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Physics Graduate Student Awarded Order of Pegasus
The Order of Pegasus is the University of Central Florida’s most prestigious student award. Student recipients are recognized for their academic success, university involvement, leadership qualities and community service activities. For graduate student applicants, UCF also considers previous publications or research experiences. It was his research with optics and nanoscale materials that brought physics graduate […]
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Venezuelan Background Helps Alumna Help Others
Having lived through an almost 11-year separation from her parents after they were denied re-entry into the United States, UCF alumna Raquel Fernandez knows firsthand the difficulties of the immigration process. Now, as the community relations coordinator for the Orange County Tax Collector’s Office, she helps support and educate others going through the same process […]
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Fruits and Veggies Made Friendly
How many books on nutrition do you remember reading during your childhood? Probably not many, since UCF Biology faculty Rani Vajravelu, Ph.D., wrote one of the first. Her recently published book, The Dog That Didn’t Like Leftovers, encourages young children and their families to open a dialogue about healthy eating. The book follows Lucy the […]
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UCF Alumnus Represents Home Country
Thirty years before he became the Counselor for Political Affairs at the Embassy of El Salvador in Washington D.C., Luis Aparicio was an international student waiting to graduate from high school. His biggest dream was to attend college in the United States and study journalism. “I remember I requested over a dozen catalogs from U.S. […]
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Chemistry Grad Student Cracks Code for Colorblind Tests
Tatiana Fedotava-Molden, a first-year Ph.D. student in the department of Chemistry, has already had her first research breakthrough and publication in one of the most prestigious international chemistry journals. For a chemistry Ph.D. student, Molden had an interesting start. When she lived in Russia, she went to school for journalism and found herself at movie […]
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Alumna Andrea Otero Connects With Community
The first in her family to graduate from college back in 2009, Andrea Otero understands the importance of hard work when crafting dreams into reality. Now, as the community outreach and communications specialist for the Orange County Clerk of Courts, she is leading the efforts in promoting the many services the Clerk’s office provides in […]
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Citizen Science GIS Team Unites Community Using Drones
UCF’s Citizen Science GIS team has spent the last few years using drone technology to map the coastline and local island communities of Belize. Led by UCF’s assistant professor, Timothy L. Hawthorne, Ph.D., the Citizen Science GIS team aims to strengthen the connections between science and society through geographic information systems and drones. As an […]
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Alumna Combines Health and Climate Change
The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) awarded UCF alumna Linh Anh Cat a Next Generation Fellowship award. This award recognizes her research on patterns of fungal disease dispersion and climate change, as well as a review she wrote which links her work to public policy. Her public policy review calls for nations to cooperate […]
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Biology Student Aims for Vet School
Biology student Nicole Santana uses a hands-on approach to make a difference. While studying to becoming a veterinarian, she also works as a research assistant in anthropology assistant professor John Starbuck’s lab. Santana compares images of mice with Down syndrome to those without. She hopes to find differences in their skulls, something that can then […]
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A Life Less Ordinary For Psychology Alumna
Sleep is not a word Jenna Reisert knows. A UCF alumna, Reisert has not taken a break since she first stepped foot on campus, back in 2014. After graduating from the psychology program in three years, an entire year earlier than planned, she embarked on an insane gap year to “live a life less ordinary” […]
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Alumnus Connects With American People
UCF alumnus Michael Taylor ’13 took his degree in international and global studies to the White House, working as the letter writer engagement and events coordinator in the Office of Presidential Correspondence during the Obama administration. His job connected him with Americans on a daily basis, requiring him to read the presidential mail looking for stories […]
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Ph.D. Candidate Closing the Health Gap
Selected as a Health Policy Research Scholar, sociology Ph.D. candidate Harvey Nicholson works to close the gap in health disparities throughout the United States. Out of 295 applicants, Nicholson was one of 40 chosen to be a part of this national leadership program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Nicholson’s research focuses on the […]
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History Reveals Future Opportunities
Thanks to the American Anthropological Association (AAA) internship program, one UCF student traveled to Washington, D.C. this past summer and experienced the vast opportunities present in the anthropology field. Karina Nogueras spent her time conducting research for the United States Navy as well as analyzing the learning objectives of various anthropology departments nationwide to make […]
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Uncovering History Through Undergraduate Research
Most college students think of beach days and bathing suits when they hear they’re going to visit the East Coast for the summer. Current UCF senior Alexandra Kulenguski headed to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to spend her break working as an Archaeology and Digital Heritage Technician, instead of soaking up the sun beach-side. This […]
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Helping Avoid Long Lines at Theme Parks
Two UCF alumni and a student each earned first place in a competition that stretched their statistical math skills to come up with better resources to help people visiting theme parks avoid long lines. Kanak Choudhury ‘17,Taha Mokfi ’17 and statistical computing major Phuong Pho competed individually in Touring Plans’ Big Data Challenge. The contest […]
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TEDx Talk With Coastal Implications
Story by Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala Albert Manero ‘16, president of Limbitless Solutions, will speak about the power of technology and art to help children unlock their identities during the relaunch of TEDx Orlando on Saturday, June 24. UCF biology Pegasus Professor Graham Worthy also will speak about the pressures of population growth on the […]
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From Dust to Outer Space
Story by Zenaida Kotala Adrienne Dove, a University of Central Florida assistant professor in the physics department, recently was awarded NASA’s Susan Mahan Niebur Early Career Award for her research on microgravity and dusty plasmas, collisions and planet formation. Her work is helping scientists who have been puzzled for decades understand some mechanisms of dust […]
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UCF Teaches Outstanding Chemistry AlumKnight the Value of Hard Work
UCF chemistry graduate Dennis Donahue, M.D., is an example of what hard work can bring. The board-certified urologist graduated with his bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1975 when UCF was still Florida Technological University. Dr. Donahue is a now a doctor with Florida Hospital Medical Group, coming a long way from his first job as […]
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Rising Stars
The COS Dean’s Distinguished Researcher and Rising Star Awards recognize the efforts of the most ‘research productive’ faculty and the outstanding value that they bring to their classroom teaching, as well as to the unambiguous value of the research mentorship that they offer to undergraduate and graduate students that are their apprentices. The applicants must have […]
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Lunar Knights Compete in NASA Robotic Competition
By Rachel Williams University of Central Florida students who make up the Lunar Knights Mining Club will compete this month in NASA’s national Robotic Mining Competition that was developed to help in the exploration of Mars. The eighth annual competition is May 22-26 at Kennedy Space Center. About 50 student teams from across the country […]
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UCF Fosters Future Generations with Political Symposium
The Lou Frey Institute and Global Perspectives at the University of Central Florida hosted ‘The First 100 Days: Policy Initiatives and Approaches for the New Administration’ on March 30, 2017. The symposium hosted AP and honors high school students from across the Orlando area. In the morning, important issues regarding President Trump’s first 100 days […]
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UCF’s Conservation Efforts Highlighted by SeaWatch
Research conducted by University of Central Florida Department of Biology Pegasus Professor Linda Walters, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow Melinda Donnelly, Ph.D., and Winter Springs High School teacher Paul Sacks, Ph.D., was recognized in the Coastal Conservation Association’s (CCA) spring 2017 publication of SeaWatch. Walters has been an advocate for marine conservation for many years. She is […]
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Speech and Debate Teams Win Big
Story by Nicholson News UCF’s speech and debate teams faced stiff competition against 12 other schools in the Florida Intercollegiate Forensics Association (FIFA) state championship. The February tournament was held at Tallahassee Community College, in Tallahassee, Fla. FIFA is the governing body of college speech and debate in the state of Florida. The UCF debate […]
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Alumna’s ‘Black in Brazil’ Expands Horizons
Story by Nicholson News Representation and diversity are two terms that are becoming increasingly important in various environments today. Yohanna Reis understands this need firsthand. Reis, a 2016 alumna of the Nicholson School of Communication, created a multimedia project that showcases a demographic many people do not know about – Afro-Brazilians. “I believe a true […]
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From Documentaries to Live Shows, Wood Masters the Story
Since graduating from UCF, Lincoln Wood has more than proved himself in the TV production industry. At first unsure of how the path he chose would turn out, Wood graduated from UCF with a bachelor’s degree in radio and TV production in 2015 and has made the absolute most of it. Wood now works as […]
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UCF Student Named PR Pro of the Year
Story by Nicholson News Kena Lewis, APR, has been recognized by the Florida Public Relations Association (FPRA) Orlando Chapter as the 2017 PR Pro of the Year. Lewis graduated from the University of Missouri at Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in communications in 1982. Now a UCF graduate student studying communication with an emphasis in […]
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Diverse Audiences & Cultural Understanding Highlight ICRCC
Story by Nicholson News When your conference theme focuses on “Megacrises,” you can be sure you’re going to be looking at the big picture. But one of the key takeaways from the seventh annual International Crisis and Risk Communication Conference was to also look at individuals and how they process megacrises differently from one another. […]
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UCF Physics Team Finds Solution for Celestial Radiation
University of Central Florida Department of Physics Professor Dan Britt, Ph.D., and UCF planetary sciences doctoral student Leos Pohl believe there is an alternative to battling radiation in space. Research of the UCF scientists was recently featured in a New Scientist article, ‘Asteroid clay is a better space radiation shield than aluminium,’ published March 14, […]
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UCF Student’s Unique Influence on Florida’s Constitution
Nicholas Maier, a political science and environmental engineering student at the University of Central Florida, was one of the UCF students chosen to attend the 2017 Future of Florida Summit at the University of Florida. The event, which was held Feb. 10-12, focused on the upcoming 2017-18 Florida Constitution Revision Commission. Commissioned every 20 years, […]
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Open Reef Drones Take on Environmental Conservation
Geographic information systems (GIS), and related geospatial technologies like drones, are being used to do wonders for our planet. With the growing issue of climate change and over-development, University of Central Florida researchers have taken the initiative to protect the areas with the greatest risks: islands and coastal areas. UCF Assistant Professor of GIS in […]