While immune systems are well studied in mammals and birds, reptiles — particularly sea turtles — remain less explored, leaving critical gaps in scientific understanding.

New research published in helps address this gap by examining the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), a critical group of immune system genes that enables organisms to recognize and fight diseases.

The study, which examined four species — loggerheads, green turtles, Kemp’s ridleys and leatherbacks — found that most sea turtles maintain high levels of immune gene variation, likely inherited from a common ancestor. However, variation differs across species and different copies of these genes can function in distinct ways.

“Sea turtles are an interesting case for studying immune system evolution,” says Katherine Martin ’24PhD, an integrative conservation biology alum and postdoctoral researcher at Oregon State University who led the study. “They live for a long time and encounter many different types of pathogens across multiple habitats.”

How MHC and Genetic Variation Work Together

MHC plays a key role in identifying and flagging pathogens for destruction by the immune system.

“MHC is essentially holding a small molecular flag that says to T cells, ‘This is the invader that you need to seek and destroy’,” says Martin, who specializes in immune system genetics in sea turtles.

Because pathogens vary widely, immune defenses must also adapt, creating strong evolutionary pressure for variation in MHC genes.

“For each different pathogen, you need a different MHC protein,” Martin says. “You can think of it kind of like a lock and key.”

Martin adds that immune gene variation is critical for population health and studying this builds insight on how well a population might respond to disease.

Key Findings and Evolutionary Insights

The study revealed differences in genetic variation across species, with leatherbacks showing lower MHC diversity than others.

“One of the things that can contribute to low genetic variation is low population size,” Martin says. “We think this might be the case with leatherbacks.”

Another key finding was the presence of shared genetic variants across species, suggesting deep evolutionary roots.

“The results indicate that shared ancestry is the most likely explanation,” Martin says. “That likely underscores their importance and their function.”

Martin also identified balancing selection as a key evolutionary force maintaining immune gene variation.

“Instead of selecting for a single trait, it’s the variation within that trait that’s advantageous,” Martin says.

A Comparative Approach Across Species

“The turtle species have different diets, habitats and disease prevalence, and [these samples] provided a useful comparison of the different ways of living that sea turtles have and how that might bear out in patterns of MHC variation.”

To establish a baseline for variations, Martin analyzed MHC genes from more than 300 turtles samples collected through and collaborators, highlighting the shared effort behind large-scale conservation research.

“[The turtle species] have different diets, habitats and disease prevalence,” Martin says. “[These samples] provided a useful comparison of the different ways of living that sea turtles have and how that might bear out in patterns of MHC variation.”

Martin extracted DNA from samples across coastal nesting sites, lagoons and offshore waters. She then amplified target genes and sequenced them using next-generation DNA sequencing technology.

“In a single sequencing run, you can analyze multiple individuals all at once,” Martin says. “We also get high sequencing depth, meaning each bit of DNA is sequenced multiple times.”

This approach improves accuracy, especially for highly variable genes like MHC.

Expanding Studies and Conservation Efforts

Martin plans to expand her research to additional sea turtle populations worldwide rather than just the northwest Atlantic, as well as to reptiles more broadly.

“I really love being able to ask questions about how that variation arises in the first place and what forces maintain it over time,” Martin says.  Understanding immune gene variation has direct applications for conservation strategies, particularly as sea turtles face increasing environmental pressures.

“If we protect the habitats these sea turtles rely on, we can bolster population sizes and, in turn, maintain genetic variation across all genes,” Martin says.

While advanced interventions such as gene editing may be possible in the future, Martin emphasizes that habitat protection remains the most practical and effective approach.

“The most effective solution is public advocacy for [protection of] the natural world,” Martin says.

Funding and support for this research was provided in part by the Sea Turtle Grants Program funded from the proceeds of the Florida Sea Turtle License Plate, the Sigma Xi Grants in Aid of Research Program, the NOAA Oil Spill Supplemental Spend Plan, the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program administered through the Florida Institute of Oceanography and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

Turtle handling conducted as part of permitted research (FL-MTP-225, FL-MTP-231, NMFS 19508, and predecessors).

This project was paid for in part with federal funding from the Department of the Treasury under the Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States Act of 2012 (RESTORE Act). The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of the Treasury.

In keeping with that responsibility, and in accordance with state law and Board of Governors regulation, this is public notice that the UCF Board of Trustees will consider a proposal to increase out-of-state student fees by 15% at a meeting on July 16.

If approved, the increase would take effect beginning Fall 2026. This proposal would not affect tuition or fees for in-state students or graduate students.

Fee Changes for Out-of-State Students

This proposed adjustment would help the university continue to meet rising costs while preserving the quality of instruction, academic programs, and support services that benefit all students.

The proposed increase would better align out-of-state student fees with the actual costs of delivering a high-quality educational experience. Increases will fund investments in faculty, classroom instruction, and academic advising.

Even with the proposed increase, UCF would remain among the most affordable leading public research universities in the nation and continue to offer exceptional value to students from Florida and beyond.

UCF recognizes that any change in cost may affect students and families. If the proposal is approved, the university will communicate directly with affected out-of-state students and work with them to identify available financial assistance options.

Board of Trustees Meeting Information

The virtual UCF Board of Trustees meeting will begin at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 16, 2026. Additional information is available on the .

This notice is being posted and emailed to all enrolled students in accordance with state law and Board of Governors regulation.

A new study published in Nature Climate Change co-authored by Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering Thomas Wahl shows that historically rare coastal water level extremes that were expected to occur on average only once in 100 years are now 12 times more likely to occur. This is the average across all coastal locations, in some regions what used to be a 1-in-100-year event is now expected annually.

“If you live within FEMA’s 100-year flood zone, you have a 100-sided die that you roll every year,” says Wahl, a College of Engineering and Computer Science researcher and UCF Coastal faculty cluster initiative member. “So you have 99 chances of being fine and one chance of being impacted by storm surge. Now, because of sea level rise, that die is losing sides and at some point there are so few sides left that it becomes a risk that not everybody may be willing to take going forward.”

The catalyst for increased coastal water level extremes and associated flooding is sea level rise, which has increased globally by nearly eight inches over the past 126 years. Using various observational data sets and leveraging model simulations, Wahl and his research collaborators were able to distinguish the various factors that cause sea level rise. Although natural variability is still a large factor, anthropogenic forcing is now the primary cause.

“We leveraged tide gauge and satellite observations along with existing model outputs to distinguish between the part of sea level rise that could easily be natural variability — the ups and downs we’ve experienced for hundreds of thousands of years — and the part that cannot be explained by natural variability,” Wahl says. “And we found that anthropogenic forcing alone leads to a four-fold increase in this likelihood of a one-in-a-100-year event to occur, and it’s now the main driver of the increased likelihood of these extreme water levels to occur.”

Recently, Wahl also contributed to a study published in Nature Geosciences that reveals that sinking ground levels and rising sea levels are occurring more rapidly than previously understood, often worsening flooding in coastal communities. These combined findings a need to reassess coastal infrastructure and flood-planning efforts as past flood frequency estimates may no longer represent modern-day conditions.

Wahl collaborated on this study with researchers from Tulane University, Harvard University and various academic and research institutions in both Germany and the Netherlands. Prior to joining UCF in 2017, Wahl was a Marie Sklodowska Curie Fellow of the European Union at the University of Southampton and a postdoctoral scholar at the University of South Florida. His research spans the areas of coastal flood risk, sea level rise and storm surges.

A bird bursting from the ocean or a mobula ray launching skyward makes the transition from water to air look effortless. For unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, it’s one of the hardest maneuvers to replicate.

Now, UCF researchers are studying how wing shape and motion affect that split-second transition — work that could help improve future amphibious UAVs.

Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering Samik Bhattacharya and aerospace engineering master’s student Dominic Polidoro ’25 are investigating the physical forces that interact as a wing exits the water and enters the air, a process known as egress. Supported by a grant from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM Army Research Office, the nine-month project aims to develop mathematical models to improve the technology used in military amphibious vehicles.

“This technology can … enable seamless air-water operations without the need for separate vehicles.”

The research could also expand the use of amphibious UAVs in civilian scenarios such as search-and-rescue missions in coastal areas, ocean monitoring and disaster response.

“This technology can … enable seamless air-water operations without the need for separate vehicles,” Bhattacharya says. “In 10 years, amphibious UAVs could perform reliable and stable dives and exits with better payload capacity and autonomous control in complex environments, far beyond today’s unreliable transitions.”

While researchers have extensively studied how drones enter water, far less is understood about how they exit it. Previous studies show that as a wing rises from the water, the lift generated by it will increase until it suddenly reverses direction before stabilizing. Why this occurs is not yet known, but the answer is crucial to understanding UAV performance.

“In general, when a UAV egresses, it causes lift overshoot followed by a sharp drop,” Bhattacharya says. “Such rapid changes in lift forces can create instability, leading to loss of control. Understanding this transition will not only improve our knowledge of creatures in nature but also allow for drone designs that can use or mitigate the lift increase and decrease that occurs.”

Inside the in , Bhattacharya and Polidoro use a water tank and 3D-printed wings to study how surface deformation, waves and vortex shedding interact during egress. They aim to better understand the physical forces that drive this transition.

“It’s difficult to disentangle the effects of surface deformation, waves and vortex shedding because they occur simultaneously on very short timescales and strongly influence each other,” Bhattacharya says.

The duo presented earlier findings from their research at the 2026 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics SciTech Forum in January.

Faculty Background

Bhattacharya joined UCF in 2016. He earned his doctoral degree in aerospace engineering from The Ohio State University, his master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Auburn University and his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the National Institute of Technology Warangal, located in India.

For almost a century, researchers have known that vertical land motion — the lifting and sinking of the ground — affects sea level locally. As the ground sinks, the sea level rises relative to the land. Scientists also assumed this process generally occurred at a steady rate over time. But a research team that includes Thomas Wahl, a UCF researcher and associate professor in the , has found that ground subsidence has undergone phases of variable change, creating significant implications for coastal communities.

“In many places, … sea level is going up one to three millimeters a year, but the land is going down 10, 15 times as fast.”

In an article recently published in Nature Geosciences, Wahl and his research collaborators demonstrate that the rate of vertical land motion is nonlinear in many coastal communities, particularly in Louisiana and along the Mississippi Delta. As the land sinks, relative sea level rises, increasing the risk of coastal flooding from high tides and storm surge that can damage homes, businesses and critical infrastructure.

“In many places like Louisiana, sea level is going up one to three millimeters a year, but the land is going down 10, 15 times as fast,” Wahl says. “And that compounds the effect of sea level rise. As the sea level goes up and land goes down, you have a bigger problem.”

A New Challenge for Coastal Communities

“Our results reveal that … groundwater extraction and … earthquakes have led to periods of rapid sinking or rising of coastal land.”

Current projections of future sea-level change typically assume that ground motion behaves linearly over time. However, the study challenges that assumption. Using observational data from tide gauges, the team, led by Associate Professor Sӧnke Dangendorf of Tulane University, reconstructed vertical land motion dating back to the early 20th century.

“Our results reveal that human activities such as groundwater extraction and natural phenomena such as earthquakes have led to periods of rapid sinking or rising of coastal land,” Dagendorf says. “This has largely increased the rates of sea level rise relative to the land, particularly in cities where increasing water demand led to increased groundwater withdrawals and subsequent compaction of the ground.”

The Silver Lining

Wahl says these findings have important implications for coastal infrastructure, including in Florida.

“It makes it even more critical to plan early and to create adaptation strategies to keep the water away from places where you don’t want it to be for as long as you can,” Wahl says.

The silver lining, he says, is that some causes of land motion can be managed. Cities such as Tokyo and Shanghai once experienced extreme subsidence — up to several centimeters per year during the mid‑20th century — but have dramatically slowed the sinking after implementing strict groundwater extraction controls and related land‑management policies.

When it comes to addressing the combined challenges of sea level rise and land subsidence, Wahl acknowledges that some areas will be harder to protect than others, and that protection may not be possible everywhere. Still, he remains hopeful.

“History has shown that humans are very creative, especially when they have to be,” Wahl says. “If you look back to where we were 100 or even 50 years ago and where we are now, there are probably technologies and strategies that we haven’t even thought of yet that might come up in the future that will be beneficial in that context.”

About the Researcher
Wahl collaborated on the study with researchers from Tulane University, Harvard University and various academic and research institutions in Germany and the Netherlands. Prior to joining UCF in 2017, Wahl was a Marie Sklodowska Curie fellow of the European Union at the University of Southampton and a postdoctoral scholar at the University of South Florida. His research focuses on coastal flood risk, sea level rise and storm surges.

On most days, DeAscanis is focused on something many people never think about: the invisible systems that keep modern life running.

Hospitals must power critical equipment. Cities endure record-breaking heat. Data centers aim to hum without interruption. Behind those moments are gas turbines the size of buildings, and a team of engineers determined to make them  smarter, faster and more reliable.

At Siemens Energy, DeAscanis helps lead that charge.

Rising to Energy Design Challenges

His bold goal is ambitious: transform how turbines are tested, inspected and manufactured so they can be delivered at the speed and scale global demand now requires. As electricity needs surge worldwide, efficiency is no longer optional.

“If the turbines don’t work, the power doesn’t exist,” he says.

After earning his aerospace engineering degree from UCF, DeAscanis joined Siemens Energy located just steps from campus. He began on a small team of three engineers developing custom tools to test next-generation engines. The work was intensely hands-on and involved long days refining inspection systems, improving automation and solving problems in real time.

Colleagues describe DeAscanis as calm under pressure and relentlessly curious. He sees constraints not as roadblocks but as design challenges.

That perspective proved essential during lean years in the energy sector, when fluctuating demand forced teams to justify every investment. Rather than scale back, DeAscanis and his colleagues innovated their way forward — streamlining inspection processes, reducing testing time and building automation systems that improved both speed and precision.

Those efforts produced measurable results. DeAscanis now holds 11 patents, with dozens more innovations developed across his team. Some advances are patented; others remain proprietary trade secrets that strengthen Siemens Energy’s competitive position in a global marketplace.

Enhancing Expertise to Deliver Impact

Over the past decade, he has also helped grow his organization from fewer than five engineers to nearly 100. His role expanded from technical contributor to strategic leader, overseeing budgets, setting research priorities and securing U.S. Department of Defense contracts to accelerate development. Recognizing the importance of business fluency, he returned to UCF to earn his MBA.

“I knew how to build technology,” he says. “I wanted to understand how to scale it.”

His journey traces back to his UCF senior design project, where he and three classmates developed a system to manufacture thin carbon nanofiber sheets designed to reinforce aircraft structures against lightning strikes. The project demanded technical rigor, collaboration and applied problem-solving — the same qualities Siemens Energy looks for in its engineers. It also helped open the door to his first role at Siemens Energy, proving that classroom innovation can translate directly into industry impact.

Fueling the Energy Industry

Learn more about how are accelerating innovation, fueling workforce development and strengthening the future of energy infrastructure.

Today, more than half of the engineers in his facility are UCF graduates. Through the Pegasus Partnership, Siemens Energy and UCF are not simply recruiting talent — they are co-developing it. Students gain exposure to real-world challenges long before graduation. Industry gains engineers who are ready to lead from day one.

For DeAscanis, that cycle feels deeply personal.

“UCF gave me the foundation to solve complex problems and the confidence to think bigger,” he says. “Now I get to help build the systems — and the teams — that will power what comes next.”

As global energy demand accelerates and infrastructure grows more sophisticated, the stakes are rising. The partnership between Siemens Energy and UCF reflects a shared belief: that bold thinking, applied research and prepared graduates can shape not just an industry, but the future of how the world runs.

At Kurd Qaburstan, an ancient site in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, a UCF-led team has uncovered the first substantial group of cuneiform tablets found in the Erbil region, along with evidence of large-scale destruction, mass graves and citywide fortifications. Together, the discoveries are providing one of the clearest archaeological records yet uncovered of siege warfare and urban life during the Middle Bronze Age.

“Our 2025 research produced clear archaeological evidence linking the site to the siege of Qabra, beginning with the first significant group of cuneiform tablets found on the Erbil Plain,” says Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, associate professor of history at UCF and director of the Kurd Qaburstan project. “Several tablets are dated within days of each other, matching the timeline of the city’s fall.”

The project is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation and conducted in partnership with the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Heritage in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. The funded excavations took place during two summer seasons in 2024 and 2025.

A Lost Archive Emerges

Researchers recovered 20 cuneiform tablets and more than 100 administrative sealings from destruction layers within the Lower Town East Palace. The artifacts are being studied by epigraphers Paul Delnero (Johns Hopkins University) and Parker Zane (Yale University), along with art historian Marian Feldman (Johns Hopkins University).

The texts include palace administrative records and a letter that may reference a high-ranking official connected to Qabra. Some inscriptions may also correspond to the destruction described on the Victory Stele of Dadusha.

“Most of the tablets are administrative and provide a snapshot of palace life and the economy of the ancient city,” Earley-Spadoni says. “One tablet appears to have been written by a high-ranking official in ancient Qabra.”

Evidence of Siege Warfare

Collapsed structures, burned layers and concentrated debris suggest a coordinated and possibly prolonged assault.

“The two superimposed destructions match the historical sequence of the siege of Qabra and its conquest by Shamshi Addu,” Earley-Spadoni says. “The charred debris, the large number of ceramic vessels and individuals who met untimely deaths and were buried in the destruction layers, provide the clearest archaeological case of Middle Bronze Age siege warfare yet discovered in northern Mesopotamia.”

The Human Toll of Conflict

Within the palace destruction layers, researchers discovered the remains of 17 individuals, studied by bioarchaeologist Andrea Zurek-Ost at Michigan State University.

“The individuals were not formally buried and had no associated grave goods,” Earley-Spadoni says. “Some appear to have been left where they died, including possible palace workers. One individual was found face down over a stone basin.”

Researchers also uncovered a preserved street with an engineered drainage system and domestic spaces used for food processing and textile production, pointing to sophisticated infrastructure and economic activity.

Mapping an Ancient City at Scale

“The evidence from Kurd Qaburstan shows that northern cities could be large, complex, and politically significant, with administrative systems, fortifications, and infrastructure comparable to those of the best-known southern sites.”—Tiffany Earley-Spadoni, director of the Kurd Qaburstan Project

The team also completed a magnetometer survey covering more than 80 hectares (about 180 acres). The survey, which measures changes in Earth’s magnetic field to detect buried structures, was led by Andrew Creekmore III at the University of Northern Colorado. The survey revealed a monumental wall with bastions encircling the site.

The fortifications correspond with those depicted on the Victory Stele of Dadusha and support the identification of Kurd Qaburstan as the ancient city of Qabra.

Rewriting the Story of Northern Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is often associated with southern cities like Uruk, long viewed as the center of early urban civilization. Discoveries at Kurd Qaburstan are helping highlight the value of northern cities, Earley-Spadoni says.

“The evidence from Kurd Qaburstan shows that northern cities could be large, complex, and politically significant, with administrative systems, fortifications, and infrastructure comparable to those of the best-known southern sites,” she says.

These discoveries build on a decade of prior excavation at Kurd Qaburstan by Johns Hopkins University, revealing a city long absent from the historical record.

“Laboratory investigations are underway, including isotopic and ancient DNA analyses of the 17 individuals,” Earley-Spadoni says. “This work will help researchers understand their origins and relationships.”

Each discovery brings researchers closer to understanding how this ancient city functioned and how it ultimately fell.

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) under Award No. 2344957. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF. Work was conducted with the permission, support, and collaboration of the Directorate-General of Antiquities of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Director-General Kak Kaify Mustafa Ali, and the Erbil Department of Antiquities, Director Kak Nader Babakr.

On how the ocean changed him:

I’ve never been as calm as I’ve been since returning to land. I’m a kind of restless person in general, somewhat impulsive in certain contexts. I always feel the need to do something, another adventure in nature. I have this fire in me that just makes me adventurous. But I think the success of the crossing, including the three years of preparation, gave me a lot of confidence. And with confidence, I think came the calmness of knowing I didn’t need to prove anything to anyone anymore.

World Ocean Day is June 8.

On UCF’s influence in pursuing his dreams:

It was once a dream of mine to leave my home country and do research with NASA. Coming to UCF, I realized that dream. Maybe at one point I wouldn’t have been able to think rowing an ocean was possible, but achieving my dream at UCF gave me the courage to try.

On the role a common goal can have in a team’s viability:

Our ultimate goal was to cross the ocean such that we would be willing and able to do it again in the next few years with the same team. This is the first time I am admitting out loud, I think we failed at that — none of us wishes to row an ocean again, nor are we planning another adventure with the same team.

So, though I have to admit we didn’t succeed in the ultimate holistic goal that we had, I think our crossing in general was quite successful. What I didn’t understand going into this was how strongly a common goal can influence your ability to withstand stress, interpersonal stress or annoyances from other team members. Everyone in this team had to work properly for us to be able to complete the goal. So even though we had that interpersonal tension and occasional conflicts, because of the salience of the shared goal, we were able to work through it.

On the breathtaking force of mother nature:

The ocean is so vast and so powerful. You’re nothing. We felt that the most when we had a school of whales approaching us from the stern. We saw them breaching, and then one whale swam under our boat, and we saw that it was longer than our boat, like 30 feet at least. It could have just pushed our boat over and do whatever it wanted with us. We had no power whatsoever.

And I really enjoyed the storms. During the last week we had such a strong wind coming from behind, with rain falling literally horizontally. It hurts when it hits you. The rain comes on so strong. And then the wind was so strong that it just pushed our boat. We usually did like 3 knots on our own, but the speed at that moment was 7 knots without rowing. We raised our oars and they became sails basically. We felt how the wind pushed through our oars. You’re just experiencing this unbelievable power of nature. It was amazing.

On his new motto — “Don’t fight with the ocean”:

Just don’t fight with the ocean because you can’t win. There is no point. Just let things be, let them go. I think this was one of the things that I really took back with me from the experience. I can apply this anywhere. Like at the workplace, if we have colleagues who are difficult to deal with, you can’t change them. You can’t fight with the ocean. You can only change your own reactions and thoughts.

On halfway home still being a far way to go:

After we crossed the halfway point, it became more difficult. You would expect that maybe it gets easier because, oh, half is done, only half more to go, but only half more is still 20 days. It’s three more weeks. It’s still a lot of time to be thinking about, What do you want do when you finish? What do you want to eat? What are you going to do when you get back home? I think we as a team mentally got to the finish too fast. We really had to take a step back and remind ourselves to take it two hours at a time.

On the feeling of seeing land for the first time after 39 days:

We arrived at sunrise. When the light appeared and we saw those cliffs, it’s just something so overwhelming and unique, this feeling of, ‘It’s over. It’s done — 40 days of suffering basically has ended.’ As we entered the harbor, we saw our family and friends were up there on the cliff, waving the flags and then the finish flare going off. It was the high point, definitely.

On how the experience gave insight into his research on teams in extreme, isolated and confined environments:

I think one of the main takeaways that I got from this project was really that preparation is everything. Everyone externally was focusing on the mission, the row, because of course that’s the exciting part. For us, completing the row was the goal, but it’s the smallest piece of the whole project. The three years of preparation and those difficulties that we had, this was much more important.

So now for my research, I’m thinking, we’re always focusing on the part or the actual mission. It’s not necessarily irrelevant, but the mission is the outcome. The input that we should study is before the mission, the preparations. So that informs my future research quite a bit.

On what’s next:

I graduate in the summer. Days before we started the race, I accepted a job offer, which was a relief. I was prepared to take job interviews on the boat. I’m starting as an assistant professor of industrial/organizational psychology at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey in August.

I realized that I don’t like this type of several-weeks-endurance events, it’s too monotonous, too dull. I was thinking that my next big thing would be skiing across Greenland, which is more than a month as well. But now, no, thank you. There’s not enough variability, or excitement, for me. I love mountaineering, summiting a mountain in a few days. I just bought new mountain boots, so I think this will be my next thing.

Name: Christopher Emrich
�ʴDz����پ��Dz�(��):��Boardman Endowed Professor of Environmental Science and Public Administration and founding member ɫ����’s National Center for Integrated Coastal Research

Why are you interested in this research?
A main reason stems from my childhood in Florida — constantly being exposed to a variety of hazards and seeing how communities were impacted in different ways. Being able to study geography at a state university, the  University of South Florida, and then completing my Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina under the tutelage of leading experts in the field really helped solidify that I wanted to become an expert in both the hazards themselves and what we can do to prepare for, mitigate, respond to, and rebound from them.

My time with FEMA supporting long-term recovery in Florida pushed me further to understand what is keeping people from recovering as quickly as some might expect. Tying all of these strings together really helped me pinpoint that one of the problems is that people are thirsty for knowledge. Learning how to turn data into information in order to extract meaningful knowledge has positioned me into a place that has meaning and impact for those attempting to make real-time decisions about hazards and disasters — from before the storm through the recovery period.

Who inspires you to conduct your research?
Seeing the suffering that takes place following disaster — suffering that could be avoided if society (people, governments and organizations) took the right steps to prepare for disasters — is what really drives what I do. I think that we can make simple changes to the way we do business that could lead to really impactful positive outcomes for disaster survivors.

How does UCF empower you to do your research?
UCF has given me space and opportunity to explore the different aspects of hazard threat identification and vulnerability assessment.  Partnering with experts at DIST, and partners at FDOH, and the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (among others)  we have been able to create open access websites like hazardaware.org, vulnerabilitymap.org, hazardrisk.org, and the Florida Public Health Risk Assessment tool (flphrat.com).  Each of these share the common goal of translating data into knowledge to support better emergency management decision making and preparedness planning.

What major grants and honors have you earned to support your research?
Since arriving at UCF, I have been awarded $10.8 million across 34 different extramurally supported grants and contracts. This includes grants of over $300K from funders including the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Research Program, the State of Florida, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Along the way, I have been awarded UCF’s Research Incentive Award twice (2021 and 2026) and UCF’s Luminary Award.

Why is this research important?
American political philosopher John Rawl’s once said, “The natural distribution is neither just nor unjust; nor is it unjust that persons are born into society at some particular position.”

I think it is a responsibility of each person, each organization, each governmental entity  — and society as a whole —  to support those who need the most help among us. If we do not, how can we ever hope to move our society into a better position? My research supports making decisions that help those in most need, including those most at risk and with the least resources, to be better positioned for the next disaster.

Florida’s coastlines are changing, and so are the fish that depend on them.

As rising temperatures push tropical species northward and mangrove habitats expand into areas historically dominated by salt marshes, scientists are racing to understand how these shifts could affect marine food webs and long-term ecosystem stability.

Meredith Pratt, a UCF integrative and conservation biology doctoral student, is helping answer those questions. Her research on sustainable fisheries management along Florida’s east coast earned her the prestigious Florida Sea Grant/Guy Harvey Fellowship. The highly competitive award supports graduate students conducting research that informs marine conservation and fisheries management while cultivating future leaders in marine science.

Tracking a Changing Ecosystem

Pratt studies how tropicalization — the northward movement of tropical species and habitats — is altering Florida’s coastal ecosystems.

“As temperatures rise, mangroves, traditionally found in warmer, tropical regions, are expanding northward into areas historically dominated by salt marshes,” she says. “This shift is influencing the species that live there.”

To understand these changes, Pratt and her team study fish communities along Florida’s east coast. One fellowship-supported project focuses on predator-prey dynamics among popular sport fish, including common snook, red drum and spotted sea trout.

“The most interesting result so far is that the same fish species are eating different things, … and that raises important questions about how continued mangrove expansion could impact the ecosystem in the long term.”

“The most interesting result so far is that the same fish species are eating different things depending on whether they inhabit traditional salt marshes or increasingly dominant mangrove environments,” Pratt says. “While most species primarily feed on shrimp, common snook tend to consume more fish, and that raises important questions about how continued mangrove expansion could impact the ecosystem in the long term.”

These findings were supported through lab gut analysis of fish samples collected in the field using seine nets to determine stomach contents. Because digestion can make some prey difficult to identify, Pratt also used stable isotope analysis, which provides insight into a fish’sposition in the food web based on chemical signatures in its tissue.

“Gut content analysis shows us exactly what a fish recently ate, while stable isotopes give us a longer-term picture of its diet,” she says. “Together, they allow us to answer questions we couldn’t with just one method alone.”

Guiding Future Fisheries Management

The research is both environmentally and economically important to Florida. As one of the world’s premier fishing destinations, the state depends on healthy coastal ecosystems and fish populations to support its recreational and commercial fisheries.

“Many of the fish we rely on start in estuaries and coastal environments,” Pratt says. “They grow in protected areas like mangroves and salt marshes before moving offshore. If we don’t understand how those habitats are changing, we can’t effectively manage the fisheries that depend on them.”

Connecting Science and Community

Pratt is also expanding the impact of her research beyond the lab. Through her National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Margaret A. Davidson Graduate Fellowship, she launched the Guana Tolomato Matanzas (GTM) Fisheries Monitoring Program at the GTM National Estuarine Research Reserve.

“Getting people involved and helping them understand the importance of this work makes a big difference.”

The volunteer-driven initiative trains community members to collect fisheries data at designated sites, including species identification, abundance and size measurements. With nearly 20 volunteers participating, the program provides valuable long-term data while increasing public involvement in scientific research.

“It’s been one of the most rewarding parts of my Ph.D.,” Pratt says. “Getting people involved and helping them understand the importance of this work makes a big difference.”

A Full Circle Moment

For Pratt, earning the Florida Sea Grant/Guy Harvey Fellowship was a full-circle moment. As an undergraduate, she completed many of her classes and research experiences at the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Center at Nova Southeastern University. Now, funding from Florida Sea Grant and the Guy Harvey Foundation is helping advance her research while providing professional development opportunities in science communication.

“This fellowship not only supports my research but also allows me to connect with other scientists, stakeholders and the public,” she says. “Sharing our findings and contributing to science communication is a really meaningful part of the experience.”

Looking ahead, Pratt hopes her work will support more informed decision-making around fisheries management and conservation.

“Conservation requires research and education working together,” she says. “If we can understand what’s happening and communicate that effectively, we can make better decisions to protect these ecosystems for future generations.”