As we continue into the Spring semester, our Knights are engaging with the community and answering questions that science can help solve. How can we track juvenile sea turtles to better understand conservation efforts? How can people from different backgrounds and cultures collaborate and build resilience in challenging conditions? How can technology support recovery from trauma for first responders? Our faculty and students are leading the way through groundbreaking research. Read on to learn more about the latest at the College of Sciences.

Biology researchers from the College of Sciences’ UCF Marine Turtle Research Group studied the dispersal movements of four juvenile sea turtle species, revealing that they may be active swimmers, rather than passive drifters, during their early life stage known as the “lost years.” 

“One of the main findings is where these sea turtles are and where they go in this life stage because we haven’t known much about it,” says Katrina Phillips ’22PhD, who led the study alongside Nathan Putman and Kate Mansfield. Phillips says understanding these movement patterns among juvenile sea turtles will help guide conservation efforts to protect critical habitats for these species. 

Five College of Sciences statistics and data science students won the Student Presentation Award, an achievement that recognizes their remarkable research efforts.  

UCF hosted this year’s annual event, bringing together 80 attendees from across the state with several guests from outside of Florida for a weekend of learning and networking.

“Winning the ASA Florida Chapter Meeting 2025 Student Presentation Award is incredibly rewarding,” says Joshua White, a big data analytics doctoral student. “I have been working on my research under the supervision of Dr. Huang for just over a year now, and it was the first opportunity I had to present our methods outside of my dissertation committee.”

On January 16th, Andres Käosaar, a doctoral student studying psychology at the College of Sciences, arrived on King George Island, Antarctica, alongside his Swiss colleague, Dr. Monika Maslikowska, to study coordination and collaboration within Antarctic teams, stations, and organizations. Their research focuses on how teams manage tasks and social interactions both within individual research stations and across international stations on the island.

For two weeks, they are staying at the Polish Arctowski Antarctic Research Station, followed by one week at the Chilean Escudero Research Station. During their stay, they are interviewing team members to better understand the dynamics of task coordination and social life in these unique environments. King George Island is home to stations from several countries, including Poland, Chile, Peru, Brazil, the US, Argentina, Uruguay, Korea, China, and Russia. This diversity provides a rich opportunity to examine complex, multilevel operations involving international research and military teams. 

The broader research team also includes Professors Pedro Marques-Quinteiro (Portugal) and Jan Schmutz (Switzerland). The goal of this work is to enhance the operations of polar organizations and contribute to Andres’ wider research on teams in Isolated, Confined, and Extreme (ICE) environments. This includes exploring cultural differences, interpersonal relationships, resilience in multiteam systems, and emotion regulation in such challenging settings. 

View our social media posts about Andres and the team’s work on Instagram and Facebook.

On January 27th, the College of Sciences hosted an interdisciplinary seminar entitled, “Statistical Tools and Techniques in Research,” bringing faculty together to share approaches to conducting research from across the College. 

“This series is meant to identify potential collaborations with colleagues to help the university foster new ideas for innovative research,” Colwell says.

Colwell shared this in-person event is part of a new series of seminars for College of Sciences faculty and special guests to learn more about what is happening in various science disciplines and consider opportunities to work together. 

Hosted by Pegasus Professor & Associate Dean of Research Joshua Colwell, the event featured insightful talks from three faculty members, refreshments for guests, and an engaging Q&A for attendees at the end. 

In a display of collaboration and community, College of Sciences’ UCF RESTORES hosted Women Supporting Science, a group of women supporting philanthropy in the sciences at UCF, showcasing the cutting-edge technology, resources, and treatment they offer to first responders, military veterans, and disaster victims to treat their mental health during difficult times. 

Executive Director Deborah Beidel, Ph.D. spoke at the event, sharing about the mission of UCF RESTORES, its impact, and hopes for the future. 

“For more than a decade, we have worked to set a new standard of care and support for the people who protect and serve all of us—our first responders,” Beidel says. “We work relentlessly to develop the best possible treatment methods, with life-changing results for the people who need it most. To date, we have supported more than 500 veterans and 2,300 first responders through effective treatment.” 

The India Center at UCF hosted a vibrant Republic Day ceremony, which brought together members of the Central Florida Indian Community, the College of Sciences, and honored guests.  

The event featured traditional Indian music and dance performances, including special music from Pandit Nandkishor Muley, an affiliate faculty member of The India Center. The celebration also welcomed a special guest, the Consul General of India from Atlanta, Shri Ramesh Babu Lakshmanan. 

Yogesh Joshi, Indian Community Endowed Assistant Professor and Director of the India Center at UCF, welcomed the large crowd to UCF.  

“We are so proud to host today’s event. We are coming together for an important moment in our history that continues to guide our collective future,” says Joshi. “This event commemorates the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of India and the country's transition to a republic in 1950. It’s such a special day.” 

For people with upper extremity disabilities — such as a stroke, multiple sclerosis or other conditions — assistive robotics can help restore their independence in performing everyday tasks like eating, grooming and grasping objects. But much like old dogs, these devices have a hard time learning new tricks. 

Professor of Statistics and Data Science Edgard Maboudou is part of a team of UCF researchers working to create intelligent and mobile robotic assistants that offer easier control and a better robot-human interface.  The project is supported through a three-year, $600,000 grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research.

The project’s first year will focus on research and development, while the second and third years will incorporate testing and user feedback. Initial testing will be conducted with students, followed by studies involving adults with upper body paralysis. The researchers will survey the participants to find out how many times they had to tell the robot to perform a task, how long it took for the robot to complete the action, how many mistakes were made and how satisfied they were with the robot’s assistance.

Twenty-one projects representing colleges across UCF, including four from the College of Sciences, as well as several centers were selected for 2024-25 Seed Funding awards from the Office of Research at UCF. This is the fourth year the program has been available to faculty and aims to support new, innovative research or creative activity projects that are sustainable through external funding. 

Tier 1 Awards included Sarah Freidline, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, for research on “Integrative 3D Modeling and CT Analysis of Facial Growth in Fossil Humans,” Eduardo Mucciolo, Professor of Physics, and Volodymyr Turkowski, Reseach Assistant Professor of Physics, for their research on “Quantum-computing-assisted Density Functional Theory,” and Yanga Fernandez, Professor or Physics, for research on “You Used to Wear Your Hairy Stars Differently: New Comet Science from Old Comet Data.” 

Tier 2 Awards included Karin Chumbimuni-Torres, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Wencai Zhang, Assistant Professor of Medicine, and Deborah Penchoff, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, for their research on “Integrating Artificial Intelligence and Electrochemical Biosensors Towards Early Detection of Lung Cancer.” 

The College of Sciences’ presence at Spark STEM Fest, hosted at the Orlando Science Center, showcased their commitment to community outreach, innovation, and STEM education.

Over the course of three days, faculty and students came together to present hands on demos which children and their families could take part in to spark a curiosity in science from an early age. This also gave alumni and future knights in their families the opportunity to learn more about the College of Sciences and its initiatives.  

College of Sciences Communications Specialist, Ana Hidalgo, volunteered to support the faculty and students with their demonstrations. She says the experience gave her insight into kids being introduced to STEM fields outside of the classroom. 

“My favorite part about engaging with kids and families at the Spark STEM Fest was making science more accessible through interactive exhibits that connect them directly to real-world applications,” Hidalgo says. “Seeing their curiosity grow as they experienced science in action was a rewarding experience. It was also a great opportunity to spark their interest in STEM and inspire them to explore future careers in the field by meeting experts in those fields.”

The Charge | Written By: Mason Gray

The tags collected data on the turtles' locations, the ocean temperature and how well the tags were charging. After two to four months, the tags fell off as the turtles grew. The researchers also deployed "oceanographic surface drifters." These are devices that collected data on ocean currents and compared that with the data collected from the turtles' trackers.

The data showed the distance between turtles and drifters exceeded the distance between individual drifters themselves. After 10-12 days, the distance between turtles and drifters was about 177 kilometers, compared to 39 kilometers for the distance between individual drifters.

"If you're driving around and you see license plates with a little hatchling crawling across it, that supports research. They've supported a lot of the research here at UCF in my lab and my graduate students' research," Mansfield said. "That is one way that actually has a direct supportive pathway for sea turtle research and conservation in the state of Florida." 

The Charge | Written by: Victoria Pera

The UCF Student Government launched an Emergency Textbook Fund this semester; a program aimed to provide need-based textbooks for students facing financial hardship.  

This relief fund was designed and put in place by two student government members. Chief of Staff Luci Blanco, junior interdisciplinary studies major, and Academic Affairs Coordinator Panayiota Laliotis, who is a sophomore political science major. 

“I remember my freshman year, there was a hurricane that hit where people lost their cars, their apartments were flooding, like that takes a toll on you and you have these unexpected experiences that you know may have financial repercussions, leading to having an inability to pay for textbooks,” Blanco said. 

WCTV 

The 2nd Alarm Project is now a part of UCF RESTORES, which is based at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. 

WCTV recently attended one of its two-day training sessions at the FSU Police Department. “Struggle Well” helps officers navigate the trauma and tragedy they see on the job. Instructor and paramedic Steve Suarez addressed officers gathered in a second-floor conference room 

“You see people going through sometimes very difficult, horrible experiences,” he said. “What’s very important is that you have a support network and that you’re nurturing that support network.” 

The Texas Standard 

Researchers from the University of Central Florida and LGL Ecological Research Associates may finally have some insight on what goes on during the reptiles’ so-called “lost years” between the hatchling stage and adulthood. The findings of the years-long project was published this month in Proceedings of the Royal Society B. 

Nature Coaster 

Dr. Kimberly Voss will join Hernando County Public Library for a presentation on Florida Women, Advice & Social Change. The program takes place on Tuesday, March 18, 2025, at the Spring Hill Branch Library. It is a partnership between Florida Humanities and the Hernando County Public Library as part of the organization’s redesigned Florida Talks program. 

Kimberly Voss, PhD, is a professor of journalism at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on historical analysis of women journalists’ careers, women’s political influence, and the definition of women’s news in the post-World War II years; many of them from Florida. She has published five books, including Re-Evaluating Women’s Page Journalism in the Post-World War II Era and Women Politicking Politely. She has published over fifty journal articles about women journalists. 

Gotta Go Orlando 

Presented by Erin Hanson Assistant Professor (Department of Chemistry, National Center for Forensic Science) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) with a Secondary Joint Appointment with the Violence Against Women faculty cluster 

Discover how forensic genetic genealogy (FIGG) is transforming cold case investigations! FIGG uses DNA from consumer testing databases to trace distant family connections and solve cases that might otherwise remain unsolved. Since its debut in 2018, hundreds of cases have been cracked using this powerful tool. Join us for a deep dive into how FIGG works, its impact on law enforcement, and the legal and ethical questions it raises. Don’t miss this chance to learn about one of the most innovative breakthroughs in forensic science!?' 

Central Florida Public Media 

Charles Schambea, a research assistant professor at the University of Central Florida said, “Based on the closeness to Chiron to the sun gives us the temperature on the surface. We know that…the surface is way too hot for carbon monoxide to survive.” 

An intriguing aspect of Chiron is its proximity to the Sun, where carbon dioxide is usually too hot to remain on the surface. However, based on these findings, it appears to be surviving in this environment. 

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