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College of Sciences

Math Prof. Pays Tribute To Mentor With Stellar Winds Research

Bhimsen Shivamoggi, Ph.D., recently capped three years of research with a publication that presents new ideas about the dynamics of stellar winds. But that’s not what makes him most excited. Shivamoggi is an applied mathematician by trade, but he ventured into the new territory of mainstream astrophysics as an intellectual tribute to his mentor Gene…

Biology Degree Launches Career As Nutritional Entrepreneur

Lourdes Diaz-McAgy ’99 has always been in tune with society’s trends. After realizing the world is moving in the direction of conscious well-being, she was inspired to help people look and feel their best. Today, Diaz-McAgy is the chief executive officer of Total Nutrition Technology, a nutrition focused company that private labels products for brands…

Human Rights Defender to Visit UCF

The Office of Global Perspectives and International Initiatives will host longtime human rights defender Laura Olson. During her visit to UCF on Feb. 6, Olson will deliver a special luncheon presentation, “Human Rights in 2020.” She will also appear on WUCF’s “Global Perspectives” television show, meet with faculty and record a student podcast. Laura Olson…

Early Interest In Politics Leads Alumna to Governor’s Office

When most kids were watching cartoons, Leah Trilling ’18 was on the couch watching the news with her dad. That interest in current events stuck with her, and eventually led to her current position as deputy director of Cabinet Affairs for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The steps leading to that position include undergraduate internships working…

Scientist Surpasses 10K Publication Citations

A Physics scientist recently crossed the threshold of more than 10,000 citations in scholarly works — a distinction that added his name to the 2019 Highly Cited Researchers  list  compiled by the Web of Science Group. The award places Assistant Professor Madhab Neupane, Ph.D., in the top 1% of the world’s most cited scientific papers.…

Student Research: Developing New Tools to Detect Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s

Aliyah Baksh is developing a novel optic technique to monitor the brain through blood tests. Her research in UCF’s  NanoScience Technology Center  focuses on the development of an optical biosensor; a product used to track dopamine levels in the bloodstream. This product potentially offers a resourceful process for daily screenings and symptom detection of diseases…

Physicists Reveal Quantum Secrets Using Lasers

UCF physicists are using lasers to create mini-movies showing how electrons undergo changes on the quantum level. The technique relies on pulses of light that only last a few hundred femtoseconds; for perspective, comparing one femtosecond to a regular second is akin to comparing a second to a hundred million years.  While the technique isn’t…

Alumna Selected For Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award

A College of Sciences alumna’s contributions to developing technology like online streaming and DVDs recently earned her a Lifetime Achievement Emmy Award. Yvette Kanouff, ’88, ‘93MS, who built a C-suite career at companies including Time Warner and Cisco, will be recognized by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) at the 71st Annual…

Presidential Historian Balances Past and Present in Politics

Presidential historian Jon Meacham provided perspective on today’s White House using the lens of the past at a presentation Thursday called “The Art of Leadership: Lessons from the American Presidency.” Meacham started broadly, noting the presidency is a reflection of the American population. “The presidency is in many ways a manifestation of all of us,”…

Alumna Builds Career Around Studying Bones

Fingerprints get a lot of credit in the forensics world, but Brittany Walter, ’12MA, knows bones tell a story, too. Inspired from a young age by a forensic anthropology series written by Kathy Reichs, Walter traces her passion for forensics all the way back to middle school. Today she uses that passion as a full-time…

Chemistry Professor Recognized For Outstanding Lab Safety

UCF Environmental Health and Safety recently awarded Vasileios Anagnostopoulos, Ph.D, and his team of dedicated researchers the 2019 Safety Champion Award. This award recognizes faculty members that provide support to EHS and adhere to UCF policy and procedure within a research setting. “It is great to know that the effort made to promote safety culture…

Student Coaching Project Earns Marchioli Award

An ongoing project to boost classroom student engagement through high-impact practices (HIP) recently earned one of UCF’s highest internal awards. Called HIP Coaches, the project uses student coaches to mentor and guide fellow students through high-impact learning experiences, such as collaborative assignments and projects, undergraduate research, cultural competency, community-based learning and internships. The idea is…

UCF Professors’ Space Podcast Leads to Radio Show Invitation

About 5,000 people a month around the world tune into a space-related podcast launched by three University of Central Florida professors. What started out as conversations while walking to get coffee on campus to perk up the afternoon, turned into the  Walkabout the Galaxy  podcast in 2014, which this month led to the professors becoming…

Zoo Internship Prepares Student for Anthropology Career

Senior Savannah Compton left her fall internship at ZooTampa with a newfound love for the study of animal behavior. Working in both the primate and commissary department of the Zoo, Compton spent her time designing enrichment projects and learning about animal nutrition, stoking her passion for animal behavior and science. Compton pursued her goal of…

Grad Student Launches Winter Coat Drive for Children

It might feel tropical this week, but colder weather is coming to Florida — and that spells trouble for the kids without protection from the elements. Sociology graduate student Sonya Spence is working to correct that by holding a gently used coat drive for children from pre-K to high school. She was inspired by her…

Attorney Brings Experience Fighting Human Trafficking to UCF

The Center for the Study of Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery at UCF has recently recruited the talents of lawyer Shilpa Finnerty to serve as its senior fellow and community advisor. Through Finnerty’s experience in human rights and trafficking advocacy, the center hopes to expand their presence in the Orlando area. “The work that we…

UCF Research Provides Tools for Prosecuting Domestic Violence

New, potentially life-saving research from the Department of Sociology is reshaping the way law enforcement approaches domestic violence. Specifically, an associate professor and doctorate students are working alongside investigators with the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office to identify signs of strangulation and collect valuable forensic medical evidence to corroborate the potentially lethal attacks. The risk of…

Fighting Fire with Fire: How Controlled Burns Keep Us Safe

From December through June, visitors to UCF’s main campus may occasionally see large, orange flames licking at trees and incinerating plants near recreational grounds, parking garages or student housing. The scene appears much scarier than what’s actually occurring. These months of the year are UCF’s burn season, which is overseen by the UCF Landscaping and…

Grad Makes ‘Intelligent’ Choice With Lockheed Career

Everything from the precision of military strikes to global money markets hinges on timely, accurate information, or, as it’s known in the trade, “intelligence.” Alanna Fulk ’16, M.A. ’19, is keenly aware of that now as an intelligence analyst for one of the most prestigious intelligence and security corporations in the world, Lockheed Martin. But…