UCF in the News

When the pandemic hit, shutting down much of the world in a matter of weeks, Jamie Merrill was working as vice president of operations for Brookdale Senior Living in Tennessee, overseeing more than 70 assisted living facilities that housed those most vulnerable to COVID-19. “I was working 24 hours a day,” said Merrill, who was named the new president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida on Thursday, replacing Gary Cain, the longtime leader who announced plans to retire late last year. Though much of her professional life has focused on the needs of senior citizens, Merrill said she has “a heart for service.” After experiencing the hardships of single motherhood in her mid-20s as she raised her oldest daughter, now a sophomore at the University of Central Florida, she said she also has a soft spot for the single parents the Boys & Girls Clubs serve.

The summer heat can become a bigger headache when we’re suddenly stuck on the road with car trouble. Batteries die. Tires wear out, blow out, go flat. And drivers, in a haste, lock themselves out of cars. Roadside helpers and mechanics see a rise in such car woes as temperatures climb each summer — and this scorching summer has been no exception, with July marking one of the most persistent extreme heat waves in recent years. To avoid getting into a rolling furnace, Houck recommends covering the interior with a windshield reflector, a towel on the steering wheel and even a glove on the gear shift. Little things like windshield shades are proven to reduce the cabin temperature by an average of 15 degrees, according to a University of Central Florida study. “I don’t think there’s one secret to keeping your car cool,” Houck said. “Just be aware of the risks and don’t park your dog or kids in it.”

From lasers to self-driving cars, video game displays, and medical imaging, high school students are spending the week at UCF’s College of Optics and Photonics getting hands-on experience in the field. It’s all part of their Laser and Photonics Summer Camp. Dean of the college David Hagan said optics and photonics are just about everywhere you look. “If people are watching TV, they’re looking at a photonic device, a display, when you’re doing an internet search, that’s all going over the fiberoptic network and we have a very strong program here in fiberoptics,” he said.

The UCF Board of Trustees will consider approving nearly $700,000 dollars in matching funds Monday from the state of Florida to help boost its nursing program. The Florida Hospital Association estimates that by 2035, Florida will face a shortage of 59,000 nurses. The money would come from the Florida Board of Governors and would help pay for more equipment to train current nursing students. It would also provide more scholarships in order to attract and train the next generation of nurses at UCF’s Nursing School. The funding is part of Florida’s new Linking Industry to Nursing Education (LINE) Fundaimed at boosting the number of nurses in the state.

Avi Loeb, a Harvard physicist, believes that he found fragments of alien technology on the ocean floor off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Loeb, who calls himself the alien hunter of Harvard, went to the region searching for bits of a rare meteor, one that formed outside our solar system and reportedly crashed in the area in 2014. Last week he revealed his findings, which included 50 small metallic spheres he found in the sand on the ocean floor. Phil Metzger, a planetary scientist at the University of Central Florida, said that many of the elements that make up the sphere found by Loeb can be found on Earth. Metzger and other scientists also said Loeb’s claim fails to take into consideration that these spheres could be bits of terrestrial meteorites or even pollution gathering on the ocean floor. If the spheres are from space, they would be a big discovery. But Metzger cautioned that researchers like Loeb, who make sensational claims without evidence to back them up, can do more harm than good for the larger scientific community.

UCF sea turtle research was recently highlighted for the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) with a visit from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) leadership. The visit showcased the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge and its successful sea turtle conservation efforts. Since the refuge’s establishment as a conservation area in 1991, due in large part to sea turtle nesting data collected by UCF’s Marine Turtle Research Group, sea turtle nesting numbers in the area have rebounded.

A University of Central Florida researcher has discovered that vaping creates chemical reactions in the mouth that can destroy good bacteria while increasing germs that cause cavities, gum disease and cellular changes that can lead to cancer. Dr. Claudia Andl, of the UCF College of Medicine focuses her research on throat and mouth cancer and has broadened her efforts to help medicine better understand the dangers of vaping.