well-being of Florida’s youth. Since 2017, […]
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Puerto Rican Student Bridges Heritage and Home with Club
When Jose Rivera arrived at University of Central Florida in 2017, his hope was to experience life beyond his home in San Juan, Puerto Rico. But as much as he loved experiencing Central Florida, he still yearned for a cultural connection to his home. That inspired Rivera to start the Puerto Rican Student Association, which, […]
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Former Ambassador Talks Mexican Immigration and Trade with Students
By: Katina Rentas Negrón, Latin America Intern, Office of Global Perspectives and International Initiatives, UCF How much is trade between the U.S. and Mexico worth? According to former U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Earl Anthony Wayne (2011-2015), the answer is “over one million dollars’ worth of goods and services. Every minute.” Trade was one […]
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Sober Truths
BY ROBERT STEPHENS The celebratory parties outside Spectrum Stadium had been underway long before UCF began its 45-27 defeat of Stanford on Sept. 13. Most of the tailgate scenes were what you’d expect — flags, finger sandwiches and anywhere from 5-to-40 percent alcohol by volume. One, however, stood out. Not just because about 75 people […]
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NIH Awards UCF Researcher $3.8 Million to Study Opiate Overdoses
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announced that UCF will receive a $3.8 million milestone based grant to better understand how overdosing on opiates works, their impact on multiple organs and the effect of drugs used to treat overdoses, including potential toxicity of organs. James Hickman, a professor at […]
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Achievements Celebrated at 2019 Distinguished Alumni Awards
The College of Sciences recognized 10 alumni for their achievements Thursday at the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Awards. The annual event brings together outstanding alumni from each of the departments and schools within COS for a night of celebration and reflection on another successful year. “Tonight’s awardees were selected for this honor based on their professional […]