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UF builds community resilience in Jacksonville’s Historic Eastside neighborhood
As the University of Florida continues to expand its presence in Jacksonville, Gators are undertaking sustainability projects to improve the city’s neighborhoods. Faculty and students in the College of Design, Construction and Planning’s Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience (FIBER) have spent the past four years focusing on the role of housing design in community health resilience in Jacksonville’s Historic Eastside neighborhood, interviewing resident stakeholders and collaborating with citywide organizations that are helping to restore older homes. Findings from the UF research will be instrumental in informing future community planning and housing design decisions, potentially leading to more health-centered, sustainable neighborhoods. “Our research in Jacksonville focuses on how we can inform the development of community infrastructure that holistically supports human well-being across mental, emotional, and physical dimensions,” said Lisa Sundahl Platt, Ph.D., a FIBER research faculty member and an assistant professor of interior design at UF, who added that this holistic, health-centered approach is known as salutogenic design. “We are also actively collaborating with community organizations in Jacksonville and researchers from UF to explore improved strategies for designing and constructing community infrastructure that effectively responds to potential hazards.” A community-wide collaboration UF has conducted a pilot study over the past year on the Jacksonville-based Restore, Repair, and Resilience (R3) initiative that is underway in Historic Eastside – surveying residents about how the design quality of their housing and surrounding environments affects their overall well-being. This interdisciplinary project has brought together FIBER and members of the R3 Group – a coalition of organizations that includes the JEA utility company, LIFT JAX (committed to eradicating generational poverty), the Historic Eastside Community Development Corporation, the United Way of Northeast Florida, and Local Initiatives Support Corporation Jacksonville. FIBER-led research has received ongoing support from the Florida Resilient Cities grant, which is funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. The scope of the R3 project is being scaled up through a U.S. Department of Energy grant awarded through JEA, which will allow for an expansion of home revitalization efforts in Eastside Jacksonville. FIBER’s ongoing housing and health community action research on these efforts will be supported through a grant from the LS3P Foundation. “Many residences we evaluated need help with improvements to housing energy efficiency, building ventilation, building shell structural integrity, and materiality,” Platt said. “For example, underperforming flooring material can create potential trip hazards for older adults. Deterioration in interior materials, caused by degrading components of the building envelope, can also lead to mold and mildew growth in interior environments, which can contribute to poor interior environmental quality issues and acute and chronic health conditions.” Respiratory health issues are often caused by material and ventilation design failures, which can affect people of all ages, especially vulnerable populations such as children and older adults. Oftentimes, interior designers see that the environmental risks that compromise human well-being are coming from both the outside and inside of the buildings. “As we continue to address priorities, our focus extends beyond energy and building efficiency to encompass comprehensive factors of built environment resilience that impact overall community health and well-being,” Platt said. “There's still significant progress to be made in the design of sustainable housing that supports community salutogenic health." Keeping residents safe and healthy UF research has continued to prove that interior resilience for living environments plays a vital role in people’s mental and physical health. “People spend roughly 90% of their time indoors, so it is important to understand the types of design conditions and materials that we’re putting into spaces and how they can affect the occupants of those living in said spaces,” said UF student Milena Rodriguez Mendez, who is one of Platt’s graduate research assistants. Students like Mendez are using qualitative and quantitative research methods to engage in collaborative community-led research that includes academics, for-profit organizations, nonprofits, citizen scientists, and neighborhood stakeholders. “I aim to center my work on social justice and equity, and I believe this initiative represents a meaningful step in that direction,” Mendez said. “Our focus is on the residents of this vibrant yet at-risk community.” FIBER researcher Jason von Meding added, “We want to know how future housing policies can address some future health concerns. We have a lot of youth in the community that are participating, which I think is important.” The FIBER housing and health team is actively pursuing additional funding to expand this research, in collaboration with UF Health Jacksonville’s Department of Community Engagement. “Our goal is to develop an open-source online platform that disseminates lessons learned and proof-of-concept findings on the impact of regenerative housing design on human and ecological health,” Platt said. “This resource will be valuable for other cities and neighborhoods facing similar challenges in housing quality, affordability, and accessibility.” Looking to know more about this project or connect with Lisa Platt? Simply click on her icon now to arrange an interview today.
On Sunday, October 19, at 9:34 a.m., four masked individuals surged into the Louvre’s Galerie d’Apollon from a severed, second-floor window. Hurriedly, they smashed open two display cases, seized eight pieces of jewelry, then shimmied down a ladder and sped off on motorbikes toward Lyons. In seven minutes’ time, in broad daylight, they absconded with an estimated $102 million in valuables from the world’s most famous museum. This past Saturday, October 25, French authorities announced the first arrests in connection with the daring heist. However, despite the police’s progress, the country continues to litigate the matter—embroiled in discussions of heritage, history and national identity. Recently, Roderick Cooke, PhD, director of French and Francophone Studies at Villanova University, shared his perspective on the situation as well as the artifacts lost. Q: The Louvre heist has been described as “brazen,” “shocking” and a “terrible failure” on security’s part. Is there any sort of precedent for this event in the museum’s history? Dr. Cooke: Nothing on this scale has ever happened to the Louvre since its founding as a museum during the Revolution. The closest equivalent is the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa by a former employee who claimed it should be returned to Italy. However, that was one painting, the heist was not committed by organized crime, and the Mona Lisa did not have the renown it enjoys today. The impact of the theft was thus lower, although it did cause major outrage and a sweeping law-enforcement response at the time. Ironically, that theft is often credited with making da Vinci’s painting the global icon it continues to be. Q: What has the reaction to this event been among the French people? DC: It’s harder to get a sense of reactions across French society, because so much of the aftermath has focused on the intellectual milieux’s opinions. And in those realms, it has immediately become a political football. Individuals positioning themselves as anti-elite or anti-status quo, such as Jordan Bardella of the National Rally party, have called the theft a “humiliation,” immediately tying it to French national prestige. Former President François Hollande has conversely and vainly called for the event to be de-polemicized, citing national solidarity. This is happening because the Louvre is one of the most visible manifestations of French soft power—the most-visited museum anywhere on Earth. As such, anything attacking its integrity becomes an attack on the nation, and how individual French citizens feel about the theft is closely tied to their broader view of the nation. Q: Several of the items stolen from the Louvre once belonged to Empress Eugénie. Could you share a bit of information on her story? DC: Eugénie de Montijo was a Spanish aristocrat who married the Emperor of the French, who ruled as Napoleon III between 1852 and 1870. It was a time of authoritarian repression and sham democracy—Napoleon III installed the Empire through a coup. Its clearest legacy is that Paris looks the way it does today largely because of the thorough modernizations overseen by Napoleon III’s appointee Baron Haussmann. So, Eugénie and her now-lost jewels represent a complex point in French history, when culture and the economy developed quickly, but did so in a climate of fear for any French person who opposed the regime too loudly (like Victor Hugo, who went into exile on the Channel Islands and wrote poems savaging Napoleon III and his deeds). Some accused the Empress of being responsible for the more hardline and conservative stances taken by her husband’s government. On a different note, she was a diligent patron of the arts and arguably the most significant figure in the contemporary fashion world, famous for setting trends such as the bustle that radiated across Europe. This explains the mix of anger and admiration that followed her depending on the sphere she was operating in. A new English-language biography argues that far from being a traditionalist, she was a pioneering feminist by the standards of the time. It looks like her historical importance will continue to be debated. Q: Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez described the stolen items as “of immeasurable heritage value.” How significant of a cultural loss do you consider this theft? DC: These jewels are referred to in French as “les Joyaux de la Couronne” (the Crown Jewels), but of course that phrase lands very differently in republican France than it does across the water in the United Kingdom. The items actually represent several different dynasties of French rulers, some of whom came to power through direct conflict with others. The now-ransacked display at the Louvre smoothed over these historical divisions, for which many French people died over the centuries. President Macron referred to the stolen items as embodying “our history,” which is emblematic of the French state’s work to create a conceptual present-day unity out of the clashes of the past. At a time when France is arguably more divided than at any point since World War II, any unitary symbol of identity takes on greater significance. Q: Do you have any closing thoughts on the artifacts taken and what they represent? DC: I’d reemphasize the previous point about the smoothing effect of the museum display on the violent history that made it possible. Much of the reporting on the stolen jewels lists off the different queens and empresses who owned them, without giving readers a sense of the complicated succession of regime changes and ideologies that put those women in power in the first place. The relative stability of the last 60-odd years is an anomaly in modern French history. This set of jewels and the names of their original owners may seem far removed from the concerns of an ordinary French citizen today, but just beneath their surface is a legacy of changing governments and tensions between social classes that survives in new forms in 2025.
Covering Hurricane Melissa? Our Expert is Here to Help with Your Coverage
Hurricane Melissa has exploded into a record-breaking Category 5 storm, tearing through the Caribbean with catastrophic force. It made landfall in Jamaica with sustained winds near 185 mph, unleashing torrential rain, landslides, and widespread destruction across the island — the strongest storm ever recorded there. The hurricane has already caused fatalities in Jamaica, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic, and now barrels toward eastern Cuba and the Bahamas, where mass evacuations are underway. Meteorologists warn of up to 30 inches of rainfall in some areas, storm surges reaching 11 feet along southern coasts, and a severe risk of flash flooding and mudslides due to the storm’s slow, grinding pace. Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd is a leading international weather-climate expert and is the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Georgia. Dr. Shepherd was the 2013 President of American Meteorological Society (AMS), the nation’s largest and oldest professional/science society in the atmospheric and related sciences. View his profile here While Melissa is expected to weaken slightly as it moves north, its enormous size means destructive winds, life-threatening flooding, and dangerous coastal waves will persist through the week — with Bermuda now bracing for potential impact and the U.S. East Coast monitoring for high surf and rip currents as the storm churns offshore. Covering? We can help. Dr. J. Marshall Shepherd is a leading international weather-climate expert and is the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of Geography and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Georgia. His expertise has been sought recently by ABC News, Forbes Magazine and The New York Times. He's available to speak with the media about this ongoing story and storm - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
The Thrill of Fear: The History and Cultural Significance of Horror Movies
From flickering silent films to today’s big-budget blockbusters, horror movies have always tapped into humanity’s oldest emotion: fear. Across decades, they’ve reflected social anxieties, moral questions, and shifting definitions of what scares us. Yet behind every scream lies a story about culture, creativity, and the psychology of thrill. The Origins of On-Screen Fear Horror cinema began in the early 1900s with short silent films inspired by literature and folklore. One of the earliest, Le Manoir du Diable (1896), often considered the first horror film, introduced audiences to bats, ghosts, and the Devil himself. By the 1920s, German Expressionist films like Nosferatu and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari used shadow and distortion to create unease, shaping the language of horror still used today. Hollywood’s Golden Age of Horror in the 1930s brought monsters to life — Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy — giving audiences both fright and fascination during a time of global economic depression. These films helped people confront real-world fears symbolically, offering escape through imagination. Fear Evolves with the Times Each generation has reinvented horror to reflect its cultural moment. The 1950s’ atomic-age fears spawned giant monsters and alien invasions. The 1960s and ’70s shifted toward psychological and supernatural horror with classics like Psycho, The Exorcist, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre — films that exposed anxieties about social change, faith, and violence. The 1980s and ’90s introduced slasher icons such as Halloween’s Michael Myers and A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger, mixing terror with pop-culture spectacle. By the 2000s, horror had splintered into subgenres — from found-footage realism (The Blair Witch Project, Paranormal Activity) to elevated art-house films like Get Out and Hereditary, which use fear to explore race, grief, and identity. Why We Like to Be Scared Psychologists suggest people enjoy horror because it offers safe danger — a way to experience fear, adrenaline, and relief without real threat. Watching horror triggers the body’s fight-or-flight response, followed by catharsis once the tension resolves. Culturally, it provides a mirror to our collective psyche: what we fear, we face, and what we face, we sometimes conquer. Horror also brings people together — in theaters, at home, or online — to share an intense emotional experience. Whether screaming, laughing, or peeking through fingers, audiences participate in a ritual as old as storytelling itself. The Icons of the Genre Among the most popular and influential horror films of all time: Psycho (1960) The Exorcist (1973) Halloween (1978) A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) The Silence of the Lambs (1991) The Ring (2002) Get Out (2017) Hereditary (2018) Each left a lasting mark on both cinema and culture — showing that horror, far from being niche, remains one of the most expressive and enduring genres in film history. Connect with our experts about the history and popularity of scary movies and horror flicks: Check out our experts here : www.expertfile.com
Florida needs veterinarians trained to respond to natural disasters. Congress can help.
When Hurricane Helene struck, we were on the frontlines in Florida’s Big Bend region, racing against time to support the Humane Society as they rescued animals displaced by the most powerful storm ever to hit this part of the state. Two weeks later, we were back in action, facing the devastating flooding from Hurricane Milton. These back-to-back disasters showcased the urgency and critical need for emergency-response veterinarians who can act fast to save lives. We lead one of the nation’s only three emergency veterinary response teams — the University of Florida Veterinary Emergency Treatment Service (UF VETS). Founded after the 2004 hurricane season and operating under the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, the UF VETS program hosts two distinct, yet complementary, branches: a medical response unit for disaster-affected animals and an animal technical rescue branch, which manages complex operations like overturned livestock trailers. Larry Garcia specializes in veterinary disaster preparedness and response, animal technical rescue/training and shelter medicine operations. View his profile here Our team is on call whenever disaster strikes, working alongside local and state veterinary organizations, animal rescues and law enforcement to save animals in crisis. But here’s the problem: Without a nationwide system for coordinating these efforts, it’s often chaotic, and animals suffer because of it. Now Congress has a golden opportunity to change that. As they return to Washington, they have the chance to make a game-changing impact by including funding in the final FY 2025 Homeland Security Appropriations bill to create a nationwide network of veterinary emergency teams. This funding could revolutionize how the U.S. handles animal care during national disasters — and it needs to happen, fast. Read more ... Looking to know more about this important topic or connect with Lawrence Garcia - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Batty pathogens: Why do bats spread so many diseases?
Let’s face it — bats get a bad rap. Their links to disease outbreaks and their spooky association with vampires influence their notoriety. In reality, bats are truly remarkable. Bats support our agricultural industries as vital members of food webs. And, contrary to their portrayal in popular Halloween blockbusters, they are gentle and tidy creatures that groom themselves like cats. So why is it that when we hear of disease outbreaks, it always seems to be bats? According to University of Florida Emerging Pathogens Institute member Jim Wellehan, D.V.M., what sets bats apart isn’t black magic at all. But rather, it’s their long history of co-existing with viruses, the unique tradeoffs of flight and, perhaps most of all, a history of adapting to new pathogens. “(Infectious disease) has been the biggest factor in all of evolution,” said Wellehan, who is also a professor at the UF College of Veterinary Medicine. “People are always looking for an excuse (as to) why bats are magic, and the truth is bats have just been exposed to a lot of stuff and selected for those genes accordingly.” While humans are the most populous mammals on Earth, bats are a massive group of animals. Behind rodents, they represent the second-largest group of mammalian biodiversity, accounting for a whopping 20% of all mammal species. With over 1,400 species, it’s no surprise that pathogen diversity in bats is just as extensive and complex. Jim Wellehan's research focuses on comparative infectious disease, pathogen evolution, molecular diagnostics and pathogen discovery. View his profile here Bats, as we know them, have been on Earth for over 50 million years. This extensive period has given pathogens plenty of time to evolve alongside the winged mammals. Bats carry viruses like Ebola, Hendra virus, Nipah virus and SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. One factor that is important in this viral diversity is flight. Flight provides bats with many evolutionary advantages, such as predator evasion, access to new food sources and the ability to exploit diverse habitats. Flight also dramatically increases the chance of rapid pathogen transmission, as they can travel long distances and past many geographic barriers. Many species are highly social, which increases transmission rates as they live in close proximity and groom one another. “When I first learned about Darwin and evolution, ‘survival of the fittest,’ I assumed, meant ‘smartest and fastest and strongest,’ but if you look at our genomes, turns out that's wrong,” said Wellehan. “The genes that are selected for are mostly immune-related. The most important thing is to have enough genetic diversity in your population so that someone has immunity genes that are effective against the next pathogen that doesn't even exist yet. With their increased mixing and contact rates, bats have done this more often than most animals.” Generally, pathogens are most likely to cause disease when they first infect a new host species, as the susceptible animals have not yet developed the necessary defenses. Pathogens, along with their hosts, have no choice but to evolve to survive. With such a wide variety of species, it is not surprising that bats also carry a large proportion of mammal-associated viruses. This is not to say that bats are immune to all pathogens. As the most rapidly evolving factor in life, infectious disease is an incredibly dynamic part of medicine. Bats can get sick from lyssaviruses, including rabies. Additionally, white nose disease, a fungal infection that targets hibernating bats, has been a growing concern in the United States for the past decade. Though bat pathogens are a significant concern, habitat disturbance plays a larger role in bat population pathogen emergence, ultimately affecting humans as the dominoes fall. “Pathogen transmission to humans and conservation efforts go hand in hand,” Wellehan said. “When populations get under stress, that's when ecological balances get shifted, and zoonotic jumps occur. ... It turns out that if we think of ourselves as something separate from nature, it doesn't work so well.” So, while bats may embody the spirit of Halloween, their “magic” lies in evolution and resilience, shaped by millions of years of flying in the face of viruses, not spooky legends. Looking to know more? We can help. Jim Wellehan is available to speak with reporters about bats - simply click on his icon now to arrange an interview today.
Adam Frank: New Peer-reviewed Studies Change the Conversation on UFOs
For decades, talk of UFOs has thrived on fuzzy photos and personal anecdotes—never the kind of hard data scientists can actually test. But new peer-reviewed studies have changed the conversation, says Adam Frank, a University of Rochester astrophysicist who studies life in the universe and the nature of scientific discovery. Two recent papers, published in reputable astronomy journals, claim to have found evidence of “non-terrestrial artifacts” in astronomical photographs from the 1950s — objects that appear to be orbiting Earth before the Space Age began. “That’s an extraordinary claim,” Frank says, “and, as Carl Sagan famously said, 'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.' “The good news is that, finally, there’s something associated with UFOs that science can work with.” Led by astronomer Beatriz Villarroel and her VASCO project (Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations), the studies passed the first test of scientific credibility: rigorous peer review. Now, Frank says, comes the harder part — the “call-and-response” that defines real science. “Getting a paper published doesn’t make the claim right,” he explains. “It just means the debate can begin. Other scientists will now dig into the data, test the methods, and try to tear the claim apart. That’s how science works.” Frank is a frequent on-air commentator for live interviews and segments in national media outlets and the author of The Little Book of Aliens (Harper Collins, 2023). He also regularly contributes to written publications, including The Washington Post, The Atlantic, The New York Times, and Scientific American. In 2021 he received the Carl Sagan Medal, which recognizes and honors outstanding communication by an active planetary scientist to the general public. It is awarded to scientists whose efforts have significantly contributed to a public understanding of, and enthusiasm for, planetary science. Connect with him by clicking on his profile.
Lighting the Night: The History and Meaning of the Jack-o’-Lantern
No Halloween is complete without the warm flicker of a Jack-o’-Lantern glowing from porches and windowsills. But long before it became a symbol of trick-or-treating and fall décor, the carved pumpkin had deep roots in folklore, superstition, and the immigrant experience that shaped North American culture. From Folklore to Flame The story begins in Ireland, where early Jack-o’-Lanterns were not pumpkins at all, but turnips and beets. The tradition sprang from an old Irish folktale about “Stingy Jack,” a clever but dishonest man who tricked the Devil and was doomed to wander the Earth with only a burning coal inside a hollowed-out turnip to light his way. People began carving their own “Jack’s lanterns” to ward off wandering spirits and evil forces during Samhain, the Celtic festival marking the end of the harvest and the beginning of winter. When Irish and Scottish immigrants brought this tradition to North America in the 19th century, they discovered that the native pumpkin—larger, softer, and easier to carve—was the perfect replacement. The transformation from turnip to pumpkin turned a small superstition into a dazzling new folk art. The American Reinvention By the mid-1800s, Jack-o’-Lanterns had become a staple of Halloween celebrations in the United States. Newspapers of the era described “pumpkin lanterns” lighting up autumn gatherings, and by the early 20th century, the smiling (and sometimes sinister) carved pumpkin was the defining symbol of the holiday. Over time, the tradition evolved from scaring away spirits to creating community and creativity. Towns began holding carving contests, families passed down patterns and designs, and pumpkin patches and Halloween festivals turned the once-humble lantern into an essential piece of American seasonal culture. A Symbol Beyond Scares Today, Jack-o’-Lanterns carry layered meanings: they celebrate harvest, creativity, and folklore while keeping a touch of the supernatural alive. In many ways, they embody the blend of ancient myth and modern celebration that defines Halloween itself—where fear meets fun, and the flicker of a candle becomes both decoration and tradition. Whether whimsical or eerie, the glowing face of a Jack-o’-Lantern continues to connect generations to an age-old story about light overcoming darkness—a reminder that even the spookiest traditions began with a spark of human imagination. Connect with our experts about the folklore, cultural history, and enduring legacy of the Jack-o’-Lantern. Check out our experts here : www.expertfile.com
Gig worker protection law boosted overall earnings but dropped hourly pay
A 2020 California law designed to protect gig workers by classifying them as regular employees, rather than contractors, ended up increasing their earnings by about 8%. However, their hourly pay dropped by 1.6% as companies offset the higher costs of benefits. Workers’ increased earnings came from working longer hours in order to qualify for and reap benefits like employer tax sharing. These findings come from a study led by Liangfei Qiu, Ph.D., a professor in the University of Florida’s Warrington College of Business, which examined nearly 400,000 monthly work records from about 41,000 freelancers on Upwork, one of the world’s largest online labor platforms. That trove of data let the researchers ask what actually happened when the law, known as AB5, took effect. Qiu’s is the first study to reveal how AB5 affected workers’ income and comes as other states consider passing similar laws. Liangfei Qiu is an expert in social technology, including social media and social networks, as well as artificial intelligence. View his profile here “It highlights some unintended consequences,” Qiu said. “If the labor market competition is similar to what we observe in California, then you might get lower hourly rates for gig economy workers and longer working hours.” “But it’s nuanced. In surveys, gig workers said they were willing to work longer hours because they had better benefits. The outcome depends on how involved someone is in the gig economy,” Qiu added. AB5 was designed to correct what labor advocates saw as widespread misclassification of a company’s essential employees as independent contractors, who don’t typically earn any benefits. This classification gives companies a cheaper workforce, and provides maximum flexibility for workers, but doesn’t allow workers to earn any sick leave, vacation or health insurance. Self-employed contractors must also pay the full share of Social Security and Medicare taxes, which works out to about 15% of gross income. Gig economy companies fought back against the AB5 regulations. A company-sponsored ballot referendum, Prop 22, exempted well-known giants like Uber, Lyft and DoorDash from the law later in 2020. And the California legislature provided further carve outs for professions like doctors, lawyers and photographers. The law still applies to contractors used by delivery companies like FedEx, UPS or Amazon, home-service companies like Angi or Rover as well as online freelance platforms like TaskRabbit. The study is forthcoming in the journal Information Systems Research. Qiu collaborated on the analysis with researchers at Baylor University, Santa Clara University and Stony Brook University. Looking to know more about the 'gig economy' and how it impacts the workforce? Connect with Liangfei Qiu today and click is icon now to arrange a time to talk.
Cesar Dominguez, a fourth-year chemistry and physics double major at the University of Florida, may be on track to finding alternatives to plastic that could benefit the planet. His impactful work has helped him earn the title of Michelin Science Scholar, and he is now one of a select group of undergraduates connecting scientific research to real-world challenges at Michelin – a global leader in materials science and sustainability. “There’s always this misconception that academic research is completely separate from industry research,” Dominguez said. “Michelin has shown me it’s all one science. You can push discovery forward in both spaces.” Dominguez embarked this fall on a two-semester program of faculty-mentored research, with a $2,000 student stipend and $500 in support funding for his faculty mentor, UF chemistry professor Austin Evans, Ph.D. The program also invites students to present their findings at a spring symposium and tour a Michelin facility in South Carolina. Austin Evans' research aims to control macromolecular structure at all length scales concurrently and deploy materials in the real world. View his profile here Dominguez is furthering his study of how to process ultra-high molecular weight polymers – materials he compares to the scale of “an entire city” rather than a football stadium, through powerful electric fields. By adjusting electrospinning techniques, Dominguez and his team examine how polymers form fibers with different thermal and mechanical properties. These findings could lead to stronger, more sustainable materials, including alternatives to plastics like the major pollutant polyethylene. “All my life, I’ve been told chemistry and physics are separate fields,” Dominguez said. “But I’ve learned they come together in really elegant ways. Being able to unite concepts from both gives me a deeper understanding of how things work.” Dominguez attributes much of his development as a researcher to his work with Evans, who he describes as incredibly supportive, always accessible, and consistently encouraging him to focus on precision and detail. Dominguez also sees UF’s resources as pivotal to his journey. “I feel like what makes the research I'm doing really exciting is the fact that this can only be done at the University of Florida, because we're working with materials that have been developed by scientists here, using equipment that we're very fortunate to have access to here,” Dominguez said. As he prepares to apply to graduate school in analytical chemistry, Dominguez said the Michelin program has expanded his view of what is possible after his degree. “I used to think research only happened in academia,” he said. “Now I know industry is just as vital. It’s opened my mind to different paths for my future.” For now, he offers one piece of advice to other students considering the program: “Do it for the love of the game. If you put passion into your work, everything else will follow.” For more information on the Michelin Science Scholars Program, click here: To learn more about the research happening at UF and to connect with Austin Evans - simply click his icon now to arrange an interview today.
