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Arecibo Observatory Debuts New Mascot at Puerto Rico’s Comic Con
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA The University of Central Florida is storming the comic con world this week by participating in MegaCon Orlando and Puerto Rico Comic Con. Both events are geared for fans of science fiction, fantasy, anime and horror. They draw thousands of attendees who attend celebrity panels, shop for their favorite novelties, comics […]
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Science Fair Projects Wow Judges At Nemours Children’s Hospital
Sick children confined to hospitals miss not only the experience of classroom teaching, but grade school traditions like the science fair. So, on Thursday, the science fair came to them – thanks to the help of UCF faculty and students – in the form of the first-ever STEM Day at Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando. […]
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Research Holds Life-Changing Potential For Malnutrition Victims
Research underway in the National Center for Forensic Science carries life-changing potential for people suffering from malnutrition or exposure to hazardous toxins. Malnutrition is the source of a host of health issues, including zinc deficiency. Low amounts of the mineral can delay growth in children, suppress the immune system and even cause brain damage. The […]
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Three College of Sciences Faculty Receive NSF CAREER Awards
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA College of Sciences faculty represented half of the six grants awarded in the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development’s highly competitive CAREER program. The recipients represent some of the most promising early career scientists and engineers with high promise of leading major advances in their respective fields and who will serve as […]
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NPR News’ NextGenRadio Features UCF Students, Faculty
BY HEATHER GIBSON ’17MBA If there’s one thing UCF student Lillian Hernández Caraballo knows about journalism, it’s that you can’t miss a deadline. Her dedication to meeting an important deadline helped her land a coveted spot in the NPR News’ national training program, NextGenRadio. UCF’s Nicholson School of Communication and Media and WUCF-TV partnered with […]
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Mining the Moon For Ice Focus of UCF Research
BY ROBERT WELLS With space set to be the site of the next “gold rush,” University of Central Florida researchers are helping prospect a spot for a major first step in the upcoming scramble – creating a lunar mining outpost. The work will be funded through a recently announced grant from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts […]
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From Porcupines to Pigs, this UCF Psychology Grad Trains Them All
Many kids say they want to work with animals when they grow up. But only a small number of them are willing to scrub poop out of animal enclosures to reach that dream. Katelyn O’Rourke ’14 was among those willing to do anything. Now the psychology alumna’s hard work is paying off with a career that includes hosting […]
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Spring ’19 Ph.D. Grads Honored At Reception
The Spring ’19 doctorate degree students were recognized Thursday at a special reception. Graduates celebrated their achievement with their faculty advisors, family, College of Sciences Dean Michael Johnson, Ph.D. and a special champagne toast. Click here to see the full gallery of photos. Chemistry Sameer Ezzat, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor: Andres Campiglia, Ph.D. Dissertation: Chemistry and […]
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Army Officers Return To Duty With Doctorate Degrees
Research that could shape the U.S. military’s combat readiness in the world theater was the outcome of two high-ranking officers pursuing their doctorates in Security Studies. U.S. Army Col. Joseph Funderburke and U.S. Army Col. David Raugh were both hooded today during the College of Sciences’ commencement ceremony. “Dave and Joe have been […]
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Professor Remembered For Changing Lives With Research
Professor Emeritus of Sociology James Wright, whose research was central to a modern understanding of poverty and homelessness, died Monday. He was 71. Wright was a prolific writer and academic, with more than 200 journal articles, 10,000 citations and 22 books to his name. He was also recognized as a Pegasus Professor in 2013 […]
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Department of Statistics Adding Data Science To Its Name
A name change is coming to the Department of Statistics to better reflect its direction moving forward. Starting May 6, the department will be formally known as the Department of Statistics and Data Science, a nod to its increased focus on training future leaders in the data science field. With a doctoral program already in […]
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Arboretum Founder’s Legacy Lives On With Boardwalk Naming
Hank Whitter, Ph.D., was once asked, “What’s going to happen to the Arboretum when you’re no longer here?” Whittier, who helped lead the movement in the early 80s for a protected green space on UCF’s campus, was not concerned. There’s always someone next in line whose passion matches your own, he explained. “Just look […]
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Psychology Student Recipient of 50,000th DirectConnect Diploma
BY GENE KRUCKEMYER ’73 On May 3, psychology major Hannah Holbrook will receive the 50,000th degree at the commencement ceremony for the College of Sciences. Holbrook, who came through DirectConnect from Lake-Sumter State College in Clermont, wants to eventually go to medical school to study emergency medicine. But first beginning in June she’s going to start […]
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UCF’s Highest-achieving Students are Making an Impact through Research
BY NICOLE DUDENHOEFER ’17 Several of the 2019 Order of Pegasus honorees have studied fields as diverse as tidal flooding, migraine headaches, plastic pollution and other topics. Several of the 22 undergraduate students who received the 2019 Order of the Pegasus award, the university’s highest student honor, have participated in research during their time at UCF. This year’s […]
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Upcoming STEM Day Opens Learning Opportunities At Children’s Hospital
There’s not many opportunities that blend marine conservation and medical sciences. So Jacob Hromyak considers himself lucky to volunteer at PedsAcademy at Nemours Children’s Hospital. PedsAcademy is a pediatric school program that provides hospitalized children research-backed educational opportunities. It was founded earlier this year under the leadership of Megan Nickels, Ph.D., an assistant professor of […]
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Mobile Learning Lab Gets Fresh, Updated Exterior
A new mobile learning lab focused on geospatial technologies like maps, apps and drones just edged closer to its public debut with a brand new look. The GeoBus is the vision of Citizen Science GIS, an international research organization led by UCF researchers to enhance public knowledge and application of mapping with geographic information systems […]
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Sociology Club Brings Human Touch To Research
Sociologists research and quantify the way humans treat each other — and the often-terrible results of those actions. But topics like racism, sexism, homelessness and poverty are just words on a screen if you never leave the office. That’s the purpose behind Knights for Social Justice (KSJ), a student-run organization on a mission to put […]
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$750K Awarded To Physics Professor To Improve Online Ed
A UCF assistant professor’s reimagined approach to optimizing online physics education has landed him a $750,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. The NSF award to Zhongzhou Chen, Ph.D., lasts for five years. In collaboration with the Center for Distributed Learning at UCF, Chen is developing a series of new online learning modules optimized for […]
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Haiti Trip Confirms Career Path For Pre-Med Student
It’s one thing to dream of one day serving a disadvantaged community. And then there’s actually doing it. Javier Cintron recently had the opportunity to test drive his career goals with a weeklong trip to an impoverished community in Haiti. UCF has had a permanent presence in the rural mountain village of Mare-Brignol through a […]
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UCF Takes Lead on 5-Year, $7.5M Project for Department of Defense
The University of Central Florida is taking the lead on a five-year, $7.5 million investigation into machines that can operate at trillions of cycles per second for the Department of Defense. The grant award comes from the DoD’s highly competitive multidisciplinary university research initiative (MURI), which combines the brainpower of top scientists in their respective fields […]
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COS Faculty and Students Recognized for Outstanding Achievements at Founders’ Day Convocation
The dedication and high quality of instruction provided daily by College of Sciences (COS) faculty was recognized recently at the 2019 Founders’ Day Convocation. COS students were also praised for their outstanding academic work. Multiple faculty received awards for their contributions to teaching and research at UCF. They are: College Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate […]
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New Book Spotlights Food Insecurity
The U.S. has so much food that an estimated 133 billion pounds was thrown away in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. So why are people still going hungry? The root of the problem is “food insecurity,” or inconsistent access to food. So, for instance, someone who can only afford one meal […]
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UCF Marks 1st Year at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico
BY ZENAIDA KOTALA UCF celebrates its first anniversary this month of operating the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico. The observatory is the first national research center that UCF has led. It is home to one of the world’s most sensitive Incoherent Scattering Radar systems, which detects microscopic fluctuations due to thermal motions in the […]
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College of Sciences Welcomes New Pegasus Professor and Honors Reach for the Stars Recipient
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA AND ALLISON HURTADO ’12 Two College of Sciences professors were among those honored Wednesday for their dedication to teaching UCF students and their innovation in the classroom. Josh Colwell, Ph.D., was one of four new Pegasus Professors, the highest academic honor a professor can receive at the university. Tim Hawthorne, Ph.D., […]
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U.S. Air Force Taps Psychology Professor For Scientific Advisory Board
UCF is now represented on the scientific advisory board that supplies independent guidance to U.S. Air Force research. Peter Hancock, Ph.D., was appointed recently to the roughly 50-member board, which studies topics considered of critical importance by the secretary and chief of staff of the Air Force. While many members are engineers or provide similar […]
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‘Paying It Forward’ Motivates Distinguished Alumna
Gloria LeQuang, ’97, always wanted to give back to the Central Florida community that gave so much to her. LeQuang, who grew up in Lake Mary, Florida, is the director of marketing and community relations at BRIDG, which is a not-for-profit that provides research and development solutions to bridge technology capability gaps in microelectronics […]
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Professor Recognized For His Work Combating Human Trafficking
A UCF Sociology professor was recognized recently for his work to combat human trafficking in Central Florida. Jay Corzine, Ph.D., received the Polaris Award from the Greater Orlando Human Trafficking Task Force in conjunction with three years of researching criminal trends and patterns among phone calls to hotlines and trafficking survivors receiving services. The task […]
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Ending Human Trafficking In Central Florida Focus Of Three-Day Event
Knights for Social Justice is raising awareness around human trafficking this week with a three-day event featuring panel discussions with local experts and a documentary screening. This week’s events are made possible with the support of McCain Institute. Florida consistently ranks high in the U.S. for human trafficking. Florida is currently third in the U.S., […]
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Global Perspective’s John Bersia Pushed for International Awareness
BY GENE KRUCKEMYER ’73 John C. Bersia ’77, director of UCF’s Global Perspectives Office, a professor of international issues, and a Pulitzer Prize recipient while an editorial writer at the Orlando Sentinel, died Thursday of metastatic cancer. He was 62. Bersia started working at UCF in 2001, later became a special assistant to the president […]
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Asteroid Bennu Gives NASA’s OSIRIS-REx Mission Team Lots of Surprises
BY ZENAIDA GONZALEZ KOTALA Sometimes the unexpected is more exciting than finding exactly what you thought you’d find, and this is indeed the case for the science team involved in NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid-sample mission. This mission, a first for the United States, aims to collect a sample from the near-Earth asteroid 101955 Bennu and bring […]