UCF Research Week
UCF Research Week 2008 will leave a lasting imprint on the campus in the form of five Nuttall Oak trees planted in the Ferrell Commons area. While the trees will provide a tangible reminder of the week's activities, organizers hope that some of the messages delivered will make an impression not just with students but with the wider community.
The week, March 31 – April 4, featured more than a dozen presentations by faculty and student researchers, centered on the theme: The Environment: Conservation, Energy and Quality of Life. Also incorporated into the week's activities were the Graduate Research Forum and the Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE) as well as sessions on how to get into graduate school and what it's like to pursue research as a career.
The week would not be possible without the help of sponsors and the organizing committee expresses sincere appreciation to Progress Energy, Sea World Orlando and United Space Alliance for their support of the week's activities.
Jim Fenton, director of UCF's Florida Solar Energy Center, opened the week with a call for greater energy efficiency. While researchers at FSEC are studying carbon neutral biofuels, more efficient solar panels and energy-saving home design, Fenton acknowledged that many new technologies are still prohibitively expensive. He expressed support for governmental incentives to encourage large-scale changes such as generating more energy from the sun instead of from nuclear or coal-powered plants.
Members of UCF Sustainability Alliance gave an overview of the multiple efforts on campus to achieve greater energy efficiency, from erecting more than 1,000 cardboard boxes every football game day to collect aluminum cans and plastic bottles for recycling to installing retrofitted lighting fixtures in campus buildings to reduce energy consumption. The Sustainability Alliance includes initiatives on recycling, energy, stormwater use, environmentally friendly cleaning supplies, use of more local foods on campus, purchasing and research.
The tree planting was held the first day of the week to symbolically offset any Co2 emissions participants in the week's events may have expended to get to campus. Martin Quigley, PhD, Director of Landscape and Natural Resources at UCF, emphasized the importance of using native plants and shade trees in campus landscaping instead of "chemically dependent" plants that not only introduce chemicals into groundwater but can require more of that water to maintain.
More than 300 students were invited with their faculty members to a recognition reception, honoring them for work that has been recognized beyond the university, through presentations at conferences and awards and citations received. Provost Terry Hickey acknowledged the many locations, both inside and outside the U.S., where the students have made positive impressions for the university and M.J. Soileau, PhD, Vice President for Research and Commercialization, noted the benefits student researchers receive from sharing their work with scientific peers.
Local political leaders took note of the week's activities. On Wednesday, Orange County Commissioner William Segal introduced a session on Conservation Issues Affecting Central Florida and Planning for the Future. The Commissioner gave an overview of some of the county's efforts to conserve limited resources while biologist Reed Noss, UCF Metropolitan Center for Regional Studies Director Linda Chapin and Duane DeFreese, former vice president of research for Hubbs Sea World Research Institute and now a UCF faculty member gave three complimentary views on conservation, growth management and the importance of creating an economic sector for marine science.
A graduate student in the UCF Water Research Center and Stormwater Management Academy, Matthew Kelly, talked about his work with UCF's green roof project. Funded through a $340,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection, the green roof was installed on half of a 3,200 acre expansion to the Student Union in spring 2005. Covered with plants ranging from dune sunflowers to bougainvillea, and an abundance of Florida vegetation, the roof is not only cutting energy costs by keeping the roof warmer during winter and cooler during the summer, it is also helping to reduce storm-water runoff and pollution.
And one of UCF's most awarded water researchers, Professor James Taylor, PhD, Director of the Environmental Systems Engineering Institute and holder of the Alexander Chair for Civil and Environmental Engineering, was recognized for his extensive work at the university that includes more than $10 million in grants.
The last two days of the week focused on graduate and undergraduate research respectively. During the Graduate Research Forum, nearly 100 students presented posters in disciplines ranging from social sciences to education, engineering and biology. The Showcase for Student Undergraduate Research featured more than 200 posters by undergraduates. All the posters were judged by UCF faculty and awards, including $16,000 in scholarship money, were presented.
The week was wrapped April 11 in an awards breakfast at the Student Union. Student award winners were recognized as were the week's organizers.
UCF's Office of Graduate Studies, the Office of Undergraduate Studies, the Office of Undergraduate Research and the Office of Research and Commercialization worked together to organize and promote UCF Research Week 2008, under the leadership of program chairs Alison Morrison Shetlar, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and Patricia Bishop, Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies.
2007 UCF Research Week Event Recap
