Category: Faculty News

Florida scientists send seeds to ISS to study farming solutions for Earth’s harsh conditions

As drought and extreme heat test American farmers more than ever, University of Florida researchers are looking to another harsh environment to create durable crops: space. 

Wagner Vendrame, Ph.D., a UF/IFAS environmental horticulture professor and a member of UF’s Astraeus Space Institute, sent four types of UF-bred seeds to the International Space Station, or ISS, to study how spaceflight affects plant genetics and resilience.

Micronutrient mystery could be key to brain health, cancer defense

An international team of scientists has discovered how bodies absorb a micronutrient that we rely on for healthy brain function, cancer defense and more.

UF lands $7.5 million grant to map treacherous tidal mudflats for faster rescues, military missions

A team led by UF Civil and Coastal Engineering Professor Nina Stark, Ph.D., is launching a $7.5 million research project to help map tidal mudflats. Funded by the Office of Naval Research, the project brings together experts from five universities across the U.S. using satellite imagery, field sensors and hovercraft technology.

Benjamin Johnson comments on the ‘brain rot’ phenomenon

The UF CJC associate professor and director of the STEM Translational Communication Center was quoted in an NBC TODAY article focused on “brain rot.”

CLAS faculty earn CAREER awards from NSF

Ramón Alain Miranda Quintana, Ph.D., and Jeffrey Rudolf, Ph.D., were honored with the prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation.

AI is transforming gambling—A UF researcher explores ethical risks 

As gamers and spectators prepare for the 2025 World Series of Poker in Las Vegas, a cultural conversation around AI and ethics in gambling is brewing, with a growing concern that unregulated AI systems can exploit and profit from vulnerable individuals.

Researchers uncover hundreds of genes linked to OCD

Newly published research helps unravel medical mysteries by shedding light on the genetics of OCD.

Robotic hands are the next frontier in astronaut safety

Supported by NASA, Eric Du, Ph.D., a professor in the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering and a member of the Astraeus Space Institute, is developing new ways for astronauts to control robotic hands, laying the groundwork for the future of space medicine.

UF scientist helps breed better fruit

Thornless, disease-resistant and tastier blackberries could be on the horizon thanks to new genetic research led by UF/IFAS professor Zhanao Deng, Ph.D.

UF physicists celebrate prestigious Breakthrough Prize

A global research team led by six UF physics professors—Andrey Korytov, Ph.D., Guenakh Mitselmakher, Ph.D., Jacobo Konigsberg, Ph.D., Philip Chang, Ph.D., Yuta Takahashi, Ph.D., and Paul Avery, Ph.D.—has won the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics, one of the world’s most prestigious science prizes. The $3 million award honors discoveries and measurements made at the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s biggest and most powerful international scientific experiment, located in Europe.