Florida’s wildlife is closely connected to the environments it has inhabited for generations. But as temperatures rise and rainfall patterns shift, those conditions are changing, creating new challenges for species across the state.

For white-tailed deer and Florida panthers, those challenges may look very different. Southern deer populations could face greater pressure as rising temperatures and shifting water conditions alter their habitat, while Florida panthers’ limited genetic variety may restrict their ability to respond to future environmental change.

Research conducted by UCF College of Sciences postdoctoral scholar George Zaragoza ’26PhD combines genomic data with habitat suitability models to examine how suitable habitats may change and whether individual populations have the genetic variety and adaptive potential needed to respond.

“The main goal is putting this research on … the radar for wildlife managers so they can use it to implement conservation measures … ” — George Zaragoza ’26PhD, postdoctoral scholar.

The research revealed a latitudinal pattern among Florida’s white-tailed deer, with southeastern populations more vulnerable than those farther north. For Florida panthers, the concern is their low genetic variety and limited adaptive potential despite a genetic rescue program in the 1990s.

“The main goal is putting this research on these interconnected species on the radar for wildlife managers so they can use it to implement conservation measures that will help these species thrive in the future,” says Zaragoza, who earned a doctorate in integrative conservation biology at UCF.

South Florida Deer Face a Hotter, Drier Future

The greatest concerns for white-tailed deer are concentrated in South Florida and the greater Everglades, where projections indicate increasingly dry conditions over the next 50 to 100 years.

“The ecology of the South Everglades relies a lot on water dynamics and how populations respond to higher or lower water levels,” Zaragoza says.

For deer, those changes can affect the plants they rely on for food.

“If water levels are lower than historically expected, those nutrient-rich food sources may become less available,” he says. “Too much water can create a different challenge by making low-lying areas unreachable to deer.”

Central and northern Florida deer populations are projected to face similar conditions, though the shift is expected to be less pronounced than in South Florida.

Genetics Reveal How Deer Are Adapted to Their Environment

Zaragoza’s research also examined genetic characteristics that may help explain how Florida deer have adapted to their environments.

Two genes of particular interest related to circadian rhythm are THADA, associated with metabolism and thermoregulation, and PROK2, associated with the timing of nocturnal activity.

Zaragoza says the findings may point to a role in regulating seasonal metabolic energy use and reproduction-related physiological processes.

“There are consistently these sort of genes that are involved in the timing of these physiological processes that have to do with how deer are storing energy,” Zaragoza says.

Zaragoza also identified genes associated with immune processes more often than expected by chance. This may be particularly important in Florida, where deer are exposed to a wide range of viruses, including those transmitted by arthropod vectors such as ticks, mosquitoes and biting flies.

The research may also help explain why Florida deer have a different reproductive timeline than populations farther north. Differences in sunlight, temperature and other environmental conditions may have contributed to adaptations in these cycles.

Florida Panthers Face a Different Challenge

For Florida panthers, the primary concern is whether the species has enough genetic variety to respond to future environmental conditions.

The population experienced a severe genetic bottleneck, leading to a genetic rescue program in the 1990s that introduced Texas pumas into the Florida population.

While subsequent research has shown that Florida panthers remain a distinct population, Zaragoza’s research indicates that genetic variation remains low.

“With limited genetic variation, Florida panthers have limited adaptive potential, especially as their habitat is also threatened,” he says. “It highlights the importance of suitable habitat and ensuring that it remains for the future.”

The research identified genetic variants involved in regulatory processes, including how and when genes are expressed. While this does not provide direct evidence of epigenetic mechanisms, it raises questions about whether epigenetic mechanisms could contribute to the panthers’ ability to respond to environmental changes despite their limited genetic variety.

“If a population with low genetic variation is able to use these epigenetic mechanisms to respond to future change, then that gives that population another potential way to adapt to future change that we’d like to better understand,” Zaragoza says.

For now, habitat protection remains particularly important for the species. Some South Florida habitats remain at risk of development or conversion, including in protected areas and wildlife refuges.

Connecting Genetics and Habitat

A central part of Zaragoza’s research brings together two types of information often studied separately: genetics and ecology.

By comparing projected changes in suitable habitat with genetics and adaptive potential, researchers can begin to prioritize populations based on vulnerability.

A population experiencing a substantial shift in suitable habitat may be better positioned to respond if it has high genetic variation and adaptive potential. Conversely, a population facing a similar environmental shift but lacking genetic variation could be at greater risk.

Zaragoza says this approach could give wildlife managers another tool for making decisions about Florida’s wildlife.

“There has been some work before, but especially in terms of environmental change, there really haven’t been these vulnerability assessments done with white-tailed deer and Florida panthers in the past,” Zaragoza says.

Making this information accessible could help managers identify populations that may need additional support, minimize habitat loss and consider strategies to protect vulnerable species.

An Integrative Approach to Conservation

For Zaragoza, the work also demonstrates the value of combining disciplines to answer complex conservation questions.

“There are so many tools and technologies available that really help us merge ecology and genetics into more of an integrative perspective,” Zaragoza says.

For him, understanding wildlife is ultimately about using science and technology to improve humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

“It comes down to realizing that we’re part of this greater ecosystem and we have a responsibility to steward it,” Zaragoza says.

Through the new program, funded by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, UCF is building a more intentional curriculum-to-career experience that connects transfer students with career preparation, mentorship, and High-Impact Practices (HIP) learning opportunities, such as internships, work-based learning, and undergraduate research experiences.

Oct. 19-23 is National Transfer Student Week

Graduation data shows that transfer students are less likely to secure post-graduation employment or graduate school placement compared to those who begin their higher education at UCF. However, transfer students who engaged in hands-on learning, like research and internships, are significantly more likely to have secured opportunities at the time of graduation.

“Transfer students bring extraordinary talent, resilience and ambition to UCF,” says project lead, Kimberly Schneider, assistant vice provost for at UCF. “This partnership allows us to remove barriers, strengthen support systems, engage in HIPs, and create clearer pathways from college to meaningful careers.”

As one of the nation’s largest universities, UCF serves nearly half of its 60,300 undergraduates through transfer pathways. Debuting in August 2027, the Pegasus Launch Program will provide targeted support before and after transfer through technology integration and intentional programming to help students:

• Make informed academic decisions
• Participate in High-Impact Practices
• Stay committed through graduation
• Successfully transition into the workforce or graduate education

— a nationally recognized model for student success since it began in 2005 — guarantees admission to UCF when students earn an associate degree at one of the seven state colleges. Each year, 5,000 students take advantage of the program, improving access to higher education and fueling the region’s workforce.

“Through DirectConnect to UCF, we help transfer students make informed academic decisions, align their coursework with their intended UCF major, and prepare for a successful transition,” says Kimberly Hardy, assistant vice provost for UCF Connect. “The Pegasus Launch Program takes that support a step further by helping students connect their education with hands-on learning experiences, so they are better prepared to enter the workforce after graduation.”

Even before students transfer, they will utilize a digital curriculum-to-career degree map that aligns academic coursework directly with real-time job market data. To accelerate professional development, the improved program integrates advanced career-readiness tools, including VMock AI feedback for interviews and Focus2Career, a self-guided career planning system, as well as HIPs, which include research and internships.

Pegasus Launch Program seeks to increase HIP participation. The current university-wide goal is for 100% of undergraduate students to complete at least one High-Impact Practice experience by graduation.

Landing humans on the moon was just a dream when UCF was founded in 1963. But we dared to believe — developing the talent and inventing the technologies to make it reality. That same spirit still drives us today.

We are America’s Space University. And we celebrate UCF Space Week to honor our origin as we dare to build what’s next.

Where Global Leaders Unite to Forge the Future of Space

A space capsule is becoming the UCF College of Medicine’s newest classroom and research lab.

Sierra Space, a Colorado-based private aerospace and defense technologies company, donated the 22-foot-long life-sized model of their Shooting Star cargo module, which is capable of delivering supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.

The gift recognizes UCF’s reputation as America’s Space University and the medical school’s emerging aerospace medicine program, which is exploring how space flight impacts the human body and how that knowledge can drive innovation into diagnostics, treatment and disease prevention for patients on Earth.

The model was housed at Kennedy Space Center — located roughly 30 miles from UCF’s campus — where it was used as a design reference for engineers and a training tool for in-space cargo transfer. The module attaches to a Sierra Space Dream Chaser spaceplane and in the future could potentially to deliver up to 12,000 pounds of cargo, including science experiments, research equipment and medical supplies to space stations.

The mockup is almost identical to a real module with a hatch that docks with the spacecraft and a section of storage lockers that hold resupply materials.

“There’s only a handful of ships that can take payloads to low Earth orbit,” says Emmanuel Urquieta, the College of Medicine’s vice chair for aerospace medicine and director ɫ����’s new Center for Aerospace and Extreme Environments Medicine (). “This module is a true-to-size mock-up that is fully aligned with what will actually fly into space.”

Dedicated to Keeping Space Travelers Healthy

CASEEM is a multidisciplinary center that includes UCF faculty experts in medicine, engineering, computer science, psychology, arts and educational leadership who will work together to research and develop new technologies for keeping space travelers healthy as well as soldiers on military missions, deep sea explorers and mountain climbers.

UCF will use the module to give students and faculty precise training to address medical events in the confines of a spacecraft.

The model also will help researchers create technologies for improving payloads and establishing protocols to send materials into the tight spaces of intergalactic travel. Such technologies and strategies also could be used in combat zones, on submarines and in remote and isolated areas of Earth, Urquieta says.

“It is a rare piece of technology that the UCF Aerospace Medicine program is privileged to use for research.” — Ed Powers, CASEEM’s medical director

“This module brings human spaceflight to life for students and researchers at UCF,” says William (Ed) Powers, CASEEM’s medical director, who worked as director of flight medicine for Axiom Space and chief of NASA’s Medical Operations Branch before joining UCF. “It is a rare piece of technology that the UCF Aerospace Medicine program is privileged to use for research.”

The university is working to create a location for the module.

The donated module grew out of a longstanding professional relationship between aerospace medicine faculty members with Tom Marshburn, chief astronaut and vice president of programs at Sierra Space. Marshburn spent 28 years at NASA, where he was on three space flights and served as medical operations lead for the International Space Station.

“Sierra Space is proud to support the UCF’s College of Medicine and its aerospace medicine program by providing our life-size mockup of our Dream Chaser cargo module,” Marshburn says. “Humans will interface with the actual Dream Chaser spaceplane and its cargo module when it arrives at the ISS or a commercial LEO destination, and we look forward to working with UCF medical students, physicians and faculty on the insights the mockup vehicle can provide for human factors studies, in aerospace and mechanical engineering, and in potential space medical capabilities.”

Crime analysts are an essential backbone of the criminal justice system, solving and preventing crime through data analysis and mapping. It’s a role that requires substantial qualifications — something that UCF, in partnership with the state of Florida, has now embedded into its criminal justice coursework to ensure a seamless transition from classroom to crime analysis work.

Completing the Florida Core Analytical Training (FCAT) and Florida Law Enforcement Analyst Training (FLEAT) and Florida Core Analyst Training (FCAT) typically requires a 16-hour and 40-hour course, respectively, at a location designated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), as well as hundreds of hours of field experience. Now, students pursuing a career in crime analysis can complete the newly developed FCAT/FLEAT Academic Certificate as part of their studies at UCF while gaining the field experience they need.

The UCF Department of Criminal Justice’s new pathway sends future investigative and intelligence analysts straight into the field. It also builds on decades of partnership with the organization, including the strategic relocation of FDLE toxicology lab to UCF’s Academic Health Sciences Campus in Lake Nona earlier this year.

Embedding the FLEAT and FCAT Academic Certificate curriculum into two criminal justice courses is another result of the years of partnership between FDLE and Associate Professor . This makes UCF one of three institutions in Florida authorized to deliver the certificate through academic coursework — and fully online.

With many agencies embracing data driven policing to guide decision-making in safety, crime prevention and more, this partnership positions UCF as a statewide leader in preparing analysts who will support law enforcement, guide resource allocation and strengthen public safety across Florida communities.

“There is a growing population that … want to work in the crime intelligence division or a real time crime center — the ones grinding the numbers and turning those numbers into intelligence,” Watkins says. “The analysts are fundamental workhorses behind the scenes providing information for different levels of management and practitioners to be able to make decisions.”

The curriculum for the FCAT/FLEAT Academic Certificate is embedded into Crime Intelligence and Investigative Support (CCJ 4076) at the undergraduate level, and Data Management Systems and Crime Analysis (CCJ 6073) at the graduate level. Taking either course and earning at least an 80% will grant students the academic certificate, rendering them eligible to combine these credentials with crime analysis experience to move straight into the state’s final analyst course within FDLE’s Florida Law Enforcement Analyst Training Program – the Florida Law Enforcement Analyst Academy. credentialing program in Tallahassee, Florida.

For students, the pathway offers an expedited route into a growing field — especially coupled with internships to gain the 300 necessary hours of field experience needed to become an analyst. The graduate course is also open to non-degree seeking students, meaning that working analysts across Florida can enroll to earn the FCAT/FLEAT Academic Certificate through UCF without leaving their home.

“My interest has always been helping the different criminal justice agencies get some of the best talent that they can get their hands on by creating a curriculum that makes our graduates very sought-after candidates for employment.” —  Cory Watkin, associate professor

Watkins says he always designs his course curriculum with the intention of ensuring students are the most prepared they can possibly be to enter the field.

“Many of our students are looking to go right to work: Criminal justice is a book-to-pavement program,” he says. “My interest has always been helping the different criminal justice agencies get some of the best talent that they can get their hands on by creating a curriculum that makes our graduates very sought-after candidates for employment.”

This initiative follows suit with the department’s continuing dedication to getting students into the field and working at an accelerated rate. In 2024, the department launched the professional track in the criminal justice bachelor’s program to streamline students’ pathway from college to a career in law enforcement or correctional leadership by allowing them to graduate with state certification in law enforcement or corrections.

Looking ahead, Watkins says he believes the long-term implications of such partnerships will be transformative.

“We’re going to get the best of the best, and it’s going to have an impact,” he says. “Down the road, you could look at reduced crime, better trained officers, and better analysis leading to less use of force, greater citizen satisfaction and improved public safety.”

Robin Marquez ’26 has re-prioritized his necessities at the University of Minnesota: he has clothes for exploring, clothes for frigid winters and somewhere he’s safely stored a new passport. This is Marquez’s latest stop in a lifelong itinerary that’s taken him from Brooklyn, New York, to Palm Beach County to Tampa, Florida, to UCF.

Oct. 19-23 is National Transfer Student Week

“I created a new road by going offroad,” he says.

Marquez is coming up on his 31^st birthday. He graduated from UCF in May with a biology degree and an unexpected interest. Among the possessions he took north are arthropod samples collected from the UCF Arboretum, an 80-acre parcel of research-rich ecosystems. He’s studying the microscopic insects for information about biological diversity. They’ve already provided the direction Marquez sought for so long.

“What I’m doing now, I couldn’t fathom a few years ago,” he says.

In his mid-20s, Marquez felt as if he were stuck in the weeds with a high school education and blurry future. Today, this same Robin Marquez has achieved the following: awarded the Order of Pegasus, recognition as the first student nominated through Valencia College for a Goldwater Scholarship, collaborated with researchers at Yale University and the Smithsonian Institution, and stood as the only undergraduate to receive the coveted Entomological Society of America Alate Award in 2025.

All of this has led him to the Twin Cities to work on a Ph.D. in entomology.

“I still don’t know where the limit is,” Marquez says.

His successes aren’t just for him. They’re for anyone who thinks they’ve wandered off the academic road.

“I no longer buy the narrative of hitting traditional checkpoints, like [completing an uninterrupted path to graduation] and starting a career by your early 20s,” he says. “It might take time to find the right people to propel you in ways you never thought possible.”

Marquez tried the “traditional checkpoints” route after high school, enrolling at the University of South Florida on a full ride in 2013. He imagined cruising along to medical school. However, 16 months later he departed USF with a failing GPA and mounting mental health challenges.

“I felt crushed,” he says. “I thought college would be my ticket out of socioeconomic hardship, that I’d be a first-generation graduate and break a cycle. Instead, it came to a grinding halt. I had the capability but not the right mindset. So, I kind of floated in this nebulous space of ‘adulthood.’ ”

Marquez carried the label “college dropout” in his mind for years. To this day, it’s hard for him to explain how misunderstood he felt.

Volunteering at an animal shelter became an escape. He moved to Orlando and grew plants in his apartment, hoping to shake himself out of stasis. A friend noticed how he enjoyed gardening and said he could make a career at it.

“I grew up in the concrete jungle of Brooklyn before my family moved to Florida,” Marquez says. “A gardening career sounded impossible until I heard Valencia [College] offers a degree in plant science. I thought I’d take a class, set the bar low and get back on my feet.”

A botany instructor at Valencia, Fabiano Isenhour, told Marquez to aim higher and consider research. The program director, Javier Garces, suggested he pursue a doctorate.

“I went from thinking two years of college would be my path into the workforce,” Marquez says, “to wondering where research might take me.”

The Fascinated Bug Librarian

In January of 2024, nearly 10 years after leaving college with a 0.9 GPA, Marquez transferred through the DirectConnect to UCF program with multiple plant certifications and a 4.0 earned at Valencia. His mental health had improved, too.

“Everything snowballed,” he says. “ɫ����, I spent time with a wellness coach in the McNair Scholars Program. Mentors like (former Professor) Patrick Bohlen were invested in my potential. I found this intersection of passion, support and community, which fueled my drive.

Marquez also discovered the Arboretum and UCF’s Bug Closet, a collection of more than 575,000 specimens — one of the largest completely databased collections in the world — that heightened his new curiosity about the relationship between insects and agriculture.

“Insect specimens are like books,” he says. “They provide knowledge about the world. In the Bug Closet, I was the librarian. My research there led me to the Smithsonian, where I worked with species that are new to science. Someday I could be involved in giving them names.”

On His Own Track in Life

“When I look back at where I’ve been and where I’ve come, it’s exhilarating. I can’t imagine making it this far if my path hadn’t led to UCF.”

The dispiriting label Marquez once shouldered has been shed. In its place, he has that new passport, which he’s using to present research at international conferences. He envisions completing his doctorate and working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture or Smithsonian to support America’s natural resources through entomology.

“I’m just now finding where I belong,” he says. “When I look back at where I’ve been and where I’ve come, it’s exhilarating. I can’t imagine making it this far if my path hadn’t led to UCF.”

Landing humans on the moon was just a dream when UCF was founded in 1963. But we dared to believe — developing the talent and inventing the technologies to make it reality. That same spirit still drives us today.

We are America’s Space University. And we celebrate UCF Space Week to honor our origin as we dare to build what’s next.

Where Global Leaders Unite to Forge the Future of Space

Seconds after NASA’s Orion capsule splashed into the Pacific Ocean, white spray rose around the scorched spacecraft. Telemetry streamed from Houston to Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Inside the Test Launch Control Center thousands of miles from the splashdown, Joseph Hoayun ’22 ’26MSEM watched his monitor intently. His heart pounded as he tracked live data from the crew module uprighting system, a critical safety mechanism he had spent months testing and analyzing.

As five vibrant orange balloons inflated and lifted the capsule upright in the rolling sea, Hoayun’s shoulders finally dropped. Months of work gave way to pride. Orion was home. Mission accomplished.

“That capsule was my baby,” says Hoayun, a spacecraft propulsion test engineer at Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for the Orion spacecraft used in the crewed Artemis II mission. “We were just freaking out — everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. It felt like hours from the time Orion entered our atmosphere until the astronauts safely emerged from the spacecraft.”

While the world celebrated the first crewed lunar flyby in more than half a century, Hoayun’s attention soon turned to the next mission. As NASA prepares to accelerate its launch schedule from one Artemis mission every two years to an aggressive eight-month cycle, the pressure on test engineering is mounting. To keep pace, his division is expanding from 70 to more than 100 personnel.

High-Pressure Stakes

Hoayun supports the night shift in an operation that runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week at Kennedy Space Center. On any given evening, he might run a proof and leak test on an Orion service module, pressurizing flight propellant tanks to hundreds of pounds per square inch to verify structural integrity under extreme stress.

“People think you build one rocket at a time, but right now we have Artemis III, IV and V all in our building being tested in parallel by different teams,” Hoayun says.

As leader of his division’s Operational Excellence Team, he applies Six Sigma methods to improve tracking, refine testing workflows and eliminate waste. He estimates his team has saved Lockheed Martin hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“We do hundreds of distinct tests for each spacecraft cycle to ensure that all engines, electrical components, mechanical units and control systems work cleanly before they leave Earth,” he says.

Ensuring spacecraft reliability requires precision and strict safety protocols, including a 70-foot evacuation radius during high-threshold testing to protect personnel from lethal hazards. A single miscalculation could destroy a $2 billion spacecraft or trigger a catastrophic explosion.

Hoayun credits his UCF bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and master’s degree in engineering management through the university’s College of Engineering and Computer Science with giving him the tools to thrive in these high-pressure environments. For his senior design project, he fondly recalls building and successfully flying a distributed electric propulsion aircraft. The complex engineering challenge required the same collaborative problem-solving he now relies on at Lockheed Martin.

But long before stepping onto UCF’s campus, Hoayun discovered his passion for solving problems. As a child, he watched Apollo 13 and was captivated by the scene in which engineers race against the clock to build a makeshift carbon dioxide filter.

“Watching them solve a life-or-death engineering problem in real time made me say, ‘I want to be the guy in the control room doing rapid problem-solving,’ ” he says.

Read Him Like a Book

Hoayun’s dad, a science teacher at Orlando’s Corner Lake Middle School, recognized his son’s fascination with space early. Instead of traditional bedtime stories like Goodnight Moon, his father read him school textbooks or set up kitchen experiments to explain thermodynamics and chemistry. When Hoayun reached middle school, he landed right in his dad’s honors class.

“Getting to touch a spacecraft and see your work blast into orbit every day is a full-circle blessing.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily recommend having your dad as your teacher,” Hoayun says with a chuckle. “He loved using me as the class guinea pig for demonstrations, but I couldn’t complain — he was my ride home!”

After submitting about 400 job applications, Hoayun landed his dream job. In a few years, he says he may return to UCF to pursue a doctorate. But for now, at just 26, he’s focused on preparing the Orion spacecraft for the Artemis III mission.

His work supports preparations for the precise maneuvers needed to bring Orion and commercial lunar landers together in orbit, helping pave the way for astronauts to return to the moon’s surface.

“Each mission is progressively more complex and difficult,” Hoayun says. “But that means you never get bored. Getting to touch a spacecraft and see your work blast into orbit every day is a full-circle blessing.”

“This important collaboration between UCF, JPMorganChase and the Parramore community is a significant step toward expanding economic opportunity and building Central Florida’s next-generation workforce.” — Betsheell “Billie” Udofia, vice president and program officer for global philanthropy at JPMorganChase

An initiative driven by the UCF College of Community Innovation and Education (CCIE), the newly funded Parramore Launch Pad initiative aims to reach K–12 students in Orlando’s Parramore community earlier, helping prepare them for STEM-related higher education tracks and careers, while creating clearer pathways into these in-demand fields and improving long-term opportunity for students and their families.

Over the next three years, this funding will allow CCIE and UCF Downtown, which borders the Parramore community, to implement a holistic educational approach that integrates academic enrichment with community-based support. This approach is intended to support student success in STEM in and out of the classroom while also addressing broader community needs that contribute to sustained achievement.

“This important collaboration between UCF, JPMorganChase and the Parramore community is a significant step toward expanding economic opportunity and building Central Florida’s next-generation workforce,” says Betsheell “Billie” Udofia, vice president and program officer for global philanthropy at JPMorganChase. “Efforts like this help ensure students at every level have the skills, tools and support they need to succeed and build futures they’re proud of. We’re committed to supporting strong STEM pathways and the resources students need to reach them.”

Bolstering STEM Education

Expanding on an established relationship between UCF and Orange County Public Schools (OCPS), CCIE’s School of Teacher Education (STE) and UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science will work with leaders and educators at the OCPS Academic Center for Excellence (ACE) and another school, a pre-K through eighth-grade community school located in the heart of Parramore, to engage students in innovative STEM instruction during the school year, as well as throughout the summer.

ECLIPSE Summer Camp launched in Summer 2026, offering a free week of STEM activities for third- through fifth-graders. Delivered through a partnership between UCF STE, OCPS ACE, and the Boys and Girls Club Levy-Hughes branch, the program is open to all students in the Parramore community and includes a complimentary Boys and Girls Club membership to the Levy-Hughes branch for the academic year.

Going Beyond ɫ����, Prioritizing Well-Being

While academic rigor is important, well-being also influences success. Stressors outside of school can interfere with a student’s capacity for learning. Creating a safe space for them to work through life’s hurdles is key to improving student outcomes.

By integrating both the Healing Oasis for Peace and Empowerment (H.O.P.E.) Circle, a positive youth development afterschool program with the Central Florida Boys & Girls Clubs, and the complementary in-school H.O.P.E. Huddles program for Parramore youth at OCPS ACE, Jones High School, and Evans High School, UCF hopes to help students build positive, emotionally safe bonds with their peers, as well as reliable relationships with caring adults and mentors outside of their families. Programming focuses on helping students build critical skills around research, leadership, conflict resolution, teamwork and more.

“Central to the youth development programs is a reciprocal approach that redistributes traditional power dynamics between adults, researchers and youth in the community. While this model is less conventional, it is this shared ownership and co-creation that will ultimately drive meaningful, sustainable impact in the lives of youth, their families, and the broader Parramore community,” says L. Trenton S. Marsh, associate professor of urban education in the Department of Learning Sciences and Educational Research and founder of the H.O.P.E. Lab at UCF.

Growing Social and Civic Prosperity

Launch Pad will also provide support to the Parramore Community Engagement Council (PCEC). University researchers and community leaders will work together on research-informed solutions for PCEC’s pillars of education, affordable housing, employment and holistic health. Further, there is a collaborative partnership with UCF and PCEC through a new university-community fellowship program. This summer an asynchronous open-source training with nine sequential modules was developed to support the fellowship.

Over the next two years, the program will award two fellowships per year to university-based researchers and two per year to community leaders active within the council. The program is intended to serve as a model that can be replicated in communities across the country.

“We’ve already seen such positive impacts from UCF Downtown and its proximity to our community. I’m thrilled for this evolution in our work with UCF,” says the Rev. Robert M. Spooney, outgoing chair of the Parramore Community Engagement Council and pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church. “What makes this next phase so meaningful is the university’s commitment to not only being present, but to ensuring our community is resourced, supported and positioned to benefit from this work.”

A Shared Vision for a Thriving Parramore

In 2019, JPMorganChase, the Helios Education Foundation and the Kresge Foundation funded the Parramore Education and Innovation District, through which UCF aimed to ensure residents of the Parramore community benefited from incoming economic growth and development and had access to the UCF Downtown and Valencia College Downtown campuses. This latest support from JPMorganChase represents an evolution in this work, and a shared alignment in growing opportunity within the Parramore community.

“ɫ����, we are building a future the world has only begun to imagine. A robust talent pipeline of STEM professionals is critical to that vision,” says Rod Grabowski, senior vice president for UCF Advancement and Partnerships, and CEO of the UCF Foundation Inc. “These skillsets are already sought-after, but they’ll be increasingly important with the evolution of AI, space, themed experience and more. By investing in students early and surrounding them with the support they need to succeed, we’re helping create pathways to higher education, meaningful careers and lifelong impact for our region. That commitment is at the heart of Go For Launch.”

Rocket sightings are commonplace from UCF’s campus and Acrisure Bounce House, whose 50-yard-line is on the same latitude as NASA’s historical Launch Complex 39A. But for a crowd of dozens gathered on Monday on the concourse of the football stadium, this wasn’t a typical “launch.”

Five toddlers from Greater Orlando and the I4-Corridor were on site to receive space-themed motorized cars built especially for them by UCF student-athletes, physical therapy doctoral candidates from , and healthcare professionals from Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute.

A national, community-based research, design and outreach program, Go Baby Go! provides accessible and inexpensive solutions for kids and adults with limited mobility at no cost to their families.

Nicholas Antoine ’25, a senior defensive back on the football team from Daytona Beach, Florida, who graduated last December with a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology, jokes his construction skills need some improvement, but he was thrilled nonetheless to be an active part of the collaboration that made an impact for the families.

“Being able to bring joy to somebody else, there’s no greater joy than that,” Antoine says.

A total of 10 cars were built ahead of the 10^th anniversary of the UCF football team’s Space Game, an annual event that celebrates UCF’s reputation as America’s Space University.

The Space Game presented by Orlando Health Jewett Orthopedic Institute is now one of the signature events of a larger Space Week held at the university, which launches Oct. 25. The football team will take on Baylor University on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN.

Monday’s build is yet another example of how the beloved tradition’s impact has spread beyond an annual football game. It continues to illustrate UCF’s integral role as a driver of impact for Central Florida, whether in the space industry, health sector or beyond.

“When we look at the Space Game, we’re excited to be in that same space to walk alongside these athletes and create an opportunity that celebrates all the things that we do here at UCF,” says UCF Clinical Associate Professor of Physical Therapy Jennifer Tucker ’23PhD.

The Magic of Go Baby Go!

Tucker started UCF’s chapter of Go Baby Go! in 2015 and has led an average of 10 to 15 workshops annually — just like the one held Monday in Athletics Village — to benefit children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old with mobility issues stemming from Down syndrome, muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy and osteogenesis, among others.

Over the last decade, UCF’s Go Baby Go! has built up such a reputation that prospective students talk about it in their interviews as they look to gain acceptance into the doctoral physical therapy program.

It’s gone international, too, with partnerships in Belgium and Wales. It has welcomed students from the College of Engineering and Computer Science, College of Sciences and College of Medicine all interested in contributing their talents.

UCF’s students are a key component that keeps the engine running. Philanthropy is another.

Orlando Health, a UCF Pegasus Partner and a premier sponsor for UCF Athletics, has been one of Go Baby Go!’s biggest supporters since its inception as part of its mission to advance education, research, workforce development and community impact across Central Florida. It’s often personal for the clinical teams at Orlando Health who participate in these builds, since many of the recipients are longtime patients.

“It’s exciting to work alongside our partners UCF Athletics and UCF Go Baby Go! to help create this special event for these families,” says Sara Osborne ’14 ’17MHA, Orlando Health senior director of community benefit. “Go Baby Go’s mission aligns with Orlando Health as we look for ways to support our communities beyond the clinical care we provide every day. We’re proud to help play a part in making increased mobility and independence possible for these kids.”

Kid-Sized Astronauts Ready for Warp Speed

Sean Calamigan ’23 kneels next to 2-year-old Griffin Bordner, who had just plopped happily into his custom-fitted “space ship” and was already testing the sound level on his “go for launch” horn.

The third-year physical therapy doctoral candidate playfully warns the toddler of speed limits inside the Wayne Densch Center for Student-Athlete Leadership.

Griffin’s parents look on with mile-wide smiles. His father hails from a family of Knights who have been football season ticket holders since the 1990s. His mother, Jennifer Bordner ’15MEd, graduated with a master’s in exceptional student education.

They were referred by their son’s care team to apply to UCF’s Go Baby Go program! and underwent their first consultation in May. As Griffin test drove along the concourse of Acrisure Bounce House on Monday, Jennifer was already envisioning her son in their neighborhood’s cul-de-sac, spinning his wheels alongside his older sister.

“Griffin is a happy, joyous little boy. There is nothing that slows him down — he just goes, goes, goes, but he’s normally in a stroller while his sister is on her bike or scooter. This opportunity is so exciting for him to be included in that fun,” she says. “It just gives me chills knowing that there are that many people in the community and organizations who donate the cars to allow kids with mobility issues the opportunity to be included in their communities, just to get out and play and have fun.”

UCF faculty and physical therapy students took meticulous steps ahead of the build day to ensure the vehicles would have everything they needed to launch smoothly. Each child was individually assessed to determine communication, seating and positioning needs for his or her set of wheels, and a team of volunteers assisted with a workshop to pre-wire the cars and pack kits with the necessary tools and supplies.

Faculty from the made the experience extra special for the recipients by innovating a switch-activated plush toy rocket that lights up they could take home as a memento along with their car.

Calamigan, who spent his entire morning working at the event despite a final exam on his calendar at 1 p.m., says nothing compares to the practical, hands-on experience and witnessing the families’ reactions and delight to cars they worked on so diligently.

“I think the UCF DPT program really prepares us for a lot of things, but one of the main things they do for us is make sure we’re ready to face the real world, and this is the real world,” Calamigan says.

And it’s a real world that, at the end of the day, Tucker aims to make feel a little more connected.

“We’re providing an opportunity for play, and play is a universal shared rite of passage of childhood. But we’re also building community,” Tucker says. “My hope is that the impact of today extends far outside of this moment in time, and it helps us build a better community and a better tomorrow for Central Florida.”

A UCF-led research team will receive a $19.2 million, five-year award from the U.S. Army Research Office to investigate how light travels through complex, changing environments — and how researchers can control it.

Led by Guifang Li, a professor in UCF’s College of Optics and Photonics (CREOL), the program brings together researchers from CREOL and UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science, the University of Dayton and the University of California, Berkeley, alongside industry partners.

The award will also support a new chapter for CREOL’s Townes Laser Institute under Li’s leadership. Established at CREOL in 2007 and named for Nobel laureate and laser pioneer Charles Townes, the institute advances laser technologies and their potential applications. Li plans to expand its focus on multidisciplinary projects that apply advances in lasers and photonics to practical challenges.

“Townes Laser Institute will translate multidisciplinary scientific advances into solutions that aspire to benefit society as profoundly as the laser itself, to honor the legacy of Charles Townes,” Li says.

Understanding Light in the Real World

Light traveling through the real world rarely behaves as it does in an ideal laboratory.

Atmospheric turbulence, scattering materials, biological tissue and other complex media can scramble an optical wave, degrade an image or prevent light from being precisely delivered to a desired location. The new program seeks to develop ways to measure these distortions remotely and correct them rapidly, particularly when a sensor, beacon or other measurement device cannot be placed at the far end of the optical path.

Although partly motivated by challenges involving directed-energy systems, the research could also inform imaging through biological tissue, laser-based medicine, remote sensing and free-space optical communications.

“We are interested in a very fundamental problem: How do you understand and control light when the environment between you and where you want the light to go is unknown, changing and inaccessible?” Li says. “That question appears in many different forms — from atmospheric propagation to looking through scattering tissue. If we can develop new ways to measure the optical environment and adapt to it in real time, the underlying science could have an impact across many fields.”

Learning About an Environment from the Light Itself

One of the program’s central questions is whether researchers can determine what happened to light during its journey without directly accessing the other end of its path.

One group of techniques will examine the extremely small amount of light naturally scattered back as an optical wave travels through a medium. By combining coherent optical measurements with advanced computational methods, the team will study whether these weak returning signals can reveal how conditions vary along the optical path.

Other approaches will use carefully designed patterns of light and mathematical inverse methods to simultaneously learn about an unknown object and the medium obscuring it.

The team will also explore using artificial intelligence to analyze optical measurements and gain a better understanding of complex environments.

Correcting Distortions in Complex Media

Understanding how light has been distorted creates a second challenge: How can the distortion be undone?

The team will investigate multi-plane light conversion, which manipulates an optical wave across a series of controllable planes rather than relying on a single optical element to correct complex distortions.

In principle, the approach could give researchers greater control over both the amplitude and phase of an optical field, allowing a system to address distortions that conventional single-plane methods cannot easily correct.

For light traveling through the atmosphere, the technique could provide new ways to compensate for rapidly changing turbulence. Related principles could help researchers recover images obscured by biological tissue or improve the precision with which lasers deliver light through complex biological environments.

Bringing Optics and Computation Together

The program combines traditionally separate fields, including coherent optical sensing, computational imaging, inverse methods, artificial intelligence, adaptive optics and programmable photonics, to investigate systems capable of characterizing and adapting to a complex optical environment.

The multidisciplinary approach also reflects Li’s vision for the Townes Laser Institute: bringing researchers together to develop solutions for specific applications.

Preparing the Next Generation of Optical Scientists

The program will also train students from UCF, the University of Dayton and UC Berkeley to work across optical physics, photonics, computation and engineering. Students will gain experience in optical sensing, wavefront control, computational imaging, artificial intelligence and advanced photonic systems.

“An award of this scale gives us an unusual opportunity not only to pursue ambitious scientific questions, but also to train students across institutions and disciplines,” Li says. “The students will learn to think about optics as a complete system — combining physics, devices, computation and experiments. That workforce development is an important part of the program.”

Moving Discoveries Beyond the Laboratory

Industry partners will explore potential applications for discoveries emerging from the research.

Meadowlark Optics Inc., Caelight Inc. and Holodyne LLC will help commercialize technologies emerging from the research. Texas Instruments will support the program by providing the research team with prototypes of microelectromechanical systems, or MEMS, before they become publicly available.

“This award reflects UCF’s growing leadership in optics and photonics and demonstrates the impact that fundamental university research can have on technologies of national importance,” CREOL Dean says. “Just as importantly, the program will educate the next generation of scientists and engineers needed to advance these technologies.”

This research is supported by the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Army Research Laboratory through the Army Research Office under award number W911NF262A129.

Students, alumni, faculty and staff are in store once again for a full lineup of unforgettable events and activities across the main and UCF Downtown campuses from Oct. 18–25.

A Quick History Lesson

UCF’s first homecoming was held in 1971, three years after the first classes were held at Florida Technological University.

Since football didn’t start at UCF until 1979, Homecoming originally coincided with basketball season, which was the university’s first varsity sport. The year 1980 saw two homecomings for the first time: one during basketball season and the first for football.

Student and Community Events

Oct. 18 – UCF Volleyball vs. West Virginia | The Venue | 1 p.m.
The Knights welcome the Mountaineers in Big 12 Conference play for “Kids Day.” Tickets are free for students. The general public can purchase tickets on . For more information, visit .

Oct 19–23 – Who’s Your Ducky?���� John C. Hitt Library | Open to Close
After the Design Your Own Duck event during Welcome Week, choose your favorite student-designed duck. Check out the Gallery Wall on the second floor of the John C. Hitt Library for the top 50 ducks and cast your vote during Homecoming Week. Scan the QR code on the wall to make your voice heard.

Oct. 19 – Homecoming Kickoff | Reflecting Pond | Noon–2 p.m.
Students can claim their exclusive 2026 Homecoming T-shirt and last-minute free tickets for Comedy and Concert nights.

Oct. 19 – Knights Got Talent | Knights Plaza | 7 p.m.
Bring a blanket or chair to support your fellow Knights as they showcase their special talents. This event is free for both the community and UCF students. Alongside the annual show, an art show will feature work from UCF students and Knight Thon’s Miracle Children.

Oct. 20 – Movie Knight | Memory Mall | 7 p.m.
Catch 2026 Academy Award Best Picture nominee F1. Secure your spot on Memory Mall as early as 6 p.m. and score an exclusive popcorn cup (while supplies last).

Oct. 21 – Game Night | UCF Downtown’s Learning Support Center | 5:30-8:30 p.m.
Challenge friends and members of the Downtown Learning Support team to some friendly competition. Prizes are up for grabs for a costume contest, Super Smash Brothers tournament and more. for more information.

Oct. 21 – Comedy Knight | Addition Financial Arena | Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 8 p.m.
Get ready for an unforgettable night of comedy with Jay Pharoah, with special guest AJ Foster. Best known for his standout run on Saturday Night Live, Pharoah has made a name for himself with his hilarious celebrity impressions, energetic personality, and impressive musical talent. Admission is free for all UCF students, but tickets are required. . The general public can .

Oct. 22 – Foam Splash | Communication and Media Building Plaza, UCF Downtown | Noon-2 p.m.
Dive into the biggest foam party of the semester. Splash into a giant foam pit and bubbly pool, enjoy tacos and ice cream, play water games and more. The first 200 attendees will get free rubber ducks and exclusive Foam Splash T-shirts.

Oct. 22 – UCF Women’s Soccer vs. Cincinnati | UCF Soccer Complex | 7 p.m.
The Knights welcome the Bearcats in Big 12 Conference play on “Fright Knight.” Tickets are free for students. The general public can purchase tickets on the . For more information, visit .

Oct. 22 – Concert Knight | Addition Financial Arena | Doors open at 7 p.m., show starts at 8 p.m.
This high-energy show features rappers Soulja Boy and Waka Flocka Flame. Admission is free for all UCF students, but tickets are required. . The general public can .

Oct. 23 – Spirit Splash | Reflecting Pond | Noon–2 p.m.
Recognized as the best university tradition in the state by the National Association for Campus Activities, Spirit Splash is not to be missed. Thousands of students will run into the Reflecting Pond and attempt to catch this year’s custom homecoming rubber duck. There will be special guest speakers, as well as performances from the spirit team and Marching Knights. The event is free and open to UCF students and the community.

Oct. 24 – UCF Football vs. BYU | Acrisure Bounce House | TBA
UCF students can attend the game for free. A complete guide to student ticket information can be found at . The general public can purchase tickets through the or UCF Athletics Ticket Office at 407-823-1000. For more information, review the .

Oct. 25 – UCF Women’s Soccer vs. Houston | UCF Soccer Complex | 1 p.m.
The Knights welcome the Cougars in Big 12 Conference play on “Alumni Weekend.” Tickets are free for students. The general public can purchase tickets on the . For more information, visit .

Oct. 25 – UCF Men’s Soccer vs. South Carolina | UCF Soccer Complex | 5 p.m.
The UCF men’s soccer team hosts the nationally ranked Gamecocks in Sun Belt Conference play. Tickets are free for students. The general public can purchase tickets on the

Alumni Events

Oct. 22 – Shining Knights Alumni Awards Reception | Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts, Downtown Orlando | 6-9 p.m.
The Shining Knights Alumni Awards honor UCF’s outstanding alumni and community leaders who have significantly contributed to the university and the community. The UCF Alumni family will celebrate six honorees at this year’s reception.  and include a pre-reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres, cocktails and dinner.

Oct. 23 – Ignite the Knight | Memory Mall | 6-8:30 p.m.
This family-friendly UCF festival features live music, food, beverages, carnival games and special appearances before the grand finale: fireworks. .

Bonus – volunteer to support Trick or Treat on Greek Street by bringing sealed, individually packaged Halloween candy, small toys or crafts.

Oct. 23 – UCF Athletics Hall of Fame 2026 Class Induction Banquet | Celeste Hotel | 6 p.m.
The 2026 class includes women’s soccer’s Marissa Diggs ’15, track and field’s Octavious Freeman, former football head coach Mike Kruczek, football’s McKenzie Milton ’19 ’22MA, volleyball’s Emily Mottola ’96 and men’s basketball’s BJ Taylor ’18.

The evening begins with a cocktail reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner and the induction program at 7 p.m. Individual tickets are $200, and Hall of Fame tables (seating 10) are available for $2,000. , or email varsityknights@ucfathletics.org for additional information.

Oct. 24 – UCF Alumni Tailgate | UCF FAIRWINDS Alumni Center | Three hours before kickoff
Enjoy a live DJ, free beverages, delicious BBQ for purchase, family-friendly games and more at this indoor and outdoor tailgate. Admission to this family-friendly zone is complimentary for all UCF alumni and guests.

Oct. 24 – UCF Black Alumni Community Family Reunion and Tailgate | UCF FAIRWINDS Alumni Center | Three hours before kickoff
Head to the ultimate tailgating experience, hosted by the UCF Black Alumni Community, three hours before the Knights take on BYU. Enjoy a DJ, giant yard games, guest appearances and more. while they last. This event is open to all alumni and guests.

Oct. 24 –  UCF Regional Community Watch Parties | Locations vary | Time varies
Not able to come to campus? Regional Knights communities will host local watch parties before the homecoming game — and everyone is invited. .

Oct. 25 – Trick or Treat on Greek Street | Greek Park Drive | 2-5 p.m.
The UCF Greek Community is hosting its annual Trick or Treat on Greek Street. This family-friendly event brings Halloween fun to the Central Florida community — and everyone’s invited.

in your group. All registered Greek alumni will be entered for a chance to win.