2008 Awardees

By studying the smallest particles in nature, Darin Acosta is learning more about some of the largest mysteries in the universe. For the past 10 years, Acosta’s research has delved ...

Before cities can be fashioned from bricks and concrete, they first have to be intricately planned on computers, grids and in the minds of qualified designers. In UF’s Department of ...

As an ecologist, Benjamin Bolker works to understand, measure and explain animal interaction and movement within an environment. As a professor at UF, he’s fostering interaction and the movement of ...

For Jeffrey K. Brecht, ensuring that the best produce makes it from the tree to the table is top priority. As a professor of horticultural sciences, Brecht is an expert ...

Through her research, Mary Brown is uncovering new solutions for a wide range of human diseases. In the process, she’s also made the world a better place for endangered tortoises. ...

When Edward Chan first began to observe the cellular staining pattern of antibodies to the self protein GW182, he likened it to “love at first sight.” Later, Chan and his ...

Although George Christou works in nanoscale dimensions, his work is creating huge possibilities for scientists around the world. In the ever-shrinking yet increasingly relevant world of nanoscience, Christou has emerged ...

It’s a dirty job; but Nicholas B. Comerford, who has spent decades studying soil and soil nutrients, is ensuring that the world’s forests will stay healthy, fertile and beautiful. As ...

According to R. Paul Duncan, everyone deserves the peace of mind that comes with health insurance. After 10 years of research, however, he has discovered that about three million people ...

For families who want to unlock the mysteries of their autistic children, Jennifer Harrison Elder may have the key. Elder, a registered nurse and a Fellow of the American Academy of ...

Mark Fenster has spent his career as a lawyer and professor exploring the limits of what we know about our own government. Fenster, who graduated from Yale University Law School in ...

Richard Ferdig is discovering better ways to take the classroom to the computer. For the 700,000 K-12 students nationwide who go to school online, Ferdig’s research is at the forefront ...

The average adult needs about half a milligram of folate a day. In areas where people don’t get that much, pregnant women give birth prematurely, babies have low birth weights ...

Through the power of math, William Hager has devised several ways to understand the power of lightning. In studying the transport of charge and the electric field surrounding bolts of ...

Growing old is hard enough; but with Jeffrey Hughes’ novel research, people with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s may be able to remember more and worry less about ...

Melissa Hyde has made a career out of understanding the gendering of aesthetic culture in the 18th century. Hyde’s book, Making Up the Rococo: Francois Boucher and His Critics, studies ...

Any athlete who has ever been psyched up (or psyched out) before a game has experienced the link between emotional stress and physical performance. As director of the Performance Psychology ...

Even the most poorly stocked grocery stores offer dozens of different toothpastes, shelves of spaghetti sauces and aisles of cereal. Among all of these seemingly identical products, however, shoppers often ...

Jeffrey Jones knows tomatoes and peppers. More importantly, he knows the ecology, history and variations of the bacterial spots that infect these plants, resulting in rot, wilted leaves and less ...

Jacqueline Miller studies butterflies and moths. She has caught them in Cuba, bagged them in the Bahamas and netted them in the Netherlands Antilles. She has analyzed the way they ...

As a world leader in autoimmunity research, Laurence M. Morel has turned mouse DNA into her own intellectual stomping ground. Her study of systemic lupus erythmatosus in mice has defined ...

Looking back over millions, and sometimes billions, of years, Paul Mueller uses ancient rocks to catch a glimpse of what the world used to be, and how it has changed ...

Through his research on liver disease and the immune system, David Nelson has made great progress in protecting the way humans protect themselves. Nelson’s study of the body’s immune response ...

Fashioning nanoscopic wires out of the key ingredient in sunblock may seem impossible, if not downright ridiculous. For David Norton and the world of nanoscience, it is both a new ...

In a world of seemingly endless choices, finding the best route can seem impossible. That’s where Panos M. Pardalos comes in. Figuring out how to make things run better, faster ...

Traditionally, the stuff that was left over after wood and paper production was considered waste. But because of researchers like Gary Peter, these plant by-products have a new name – ...

By studying the individual components of a structure, Bhavani V. Sankar can predict the properties of the whole from the sum of its parts. In doing so, he can feel ...

Tumor biologist Dietmar Siemann is looking for new ways to stop cancer at its source. As associate chair of the radiation oncology department, Siemann has focused on developing novel approaches ...

As the global fight against both cancer and AIDS continues, Sankar Swaminathan has emerged as an expert on both as they relate to common viruses. Over the past eight years, ...

James P. Syvertsen has spent his academic life studying the tangy fruits that have become a part of Florida culture. His research, which focuses on citrus trees’ responses to environmental stresses, ...

When it comes to health care, Carolyn Tucker follows her heart and remembers her roots. Tucker, who came from humble beginnings and once struggled with obesity, is the organizer of the ...

Kim Walsh-Childers believes accurate news coverage can be good for your health. Walsh-Childers has spent her career researching how the traditional media and the Internet contribute to individual health behaviors ...

For Charles S. Wingo, it’s about keeping the beat. Heartbeat, that is. Wingo’s research in potassium and aldosterone regulation in the kidneys has the potential to open new doors in ...