Jeffrey Bedwell, Ph.D. has a lifelong passion for helping people overcome mental illness. As a professor at UCF’s Department of Psychology, and as director of the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program, his work allows him to train future clinical psychologists to make a difference in the lives of others. Now, he’s taking on a new role […]
Looking back on 2023, GeoBus UCF accomplished a lot—both in Florida and internationally. We spoke with Associate Professor of Geographic Information Systems in the Department of Sociology and 2024 National Geographic Explorer Timothy Hawthorne, Ph.D. about these exciting accomplishments. Top Three GeoBus Highlights in 2023 2024 Goals for GeoBus When asked about goals for this […]
Department of Psychology Professor Mindy Shoss, Ph.D. presented at a recent American Psychological Association webinar on AI titled: “Artificial Intelligence: The Role of Psychology and How to Navigate Change.” She was also cited in an APA press release on AI and ethics. Over 1,500 people registered for the webinar on this timely topic. We spoke […]
In a recent article published by a Stanford research group, six faculty from the Department of Mathematics were included in their list of the top two percent of researchers in the world. Variables including the number of papers authored, total citations and the impact of published research were considered. Department of Mathematics Chair Professor Xin […]
MegaCon2024 will be hosted at the Orange County Convention Center on Feb. 1-4. This jam-packed event will feature celebrities and festivities in celebration of all-things comics, science fiction, horror, anime, gaming and cosplay. Some celebrity appearances include Tom Hiddelston, Ewan McGregor, Hayden Christensen and Michael J. Fox. Joining the convention’s celebrity lineup will be a […]
New findings from a study published in Nature and led by UCF’s School of Politics, Security and International Affairs Assistant Professor Kevin Aslett shed light on the ways that conducting your own online research can be misleading. Aslett worked with a team of fellow researchers from New York University and Stanford University over a span […]
Most folks recognize the image of scientists tagging birds and animals to study wildlife patterns and habits. What’s less familiar is what happens with that data after they’re released back into the wild, and how researchers use that information to steer conservation work. That’s the expertise of Assistant Professor Christen Fleming, Ph.D., a new faculty […]
Sociology Professor Shannon Carter researches various topics in the healthcare industry that have a true impact on peoples’ lives. Read what she has to say about her research and learn what you can do with a Sociology degree. Can you please describe your research areas? My research focuses on health practices among different groups […]
Assistant Professor Aritra Dutta, Ph.D. shares his passion for both teaching and learning with his math students. Read what Dutta had to say about his love for teaching, teaching advice and advice for students. What do you enjoy about teaching? My overall view is that teaching and research are connected because teaching conveys knowledge, while […]
Christine Hanlon, Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in the UCF Nicholson School of Communication and Media, has been accepted for a three-year placement on the Fulbright Specialist roster. The Fulbright Specialist Program is a year-round program that matches Fulbright Specialists with international host institutions for short-term on-demand projects. The Fulbright Specialist Program was established by the U.S. […]
Talk of AI is all around. Whether discussed in the context of education, the workforce or everyday life, it is certainly making a large impact. According to the program’s website, UCF’s Artificial Intelligence Initiative (Aii) aims to hire close to 30 new AI faculty members from across five different colleges: College of Sciences, College of […]
Department of Sociology Associate Professor Amy Donley works closely with social inequality and the homeless community. Her work truly makes an impact in the lives of others and society. Take a look at what she has to say about her work below. Please describe your research and the impact of this research. I am an […]
Associate Lecturer Martha Hubertz in the Department of Psychology was recognized for her work in online teaching with the Excellence in Instructional Teaching Practice from the Online Learning Consortium. Her work in online instruction has made important strides in flexible learning options that provide more options for learners of different lifestyles. We spoke with Hubertz […]
Nicholson School of Communication and Media Associate Professor Maria C. R. Harrington, Ph.D. discovered that the combination of high immersion and high photorealistic environments, along with free choice and navigation, double learning gains and trigger a complex matrix of emotions, including an evaluation of beauty. “There’s something inherently human about learning in a geospatial experience […]
A new cybersecurity book from the Department of Mathematics is more of a spy thriller than a rigid textbook. The book is authored by Associate Lecturer Rachid Ait Maalem Lahcen, Ph.D, who was inspired to use fiction as a vehicle to introduce cyber threat analysis to newcomers. “Unveiling the Shadows: A Cyber Threat Intelligence Journey,” […]
Two researchers in the College of Sciences were named Rising Stars of Science by the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL). Assistant Professor Kerri Donaldson Hanna, Ph.D., and Associate Professor Xiaohou Xia, Ph.D., will present their research and receive the honor at the annual ASEMFL conference in early November. Donaldson Hanna is […]
Outbreaks of violence and instability in global hotspots like the Middle East can seem unpredictable, but data science proves otherwise. That was the premise behind a statistics and deep learning hybrid model that earned Associate Professor Hsin-Hsiung “Bill” Huang, Ph.D., and a team of students from the Department of Statistics and Data Science their third […]
Parking at night is a simple but powerful illustration Associate Professor Alison Cares, Ph.D., uses to teach gendered experiences with violence and victimization. Routes through campus after hours are typically dictated by lighting, exits and number of people in an area — and often preplanned by women and non-gender confirming people. If men consider these factors […]
Say “Waffle House” and you’ll probably picture late-night brawls shared on social media or stand-up comedy material. But the same qualities that make us laugh also make the restaurant the perfect subject of study by cultural anthropologists like Professor Ty Matejowsky, Ph.D. Matejowsky specializes in how food shapes and informs a culture, with past […]
UCF’s Coastal & Estuarine Ecology Laboratory (CEELAB) continues to grow and expand its influence with an investment from Disney and a research project attracting top science talent from across the U.S. The achievement came in the form of $100,000 to Pegasus Professor of Biology Linda Walters and integrative coastal biology doctoral student Katherine Harris ’18 […]
Training students to make a difference in the psychology field and beyond is all in a day’s work for licensed clinical psychologist and Senior Lecturer Karen Mottarella, Ph.D. “Psychology is fun, so my idea is that students should never be bored in the classroom,” she said. This mentality guides her work as she […]
Adjunct Instructor Aaron Smith, Ph.D., can calculate risk better than most people. Not only is he a statistician, but he currently holds the world record for highest wingsuit jump. Smith, a faculty member in the Department of Statistics and Data Science, set the record on July 1 by jumping from a plane at an altitude […]
UCF professors and nonprofit organization Limbitless Solutions have received an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games, known for operating Fortnite and developing Unreal Engine. Limbitless Solutions is known for developing expressive, 3D-printed arms and accessibility-focused video game training. Their training games directly support producing and delivering cost-free prosthetic limbs for the limb-difference […]
The University of Central Florida Office of Research has announced the appointment of Joseph Harrington, a Pegasus Professor in the Department of Physics and UCF’s Florida Space Institute, as the interim associate vice president for research and scholarship. In this role, Harrington’s duties will include overseeing UCF’s institutes and centers and research strategy councils; participating […]
A new project from the University of Central Florida is looking to the soils for a way to cool the skies. Funded by a nearly $750,000 grant from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the research will examine a method to keep carbon from escaping soils and becoming the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. […]
University of Central Florida researchers have achieved new record-setting power density for ethanol fuel cells, helping advance the technology as a competitor to fossil fuels and electric car batteries. Ethanol fuel cells offer cleaner emissions than fossil fuels and no charging times compared to electric vehicle batteries. In recent studies published in the journals Nature […]
The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is the world’s largest multidisciplinary scientific society and a leading publisher of cutting-edge research through its Science family of journals. Election as a fellow is a lifetime honor and considered one of the most distinguished recognitions within the scientific community. UCF professors Peter Delfyett and Ronald DeMara are […]
A seven-year study into the fluid dynamics that govern everything from airplane turbulence to ocean currents recently earned a top prize for a UCF researcher. The Fluid Dynamics Research Prize for 2023 was awarded by the Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics to Professor of Mathematics and Physics, Bhimsen Shivamoggi, Ph.D., and a team of collaborators […]
A UCF researcher is working on a new, NASA-funded project that will gather the most comprehensive collection of data on active centaurs and distantly-active Jupiter-family comets to date. The work will inform research into the origins of the solar system, as these bodies contain materials from the dawn of its formation. Centaurs and Jupiter-family comets […]
New research recasts the narrative on the earliest presence of Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia, pushing back the presence of humans in that part of the world by at least 20,000 years and a human presence in the region for at least 56,000 years. The findings are based on analysis of bones excavated from deep […]