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Biology Initiative Eases Transfer Experience
A pilot program in the biology department is championing new ways to create a smooth transition for transfer students coming to UCF. The centerpiece of the program is Transfer Advisory Peers, or TAPS, who pair up with incoming transfer students and offer guidance on everything from study spots to the best coffee on campus. “Having […]
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UCF Physics Alum Highlights the Importance of Workplace Accessibility
By: Nicole Dudenhoefer For many college graduates, finding a job within their field can seem just as daunting as earning a degree. But that task can be even more difficult for people with disabilities, considering last year’s unemployment rate for the group (9.2 percent) was more than twice the rate of those with no disabilities (4.2 […]
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IBM Partnership Boosts GeoBus
A first-of-its-kind mobile science laboratory recently received a big boost in funding thanks to a new community partner in IBM. The GeoBus is a 42-foot bus that, when complete, will be filled with technology like mini-drones, an augmented reality sandbox and virtual reality goggles that bring the world of mapping and geospatial technologies to […]
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Political Candidates Reflect on UCF Experiences
Three political science alumna — including Florida’s youngest representative — are looking forward to seeing their names on ballots next week. Anna Eskamani, ’12 ’15 MNM, MPA, is currently senior director for Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, and the Democratic candidate for Florida House District 47. Also running is Carol Lawrence, ’71, an […]
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Multi-Agency Approach Key To Curbing Human Trafficking
Greater Orlando’s multi-agency approach to stopping human trafficking is the topic of a paper authored by members of UCF’s Department of Sociology. Florida currently ranks third in the U.S. for human trafficking, a form of modern-day slavery. The more common reasons for trafficking are for sex — similar to prostitution — and for working long […]
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Students Build International Bridges Through Filmmaking
Sponsorships from the India Center at UCF opened up the opportunity for eight students to travel to India this summer and grow their filmmaking chops. Six undergraduate and two graduate film students joined film professor and Fulbright Scholar Phil Peters in Kolkata on an innovative research project conducted by The India Documentary Lab. The […]
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Celebrity Political Endorsements Have Their Pros and Cons
Pop musician Taylor Swift made headlines this week when she broke her longstanding silence on political issues and urged her Instagram followers to register to vote. Her plea — along with her endorsement of two candidates in upcoming Tennessee races for U.S. Senate and House—coincided with more than 166,000 new voter registrations between Sunday […]
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Reflecting on Hurricane Maria One Year Later
By: Dr. Fernando Rivera Associate Professor of Sociology Director, Puerto Rico Research Hub I clearly remember speaking on the phone with my father the day before Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico. I felt reassured knowing he had all of the essentials to withstand the impact of the storm, and I was confident we would speak […]
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New UCF, Moroccan University Partnership to Develop Exchange Programs
The international partnership will promote faculty exchanges, joint classes, research and other activities. By Gene Kruckemyer UCF and Al Akhawayn University in Morocco signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday creating an international partnership to promote faculty exchanges, joint classes, research and other activities. The agreement was signed by UCF President Dale Whittaker and AUI […]
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MyPoliticalScience Day Kicks off Second Event for Political Science Students
The Political Science department hosted its second myPoliticalScience Day in the Student Union on September 28. The event informed students about academic, extra-curricular, and career opportunities for students enrolled in Political Science and International & Global Studies, which are both housed in the Political Science department. The Political Science department held its first MyPoliticalScience Day […]
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UCF Selling Experimental Martian Dirt — $20 a Kilogram, Plus Shipping
The University of Central Florida is selling Martian dirt, $20 a kilogram plus shipping. This is not fake news. A team of UCF astrophysicists has developed a scientifically based, standardized method for creating Martian and asteroid soil known as simulants. The team published its findings this month in the journal Icarus. “The simulant is useful […]
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UCF RESTORES Clinic Receives Grant to Develop New VR Software to Treat PTSD
By Robert Wells A new $3 million grant from the Department of Defense will help the University of Central Florida’s RESTORES clinic develop its own virtual reality software to treat first responders, veterans, active duty personnel and civilians with post-traumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related disorders. The clinic currently uses third-party software. However, the […]
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UCF Student Studies Algal Blooms Impact on Sea Turtles in Indian River Lagoon
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Long before the algal blooms on Florida’s Gulf Coast sparked surprise and outrage, University of Central Florida doctoral student Chris Long was studying the effects of similar episodes on threatened green sea turtles in the Indian River Lagoon. Algae blooms regularly hit the Indian River Lagoon and were especially intense from 2011 […]
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UCF Lecturer’s Service-Learning Research is Cover of Academic Journal
By Rachel Stamford A UCF chemistry lecturer’s pioneering service-learning research on sucralose in the Orlando Easterly Wetlands has put her on the cover of a premier academic journal. Dr. Emily Heider was a postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Central Florida developing sensors to detect mercury in water before she was hired in 2015 […]
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The 2018-19 Distinguished Speaker Series is Here!
The UCF College of Sciences Distinguished Speaker Series is back for its fifth edition. Starting in September, six speakers will present on new technology and research in their respective fields. The 2018-2019 series will be held monthly (excluding November and December) at the Tuscawilla Country Club from September 2018 to April 2019 at […]
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International Study Suggests Ancient Globalization
Using energy consumption as a measure, a team of international scientists has found that ancient civilizations engaged in globalization more than previously believed, suggesting that an integrated global economy is nothing new and may have benefited societies for ages. This archaeological research is the first of its kind, because instead of focusing on specific regions […]
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UCF’s International Chemistry Exchange Program Changing Lives
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Carlos Salazar is wrapping up a month-long educational experience in one of UCF’s chemistry labs this week – and he says it has changed his life. “I had only read about computational chemistry and chemistry modeling back home” in Peru, Salazar says. “We don’t really have access to that, but now I’m […]
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UCF RESTORES PTSD Clinic Renamed
By Rachel Williams The PTSD clinic of UCF RESTORES has been renamed in honor of alumnus Jim Rosengren ‘81 and his wife Julia, who donated $1 million to the clinic. In a ceremony Friday, the Rosengrens and Deborah Beidel, the clinic’s director and a Pegasus professor of psychology, unveiled the new name: Rosengren Trauma Clinic […]
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Digging Up Rosewood
Anthropology visiting lecturer Edward Gonzalez-Tennant, Ph.D., spent the last decade of his life researching what happened almost a century ago in Rosewood, Florida. The recent release of his book, The Rosewood Massacre: An Archaeology and History of Intersectional Violence, and the last remaining house from Rosewood that was just put on the market, have brought the town […]
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Researchers Receive $1.25 Million Grant to Map Marine Ecosystems With Drones
By Rachel Wimmer You may soon be able to spot UCF drones collecting data all along the Pacific coast — from Baja California to Alaska. Timothy Hawthorne, assistant professor of GIS in the Department of Sociology, and his collaborators at the Smithsonian Institution, Cornell University and the University of California-Davis recently received a $1.25 million grant […]
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Pluto a Planet? New Research from UCF Suggests Yes
By Robert H. Wells The reason Pluto lost its planet status is not valid, according to new research from the University of Central Florida. In 2006, the International Astronomical Union, a global group of astronomy experts, established a definition of a planet that required it to “clear” its orbit, or in other words, be the […]
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UCF Student Named a Peace Fellow
By Nicole Dudenhoefer Christopher Faulkner, a Ph.D. candidate in UCF’s security studies program, was recently awarded a Minerva Research Initiative and United States Institute of Peace Dissertation Write-Up Fellowship for his dissertation on child soldiering. More than 200 students applied for the award this year, but only 18 were awarded, with some of last year’s winners […]
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One Alumna’s Journey from UCF to HuffPost
By Jenna Marina Lee The day Lindsay Holmes ’12 moved into a tiny, way-uptown, three-bedroom apartment in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City, she still couldn’t believe she was there on a one-way ticket. “It sort of reminded me of what I felt like when I started at UCF. It almost felt like extended vacation […]
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Kurdish Political Studies Program Welcomes Resident Senior Fellow Haidar Khezri, Ph.D.
In fall 2018, Haidar Khezri, Ph.D., joined the Kurdish Political Studies Program (KPSP) as visiting faculty and senior fellow from Indiana University (IU), Bloomington. Dr. Khezri, born in Iranian Kurdistan, holds a Ph.D. in comparative literature from Damascus University in Syria, and a M.A. in comparative literature from Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, Iran. He […]
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OSIRIS-REx on Final Approach to Bennu
There’s no better tool to teach students about physics than to see it at work in the real world. That’s why UCF professor Humberto Campins decided to teach this semester despite the heavy research load he knows will be coming. “I thought about taking time off to complete my work for NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission,” Campins […]
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Neil Armstrong Award of Excellence
The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation honors Larry Bradley ’94 for his contributions to space exploration Larry Bradley once discovered the most distant galaxy in the universe (at the time). Now he will be recognized by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation at the Innovators Gala in Washington D.C. on Aug. 25. Bradley has been selected as the recipient of […]
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UCF Coastal Working to Find Solutions for our Coastal Communities
By Rachel Stamford Recently, Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency due to red tide, a toxic algae bloom, that is devastating the southwestern coast of Florida. The UCF National Center for Integrated Coastal Research, also known as UCF Coastal, will serve as a mechanism to find solutions to this problem and many […]
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Screening Frogs for Infectious Disease
An undergraduate researcher has developed a method to screen frogs for an infectious disease that has been linked to mass die-offs of frogs around the world. Thanks to her method, scientists will be able to track the disease and try to figure out why it is triggering the deaths. Emily Karwacki, who recently earned her […]
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UCF & PMU to Sponsor Conference on Saudi Arabia
“The Impact of Social and Economic Reforms on Saudi Youth” Conference will focus on younger Saudis, recent reforms, and opportunities for American collaboration The University of Central Florida and Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University will host “The Impact of Social and Economic Reforms on Saudi Youth” January 17-18, 2019, in Orlando. The conference will […]
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Arecibo With an Expanded View
The National Science Foundation has awarded a team of scientists $5.8 million to design and mount a supersensitive antenna at the focal point of the Arecibo Observatory’s 1,000-foot-diameter dish, which is managed by the University of Central Florida. The antenna, called a phased-array feed, will increase the telescopes’ observation capabilities 500 percent. The team, led […]