June 9, 2020

Preparing for hurricane season

With hurricane season upon us, UF departments and individuals are encouraged to revisit the university’s and their own emergency plans—or, if need be, to put one in place.

Keep Current. Stay Current.

UF’s key method of communicating with UF faculty, staff and students in emergency situations is the UF Alert system. You can ensure your location and emergency contact settings are up-to-date in the myUFL system so you receive UF Alerts. To make sure your information is current so you stay current on emergency notifications, log in to the myUFL system and select “Update Emergency Contact” to customize the UF Alert notifications you receive.

Other ways to stay informed

Anyone, including family members, may elect to receive UF Alerts for the Gainesville campus by downloading the GatorSafe app onto their mobile device. You can also monitor the @UF Public Safety Twitter feed, and the Florida Public Radio Emergency Network offers a free Florida Storms app to stay informed about potential weather and other hazards.

Resources to help you get prepared

UF’s Emergency Management website provides a wealth of hurricane preparedness information and resources, including hurricane tracking.

Remember to keep current to stay current throughout the season by keeping your information up-to-date. Stay connected and stay safe this season.


UF Health community participates in a nationwide demonstration of reflection and solidarity

UF Health solidarityLast Friday, healthcare professionals from around the country kneeled together as part of a nationwide demonstration to honor George Floyd and call for an end to racism. Faculty, staff and students from UF’s colleges of  Pharmacy, Medicine and Dentistry, among others, joined the movement designated “white coats for black lives.”

Read more about the peaceful protest here.


Camera developed by the UF Astronomy team will soon be capturing photos of the Earth from the International Space Station

JAXA HTV-9 launches iSIM-170A state-of-the-art camera, called iSIM-170 or integrated Standard Imager for Microsatellites, will soon be capturing images from the International Space Station. Smiling back from Earth will be the proud UF Astronomy team that created the camera. The creation of the camera, set to be positioned on the space station on June 10, was led by UF Professor of Astronomy Rafael Guzman. UF Vice President of Research David Norton also assisted in making the project a reality. Nine years of work left Guzman filled with emotion,

“I went back to the original moments, when I first presented the idea to Vice President Norton. He believed in us,” Guzmán said. “I thought back to the first designs on whiteboards, and the first tests that failed miserably at the Kennedy Space Center.”

Read the full UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences article here.


Attend the UF Community Music School virtually this summer

Picture of guitarUF School of Music’s Community Music School will be available online via Zoom for Summer 2020. The Community Music School offers music education experiences to members of the community. Learn how composers become celebrities, how to play the guitar or ukulele and more. UF Music graduate students teach a range of topics accessible to all levels of musicianship and musical expertise.

Revenue from course fees directly benefits the UF School of Music’s students, faculty and programs.

Click here to learn more.


Florida Museum of Natural History’s Chase Kimmel featured in CNN article for re-discovery of a rare blue bee

extremely rare blue Calamintha beeThe extremely rare blue Calamintha bee, last seen four years ago, was recently rediscovered by Florida Museum researcher Chase Kimmel. The bee is currently on the most significant conservation list for Florida’s State Wildlife Action Plan.

“I was open to the possibility that we may not find the bee at all so that first moment when we spotted it in the field was really exciting,” Chase Kimmel said in a release.

A two-year research project, led by Kimmel and his advisor, is now in effect to discover the blue Calamintha bee’s current population, nesting and feeding habits.

Read the full CNN article here.