UCF in the News

Wind and surf are the twin dangers in a hurricane. But how to measure them, and warn people, remains a challenge for forecasters. The conundrum that persists is that the public views both phenomena from the same lens, the hurricane category plus the projected path, despite efforts by meteorologists and others to decouple them. “When coastal residents consider storm surges, the perceived magnitude of risk is directly related to the intensity of the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale category despite the best efforts of scholars and emergency managers,” wrote University of Central Florida researcher Jeane Camelo and Emory University mathematician Talea Mayo in a 2021 study published in the Weather and Climate Extremes journal.

Five years have passed since Hurricane Maria destroyed parts of Puerto Rico and killed thousands. The damage forced families to leave the island and move to Central Florida. During Hispanic Heritage Month, Channel 9′s Alexa Lorenzo met with one of the students who made that move. For thousands of students at Colonial High School, it was just the start of another typical day. But for a handful of them, it was the start of what felt like another life. “It’s OK to be sad,” said UCF student Zuleyka Avila. “It’s OK, it’s OK to cry.” Avila was one of the roughly 3,000 students who enrolled in an Orange County Public School after Hurricane Maria decimated Puerto Rico in 2017. She remembered how frantic everything was and the fear she and so many others felt when arriving in Orlando. Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez helped register students, but once they arrived in the classroom, the dread and doubt remained. Five years after Hurricane Maria, Zuleyka knows this journey is going to lead her to the most rewarding moment in her life when she walks across the stage as a UCF graduate and hopefully an OCPS educator. “Thank you, God, I made it,” Avila said. “Incredible.”

Though Hurricane Ian will be measured by the death and destruction it caused across the state, experts warn the storm's aftermath will also include lingering harm to many Floridians' mental health. Deborah Beidel, a psychologist and University of Central Florida psychology professor, said those who found their homes uninhabitable after the storm may experience trauma responses to cope with the losses. “You might be experiencing a lot of depression at this time because everything that you build your entire life in some cases has been washed away,” Beidel said. Beidel has been serving the State Fire Marshal’s office since Sept. 30, coordinating the mental components of urban search and-rescue teams. She said events like Ian can trigger anxiety and stress for those going through recovery. Beidel said this is the time for educators to be kinder and more understanding with students impacted. UCF’s provost, Michael Johnson, has urged faculty to consider postponing assignments, exams and due dates in the storm’s wake.

On the eve of the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico was hit again by Fiona, a category one storm. Sadly, many Puerto Ricans find themselves again without water, electricity and other basic services. Some may ask, how is this possible? Didn’t Puerto Rico receive millions in federal aid after Maria for its dilapidated infrastructure? Those are simple questions with complicated answers. Hurricane Fiona is the latest episode in a series of events that unfolded in the last five years, including the removal of then-Gov. Ricardo Rossello in the summer of 2019 after the crude content of a private group chat that he was in was leaked. Also in the mix, allegations of public corruption, seismic activity and the COVID-19 pandemic. Then Fiona hit, exposing to the world —again — the fragility of an island home to 3.2 million American citizens.

Hurricane Fiona struck the U.S. territory Monday, killing four, triggering mudslides and crushing bridges while displacing more than a thousand and leaving more than a million residents without power. Some wonder whether the storm will prompt the kind of exodus seen after Hurricane Maria. Fernando Rivera, a sociology professor at the University of Central Florida, agreed. “As days without electricity and water are prolonged along with rising temperatures and the potential of other rain events, there is a high likelihood that those with family and friends in New York or Florida will come stateside to seek some relief, particularly those dealing with health issues,” he said.

Alexander Cartwright President, University of Central Florida As president of the University of Central Florida, Alexander Cartwright is a living example of the role education can play in a person’s success. He came to UCF in April 2020 from his chancellor position at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Even more significant was that Cartwright was the first in his family to receive a college education. He has a passion for opening pathways to success for anybody willing to put in the work. “Universities continue to find new ways to broaden our ability to serve our communities, expanding beyond education to fuel economic prosperity through innovations, partnerships, and discoveries that impact society,” he explains.

Developing life-saving medicines can take billions of dollars and decades of time, but University of Central Florida researchers are aiming to speed up this process with a new artificial intelligence-based drug screening process they've developed. Using a method that models drug and target protein interactions using natural language processing techniques, the researchers achieved up to 97% accuracy in identifying promising drug candidates. “With AI becoming more available, this has become something that AI can tackle,” says study co-author Ozlem Garibay, an assistant professor in UCF’s Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems. “You can try out so many variations of proteins and drug interactions and find out which are more likely to bind or not.”

Lately, all eyes are turned towards the moon. “You can talk to anyone in the [space] community,” says Adrienne Dove, a planetary scientist at the University of Central Florida. “You can talk to the folks who have been around for 50 years, or the new folks, but it just feels real this time.” Dove’s optimism doesn’t just come from the Artemis 1 rocket poised for liftoff at Kennedy Space Center. She sees myriad differentiating factors this time, including the collaboration between private companies and NASA, the growing international support for the space governance framework, the Artemis Accords, and the competition from rival nations like China and Russia to stake out a lunar presence. Perhaps one of the biggest arguments from moon base supporters is the need for a stepping stone to send humans even deeper into space. “We want to learn how to live on the moon so we can go to Mars,” Dove says.

Parents see their quality of life suffer when caring for an autistic child, says a new study. And the more severe the autism the greater the impact on the parents’ quality of life. Parents see their quality of life suffer when caring for an autistic child, says a new study Dr Dawn Turnage said families coping with severe autism need “tailored resources” Dr Dawn Turnage, of the University of Central Florida, conducted the review study. She found the quality of life was lower in parents of autistic children in physical, psychological and social health. It was also lower in spirituality. Turnage is a lecturer in the university’s college of nursing. She also serves on the leadership council of the US National Council on Severe Autism. Better educated parents saw their quality of life suffer less, Turnage found.