For as long as he can remember, Florida State University sophomore and Presidential Scholar James “LJ” Dunphy has had a fascination with weather and a knack for data-driven science. Now, those interests have led him to be named a recipient of one of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) most competitive awards.

Dunphy, a meteorology and applied mathematics major in the College of Arts and Sciences from Tampa, Florida, has been selected as a recipient of the NOAA Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship. His research strives to make machine learning-based weather forecasts more accurate and less computationally demanding.

“What we’re looking at is trying to reduce those input parameters so we can save time and compute, while actually increasing forecast accuracy,” Dunphy said. “If we can just get a little bit more accurate forecast, we can have more accurate evacuation orders and better prepare the public for scenarios like hurricanes and tornadoes.”

The Hollings Scholarship Program provides awards up to $9,500 a year in financial assistance for two years of full-time study and a 10-week, full-time paid internship at a NOAA facility during the award’s second-year summer.

“LJ has been developing next-generation algorithms for AI-based weather models. I have never encountered a sophomore with such a high level of self-motivation and research talent,” said Zhaohua Wu, professor of meteorology and Dunphy’s research mentor. “Some of his results even surpass those reported in recent papers. I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him.”

Dunphy’s interest in meteorology was shaped by experiences with severe weather in Florida and beyond.

“Weather, being from Tampa, has always impacted me,” he said. “Hurricanes are kind of the first thing that come to mind and they impact us up here in Tallahassee, too. This is something I’ve always been surrounded by, and something I’ve always been interested in.”

His double major allows him to combine physical science with advanced computation, as machine learning becomes increasingly important in weather forecasting.

“[NOAA’s]  mission of protecting life and property has been a very important part of protecting my community. To be able to have the opportunity to give back is just something I’m really, really grateful for.”

– LJ Dunphy, FSU student and Hollings Scholarship recipient

“What I specifically want to go into in meteorology is the modeling part and forecasting,” Dunphy said. “My applied math major really, really helps with that, with understanding all the algorithms that go into it. So, it gives you the physical understanding from meteorology and the technical computational side from applied math.”

Dunphy applied for the Hollings Scholarship after encouragement from D. Craig Filar, associate dean of Honors, Scholars, and Fellows and director of FSU’s Presidential Scholars Program.

“When we invited LJ to be a part of the Presidential Scholars program, we knew he would do incredibly high caliber work in meteorology,” Filar said. “His recognition as a Hollings Scholar demonstrates his capacity for impactful and innovative work in the field of meteorology, and it speaks to his strong character to want to connect predictive modeling with improved notifications to protect communities. LJ will utilize this opportunity to expand his learning and experience in a manner that will serve his field well; I am incredibly proud of LJ for his recognition with the Hollings Scholarship program.”

As part of the scholarship, Dunphy will complete a 10-week NOAA paid internship next summer after his junior year and provide him with the opportunity to work at nearly any NOAA office nationwide.

“NOAA has always been a big part of my life,” Dunphy said. “Their mission of protecting life and property has been a very important part of protecting my community. To be able to have the opportunity to give back is just something I’m really, really grateful for.”

Dunphy recognized the role FSU’s academic environment and research opportunities played in helping him reach this milestone.

“All the resources that FSU has given me have been really, really immensely helpful,” he said, crediting the Presidential Scholars Program, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) and mentorship from faculty in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science.

Looking forward, Dunphy urges fellow students to aim high and take chances, even if those opportunities seem out of reach.

“The only reason I got to where I am now is just because I put myself out there,” he said. “You’d be really surprised where your abilities take you, especially when you’re really passionate about something. The worst they can say is no.”

For more information about scholarships and fellowships, visit FSU’s Office of National Fellowships.

The post Future forecaster: FSU student awarded NOAA Hollings Scholarship to improve machine learning–based weather forecasts appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University researchers have discovered how to accurately predict winter weather forecasts months in advance, affording sectors such as agriculture, water management, energy use and public health a longer lead time to prepare for inclement conditions.

The research, which was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, shows a method for forecasting how the stratospheric polar vortex, or SPV, will behave from winter through summer, before winter even starts.

The polar vortex is a band of strong wind that circles the polar regions during wintertime, acting as a barrier that helps keep bitter Arctic air locked near the polar region. Although SPV activity is known to strongly influence winter weather, scientists have struggled to predict its behavior more than two weeks into the immediate future.

“This work shows that a large portion of subseasonal-to-seasonal variability is not random but embedded in the annual evolution of the climate system,” said co-author Ming Cai, a professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science.

Current SPV forecasts rely on real-time data, and by turning to the past to accurately predict the future, the research suggests that unusual or extreme weather events are less random than scientists previously believed.

“When the SPV is strong, that cold air tends to stay in the Arctic. When it is weak, cold air is more likely to spill southward into North America and Eurasia,” said Michael Secor, a recent doctoral graduate in meteorology from FSU’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science who led the study. “The further in advance we can accurately predict the vortex, the further in advance we can help people and organizations prepare for weather conditions that affect agriculture, water management, energy use and public health.”

A crucial input for weather

As spring warms the U.S. each year, the Northern Hemisphere’s SPV dissipates, and a new vortex develops around the South Pole. While active, SPV can vary dramatically in strength and shape, influencing global weather events such as Tallahassee’s record-breaking snowfall in January 2025.

Generally, SPV forecasts are constructed by analyzing its day-to-day evolution over a few weeks or average strength during a given month. While effective in the short term, this method loses its accuracy when looking more than two weeks into the future. To overcome this obstacle, Secor stepped back to examine the problem from a different angle.

“Rather than trying to forecast the day-to-day evolution of the vortex, we start with the idea that its broader behavior over the course of the year may be more predictable,” Secor said. “We then use climate patterns such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, a temperature-based, recurring pattern in the Pacific Ocean known to influence the vortex, to predict those parameters in advance of winter. From there, we can work backward to reconstruct how the vortex will behave day to day, with an accuracy exceeding the current forecasting systems used by weather agencies.”

In addition to enhancing the precision of winter weather forecasting, Secor’s approach may also improve predictions of related climate phenomena with strong yearly cycles, including ENSO, which has a warm phase called El Niño and cold phase called La Niña. El Niño brings cold, rainy weather to the southern U.S. and suppresses Atlantic hurricane activity while spurring warm, dry conditions in the northern states. La Niña generates opposite effects.

Capstone work

The research was also selected for an Editors’ Highlight, a rare distinction bestowed upon fewer than 2 percent of all papers published under the American Geophysical Union’s umbrella of journals.

“Michael’s dissertation research, which represents a significant contribution for someone at this stage of his career, reflects not only his technical expertise but also the ability to rethink a long-standing problem from a fundamentally different perspective,” Cai said.

For Secor, the recognition represents the culmination of years of studying meteorology and working to advance science.

“Publishing my dissertation work feels like reaching an important milestone in a journey that began with a fascination with weather at a young age,” Secor said. “It has made me reflect on how fortunate I have been to not only have this opportunity, but also to have people in my life who encouraged my scientific interest both early on and through my doctoral studies.”

EOAS research faculty Jie Sun was also a co-author of this study.

To learn more about research conducted in FSU’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, visit eoas.fsu.edu.

The post FSU researchers develop method to expand winter weather forecasting capabilities from weeks to months appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University anthropologist is part of a team that has found that ancient migration routes used by Indigenous peoples are relevant to today’s policy and planning surrounding coastal living in rapidly changing environments. Their findings were recently published in the journal Nature Sustainability in the study “Climate-driven depopulation and adaptation realities in America’s coastal ground zero.”

The research team, including Jayur Mehta, an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology, sought to generate frameworks about how to live in ecologically dynamic landscapes like coastal Louisiana, and how to manage relocation from these areas, as life-threatening issues like sea-level rise and extreme weather events increase erosion of the land.

“While we’re looking at one specific delta region, this publication offers a big picture perspective of the issues coastal communities face,” said Mehta, who specializes in the archaeological study of human-environment relationships and also serves as the anthropology undergraduate program director. “Coastal Louisiana is one of the lowest-lying regions in the world because much of the land is a river delta formed by tons of sediments deposited by the Mississippi River over 7,000 years. Due to rising sea levels and the absence of bedrock, the land — a massive wedge of sediment — is just sinking into the Gulf.”

The team, led by Vokes Geology Professor Torbjörn Törnqvist of Tulane University in New Orleans, also includes sociology, architecture and marine science researchers from Tulane, Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina.

According to the World Meteorological Organization, nearly 40% of the world’s population lives less than 100 miles from a coast. Additionally, coastal counties in the U.S. are home to 40% of the nation’s population, per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Researchers like Mehta use this legacy of coastal living, spanning approximately 5,000 years in this delta region, to help inform present-day and future thinking on adapting to ecologically dynamic environments to mediate coastal hazards for those living there.

In analyzing pre-contact settlement patterns of the Mississippi River Delta, archaeological evidence shows that migration was an adaptive response to the changing environment as shorelines receded and landscapes changed across generations.

“The way that present-day communities live in these coastal settings is driven by our contemporary way of life, including where infrastructure is placed and what architecture and engineering codes are in place for buildings and living spaces,” Mehta said. “Adapting to the changing environment of coastal areas starts by recognizing that there are other ways that people live, and have lived, in coastal settings that we might consider unorthodox. Some of those ideas might hold solutions to our problems, and this archaeological perspective shows us that it’s possible to live in an ecologically dynamic environment even spanning long periods of time, as long as there’s an awareness of mobility and migration when necessary.”

Migration is already happening in coastal Louisiana, largely due to climate-driven population loss and disaster-driven displacement, such as the New Orleans population being halved in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina. These events, according to the researchers, often exacerbate pre-existing vulnerabilities that continue to push populations to leave, including poverty and rising costs of housing and insurance. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, New Orleans’ population has decreased by about 20,000 in the past six years alone.

“The archaeological record provides unique insights into how humans lived in highly dynamic, rapidly changing landscapes in the past,” Törnqvist said. “Given the size of the Mississippi River Delta, it’s plausible that Native American communities moved their villages over distances as large as 50-100 kilometers to relocate from portions experiencing land loss to areas that enjoyed land gain. What matters here is the mindset of these Indigenous peoples and their nimbleness with respect to life in a rapidly changing environment — this is something we need to rediscover.”

While profound differences exist between pre-contact Native American societies and present-day coastal communities, including extensive, permanent infrastructure and technological adaptations to life in a floodplain, researchers argue that investigating ancient patterns of migration is a crucial first step in adapting for understanding resilience and long-term adaptation strategies on a rapidly evolving coast.

“We need to make some big decisions about where and how we live on coasts as environments continue changing, and Jayur’s work is that rare combination of impactful on a local level and to the larger global issues facing us,” said Mark D. McCoy, Department of Anthropology chair. “This research provides an evidence-based reconstruction of the decisions our ancestors made, and what the consequences of those decisions were, so we can go into this massive problem armed with all the information we can muster.”

To learn more about Mehta’s work and research conducted in the Department of Anthropology, visit anthro.fsu.edu.

The post New collaborative research by FSU anthropologist reveals historical migration is key to planning for sea-level rise resilience appeared first on Florida State University News.

The post Before they cross the commencement stage, FSU undergraduates reflect on what shaped them appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University graduate student has been selected for a competitive arts fellowship that will support the development of a project that maps archival photos, poetry and oral histories onto neighborhoods, highlighting their historical impacts.

Christell Victoria Roach, a creative writing doctoral student in the Department of English, has been named a fellow of YoungArts, the National Foundation for the Advancement of Artists. The fellowship includes a $30,000 grant that will allow Roach to further develop her project, an augmented-reality application called OTOWN, and streamline its software.

“By merging digital humanities with community-based research, this project reimagines historical neighborhoods as interactive digital museums,” Roach said. “This project transforms specific locations into exhibits through the app’s lens. I come from a community with a rich history, and I wanted to create a space for that community to tell its own story.”

“This project transforms specific locations into exhibits through the app’s lens. I come from a community with a rich history, and I wanted to create a space for that community to tell its own story.”

— Christell Victoria Roach, creative writing doctoral student

Each year, thousands of artists from across the U.S. apply for YoungArts’ competitive grants, scholarships and fellowships, which have supported scholars through mentorship and funding since 1981. In addition to the monetary grant, fellows also have access to studio space and public presentation opportunities. This award comes just over a decade after Roach earned a YoungArts writing award, and she is the only literary arts specialist in this year’s cohort of five YoungArts fellows.

“Earning a YoungArts fellowship is a significant accomplishment that highlights the strength of Christell’s voice and the impact of her literary work,” said Keith McCall, assistant director of the FSU Office of Graduate Fellowships and Awards. “It’s an honor to have a YoungArts fellow at FSU and a reflection of the exceptional talent within the creative writing program.”

OTOWN was inspired by Roach’s hometown of Overtown, a Miami neighborhood that was once considered the “Harlem of the South,” where African American celebrities, athletes and activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Sam Cooke performed, spoke and competed.

“Since they weren’t permitted to sleep in the hotels they performed in on South Beach, as it was during a segregated period, they went ‘over to the town’ to be celebrated and to rest,” Roach said. “In OTOWN, I take on the role of curator and narrator to create space for these stories that started long before me.”

Through the app, users move through the Overtown neighborhood, encountering location-specific stories: They’ll hear a poem on one corner, see a historic photograph on another, and listen to oral histories connected to the ground beneath their feet. While the project initially centered around Overtown, Roach has invented a model that can be used to preserve community histories in neighborhoods across the globe.

“I’m perfecting this work to present a replicable model for engagement with personal and shared histories,” Roach said. “Through collaboration with undergraduate research assistants, the project has already expanded to other historic towns in Florida, including Tallahassee, with an exhibit near FAMU’s campus titled, ‘South of Monroe.’”

Before coming to FSU in 2024, Roach earned multiple awards for her writing. In 2022, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work in collaboration with South Florida’s WLRN Public Media on the duet poem “The Breaths of Our Skin,” where Roach imagines and performs a poetic conversation between writers Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes.

“Christell’s writing invites us to think seriously about homeland, legacy, record-keeping and truth,” said Christopher Okonkwo, one of Roach’s doctoral advisers and an professor in the FSU Department of English. “The questions she contemplates in her work transcend academia. They touch and connect us all while allowing us to rediscover our own history.”

Roach has been published widely, with recent work featured by organizations and in literary publications such as Poetry Magazine, the Academy of American Poets, The Atlantic and Obsidian: Literature and Arts in the African Diaspora.

“I’m doing the work I want people to learn about, and I’m creating a model that shows people how to engage their history,” Roach said. “I hope this work inspires others, and I hope foregrounding love, community, creativity and connection when engaging history creates a way of witness and testimony we once thought lost to time.”

To learn more about writing and research through the FSU Department of English, visit english.fsu.edu.

The post FSU doctoral student earns prestigious literary arts fellowship to preserve legacy of historical communities appeared first on Florida State University News.

As summer approaches and more boaters take to the water, the risk of vessel strikes increases for the sea turtles that inhabit Florida’s coastal environment.

Florida State University Professor Mariana Fuentes helps reduce the impact on sea turtles by studying issues around their conservation and management. Within the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, she leads the Marine Turtle Research, Ecology and Conservation Group, where her team studies sea turtles across every life stage, from nesting beaches to coastal feeding grounds.

A recent study identified places on the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coasts that expose protected marine turtles to the highest risk of being struck by vessels. Along with partners around the state, she is part of a statewide educational campaign called “Boaters for Turtles” to reduce vessel strikes on sea turtles.

Media interested in speaking with Fuentes on conservation issues around sea turtles can contact her at mfuentes@fsu.edu.

What do we know about high-risk areas for vessel strikes?
Vessel strikes are not isolated incidents. Our research reveals clear and concerning patterns. Injuries from watercraft are found in roughly 25% of stranded sea turtles, with loggerhead and green turtles among the most affected species. Geographic hotspots span heavily trafficked coastal regions, particularly in Florida, Texas and across the Gulf Coast, where boating activity overlaps with critical feeding and nesting habitats. These areas often include coastal passes and nearshore zones where turtles gather in high numbers. It’s a combination of having more boats and also having more turtles in those areas that make it risky.

Seasonal trends further intensify the issue, as peak boating months coincide with key periods in sea turtles’ life cycles, bringing human activity and marine life into closer and more dangerous contact. While previous studies examined localized trends, our research is among the first to analyze vessel strikes across a broad geographic scale.

How does the Boaters for Turtles initiative turn research into real-world impact?
The Boaters for Turtles initiative uses science and community collaboration to help protect Florida’s sea turtles, keystone species that are crucial to a healthy ecosystem. Vessel strikes are a major threat to sea turtles, although there have been initiatives to reduce them through voluntary go-slow zones. We are expanding that work by creating a broader network of voluntary go-slow areas across the state to reduce the threat. We are emphasizing slower speeds in certain areas, highlighting other behaviors boaters can adopt to reduce their impact and working with institutions and county partners across Florida to raise awareness.

What are simple actions people can take to reduce the risk of vessel strikes on sea life?
Small changes in how people operate boats — like slowing down, keeping a careful watch, respecting wildlife zones and giving animals plenty of space — can greatly reduce both the chances of hitting marine life and the severity of injuries if a collision occurs.

What are the next steps in the Boaters for Turtles initiative?
The campaign is built on the data we have collected to identify where go-slow areas are most needed. After launching and implementing additional go-slow zones throughout Florida, the goal is to expand the campaign across the broader Gulf region. Our initial research helped demonstrate how significant vessel strike is as a threat to sea turtles, and now the focus is on scaling solutions and increasing awareness to reduce that impact. The effectiveness of our campaign will be evaluated at the end of the year, so we can learn what worked and what did not work.

The post Q&A with FSU professor on reducing impact of boat strikes on sea turtles appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University student is one of 16 talented undergraduate artists from across the nation selected for NASA’s Psyche Inspired program.  

Julia Stephens, a third-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio art and a Bachelor of Arts in creative writing, has produced a series of artworks relating to a current NASA mission as part of this prestigious internship.

Established in 2017, Psyche Inspired is a program that brings undergraduate students from any discipline or major together to share the excitement and innovation of NASA’s mission to visit, map and collect data on Psyche, a metal-rich asteroid roughly the same size as the state of Florida. Stephens and her fellow interns use their artistic skills to showcase scientific and engineering content with the public in creative new ways.

According to the agency’s mission overview, exploring the asteroid could help provide valuable information about the history of our solar system and even Earth’s own core. A van-sized probe launched as part of the mission in 2023 is currently en route to enter Psyche’s orbit in August 2029.

Stephens brings a lifelong interest in space and passion for science to her work as an artist and writer. As a Psyche Inspired intern, she is helping NASA tell the mission’s story and communicate complex ideas to the public.

 “I think connecting this research into artistic practices is very important, and it’s something that I want to keep doing within my personal art practice,” she said. “Being a part of something greater than myself — making art with other people that contributes to a greater whole — is one of the best parts of Psyche.”

The post FSU student creates space-inspired artwork as NASA intern appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University has bestowed the title of Distinguished Research Professor on four outstanding faculty members for their exemplary research productivity and contributions to their fields.

“The dedication of these scholars represents the very best of Florida State University,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “By pushing the boundaries of what we know about everything from quantum materials to human behavior, they are not only advancing their respective disciplines but also inspiring the next generation of innovators on our campus. We are proud to support their continued pursuit of discovery.”

The Distinguished Research Professor award recognizes outstanding research and/or creative activity of eligible Florida State University faculty currently at the rank of full professor. Recipients receive a one-time award of $10,000 and can use the title Distinguished Research Professor throughout their tenure at FSU. The title is only surpassed by that of the Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Award.

This year’s recipients are:

Hui Li, Electrical & Computer Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

Hui “Helen” Li is a leading expert in power electronics for grid and transportation electrification. Her research focuses on developing innovative power conversion technologies based on wide-bandgap devices and advanced control to achieve high-performance operation and cost reduction. Li has led power electronics research at the Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) for over two decades. Her work is instrumental in advancing next-generation grid systems to meet the surging power demand from booming AI data centers and widespread transportation electrifications. She is an IEEE Fellow, a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and a member of the Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL).

Jon Maner, Psychology, College of Arts & Sciences

Jon Maner is a social psychologist who uses evolutionary theories to understand fundamental human social motives. His research explores the psychological processes underlying social hierarchy, romantic attraction, social affiliation, and self-protective processes like fear and anxiety. Maner received the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution and is widely published for his work on how dominance and prestige influence leadership.

Michael Shatruk, Chemistry & Biochemistry, College of Arts & Sciences

Michael Shatruk is an inorganic materials chemist specializing in solid-state and molecular magnetism and the discovery of new quantum materials. As the founding director of the FSU Quantum Science Initiative, Shatruk works at the boundary between materials chemistry and physics to uncover correlations between crystal structure and magnetic properties of quantum materials. His research, supported by numerous grants, utilizes advanced X-ray and neutron scattering methods to explore intermetallic magnets, stimuli-responsive materials and molecular qubits that could revolutionize optoelectronic devices, quantum technologies, computing and medical sensing. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Vladimir Dobrosavljevic, Physics, College of Arts & Sciences

Vladimir Dobrosavljevic is an internationally recognized leader in theoretical condensed matter physics, whose research has advanced the understanding of strongly correlated and disordered electronic systems, particularly near metal-insulator transitions. His work has introduced and developed powerful extensions of dynamical mean-field theory to explain how electron localization, strong correlations, and disorder interplay to produce emergent phenomena such as non-Fermi-liquid behavior, Griffiths phases, and quantum glassy dynamics, with direct relevance to materials including high-temperature superconductors, low-dimensional electron systems and “bad metals.” He has made seminal contributions to the theory of Anderson localization in correlated systems and to the understanding of non-equilibrium quantum dynamics, helping to establish glassy electronic behavior and quantum criticality as central concepts in modern condensed matter physics, while influencing both experimental directions and the broader field of quantum materials research.

###

The post FSU names four faculty as Distinguished Research Professors appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University neuroscientist has earned a national award for research on gustation, the scientific term for the sense of taste, and how it shapes eating behavior.

Associate Professor of Biological Science and Neuroscience Roberto Vincis has earned the 2026 Ajinomoto Award for Young Investigators in Gustation from the Association for Chemoreception Sciences, or AChemS, in recognition of his research into sensory systems with the aim to understand gustation’s influence on eating behavior.

His work focuses on how taste influences what we eat, and it informs a wide range of topics, from how and why people develop eating disorders to why they may overconsume ultra-processed foods.

“Learning how the brain integrates information from what we consume and experience really gets at the fundamental components of why some foods are good for us and others aren’t,” Vincis said. “Winning this award validates that my lab’s research is relevant and impactful because our peers recognize it as such.”

Since 1998, the Ajinomoto Award has been conferred annually to an outstanding junior scientist and emerging leader in gustation. Its awarding body, AChemS, is the preeminent organization dedicated to the advancement of chemoreception science, which includes smell and taste. Vincis is the first from FSU to earn this honor, which is supported by the Ajinomoto Group, a multi-billion-dollar food and biotechnology corporation credited with developing the first umami-flavored seasoning in 1909.

Vincis was presented with the honor Wednesday during the annual AChemS conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. As an awardee, he will also deliver a lecture at the conference that broadly covers the Vincis Laboratory’s investigation of the neurological mechanisms behind the role of taste in eating behavior and preferences.

“Dr. Vincis’ research investigates the neural circuits and computational processes of brain regions that regulate food intake and shape dietary preferences, which are key factors in understanding eating disorders,” said Lisa Eckel, director of FSU’s Program in Neuroscience. “The chemical senses have long been a hallmark of excellence within the program, and this recognition further elevates the stature of this distinguished community of scientists.”

Humans’ perception of taste generally falls into five categories — sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami — each triggered by specific chemicals. For example, ingesting alkaloid molecules like the caffeine in coffee and dark chocolate will leave a bitter taste in your mouth. Chewing adds a layer of sensation, as the action releases gaseous chemicals, which then hit the nose. Somatosensory components like temperature and texture also factor into what and how much someone consumes.

“All of these sensory modalities give rise to the percept we call flavor, and our daily consumption is highly dependent on this initial sensation,” said Vincis, who, in addition to traditional research methods, employs machine learning techniques to analyze neural activity from different brain regions. “Neurons don’t speak in English, so by decoding neurons’ specific language as they receive sensory information, we can understand how certain eating behaviors develop.”

Theoretically, people eat when they are hungry, stop when they feel full and only select nutritious foods and beverages. Examining the reality of humans’ experiences reveals a different picture that includes the impact of ultra-processed foods and wide-ranging public health concerns such as obesity and eating disorders. Vincis’ work strives to explain this gap in biological theory and real-world occurrences.

“We use the term ‘maladaptive’ to describe nutrition-related behaviors that will cause long-term problems,” Vincis said. “For example, ultra-processed foods can lead to overeating because they are packaged with very rewarding olfactory and sensory cues. When we taste these foods, we feel good, but they are devoid of nutrients. This is how sensory information from your oral cavity can hijack your brain, similar to the way a drug hijacks neural reward pathways for dopamine to drive addiction.”

Ultra-processed foods like soft drinks and many packaged snack options are industrially manufactured and include a high number of ingredients not found in a common household kitchen. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, approximately 70 percent of packaged products in the nation’s food supply could be considered ultra-processed, and children get more than 60 percent of their calories from such foods. Due to their addictiveness, caloric density and lack of nutrients, the prevalence of ultra-processed foods is known by nutrition scientists, epidemiologists and major health organizations such as FDA to be a significant contributor to rising rates of obesity, heart disease and cancer, among others.

“The National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration consider research on nutrition-related behavior to be a public priority at this stage,” Vincis said. “Earning the Ajinomoto Award means we are on the right track and is likely to help us secure future funding and fellowships so that we may continue our work.”

Florida State University has been a prime contributor to chemosensory research for more than 50 years and has served as a home base for generations of the field’s leaders including the late James C. Smith — a chemosensory research legend, FSU Robert O. Lawton Professor and alumnus of the FSU Department of Psychology — who was among the cofounders of AChemS in 1978.

To learn more about Vincis’ research and its scientific impact, visit the Vincis Laboratory website. Visit the FSU Program in Neuroscience website to learn more about this  interdisciplinary program.

The post FSU neuroscientist earns national award for research on taste and eating behavior appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University student has been selected for a national civil rights and public policy program, joining a network of emerging leaders committed to advancing social change.

Shiv Patel, a sophomore majoring in exercise physiology on the pre-med track, is one of five undergraduate and five graduate students selected from around the country as a scholar in this year’s cohort of the John Robert Lewis Scholars & Fellows Program.

The program brings together student leaders for a yearlong experience centered on civil rights, public policy and community engagement. Scholars participate in immersive programming, including fully funded trips and a Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage, where they explore key sites of the Civil Rights Movement and engage with leaders in government, business and nonprofit sectors.

The program is named for the late Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights leader known for his lifelong commitment to nonviolent activism and public service.

“A lot of my passion came from growing up in the capital, being around healthcare legislation and knowing people that are affected by it.”

– Shiv Patel

At FSU, Patel has built a strong foundation in both research and public health leadership. He serves as president of the Student Health Advisory Committee and as health services director within Student Government. In these roles, he works to promote student wellness initiatives and improve access to health resources on campus.

Patel has also conducted oncology research under the mentorship of Jerome Irianto, assistant professor at the College of Medicine, and has worked as a medical assistant in Tallahassee, including at FSU PrimaryHealth and at Florida Cancer Specialists, where he gained experience serving underserved populations.

A Tallahassee native, Patel credits his upbringing and exposure to healthcare systems in the region as key influences on his career goals.

“I was a medical assistant with FSU PrimaryHealth, a clinic that serves underserved communities, and working with them gave me a lot of direct exposure to patients in underprivileged conditions,” Patel said. “A lot of my passion came from growing up in the capital, being around healthcare legislation and knowing people that are affected by it.”

Through the John Robert Lewis Scholars & Fellows Program, Patel will engage in a project and collaborate with peers and mentors across disciplines. He plans to focus his work on improving healthcare access in rural communities and exploring how clinical innovation and policy can reduce disparities in care delivery.

“The program focuses on civil rights and policy activism. We will go on a pilgrimage to different cities in the Southeast to learn more about the legacy of Congressman Lewis and his opinions on activism philosophy,” Patel said. “They also put us in contact with their alumni network, which has done a lot of things both in terms of public policy and healthcare policy. There’s been physicians who have been Lewis Scholars and have focused their advocacy around non-violent principles, specifically on civil rights.”

Patel also was one of four FSU students to recently receive the 2026 Barry Goldwater Scholarship, a national honor recognizing outstanding sophomores and juniors pursuing research careers in the science, engineering and mathematics fields.

After graduating, Patel plans to attend medical school and pursue a career as a physician-scientist focusing on improving access to equitable care through healthcare technologies and policy solutions.

The post FSU student from Tallahassee selected for John Robert Lewis Scholars & Fellows Program appeared first on Florida State University News.

A Florida State University researcher has earned a major grant to research local waterways that affect the everyday lives of Tallahassee residents.

Ming Ye, a professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, has been awarded more than $2.5 million from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to research groundwater sources in the Wakulla Springs basin and map the basin’s underwater caves, some of which have never been explored.

“All of Florida’s springs are facing critical issues: water level is dropping, amount of flow is decreasing, and water quality is becoming worse,” said Ye, who is also affiliated with the Department of Scientific Computing. “The funding of this project gives us a chance to finally go subsurface to understand both the quantity and quality of the water.”

Wakulla Springs, just a 30-minute drive from FSU’s Tallahassee campus, is a natural exit point for the groundwater of the Floridian aquifer, one of the most productive aquifers in the world, which provides drinking water to nearly 10 million people. The basin comprises a series of caves, conduits and sinkholes that lead into Wakulla Springs, which was named an International Geological Heritage Site in 2024.

By testing water at the springs and mapping the cave systems that lead into it, researchers will better understand how our water is affected by the geological makeup of the caves it passes through and how it’s affected by various other environmental factors, from rising sea levels to pollution.

Ye will partner with the University of South Florida, a cave diving team of the Woodville Karst Plain Project, and SunFish, a Texas-based underwater field services company to train its new technology, the Underwater Autonomous Vehicle, in mapping cave systems beneath Wakulla Springs. While in the cave systems, divers will accompany the UAV — a small, drone-like machine — and “teach” it how to map the caves by guiding it through passages so the machine can work independently in the future.

“Ming is an expert in hydrogeology and using computational approaches to model groundwater transport, which helps him study fluid transport beneath the ground here in Florida,” said Michael Stukel, chair of the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science and a professor of oceanography and environmental science. “He’s a collaborative and interdisciplinary scientist and teacher whose work builds bridges across different curricular groups within EOAS.”

Florida is home to the highest concentration of springs in the world — over 1,000 throughout the state — which are an essential part of the ecosystem. Methods like dye tracing have long been used to map how water moves through the underwater cave system, and taking water samples has provided insights into the chemical makeup of the water.

While divers have charted some of the caves, parts of the basin remain unmapped and unsampled because they’re too narrow or dangerous for humans to reach. The UAV can access these dangerous caves, taking water samples from more areas to provide a comprehensive picture of how different geological compositions in the cave system affect the water that’s eventually consumed and used in our daily lives.

“This area was brought to my attention on day one of my FSU career because it had a worldwide reputation for how difficult it was to map,” said Ye, who began studying Wakulla Springs when he joined FSU’s faculty in Spring 2007. “There are still a lot of research questions regarding these water sources.”

The Wakulla Springs basin is the largest spring basin in Florida, and the cave system stretches approximately 25 miles. The UAV will map the size and shape of the caves while taking water samples to help researchers understand the chemical makeup of the water that will eventually make its way to Wakulla Springs.

“The UAV is a new way to study these systems, and the technology can be expanded to the entire state and to other states with ongoing problems in their springs,” Ye said. “Wakulla Springs is part of our heritage; I bring my daughter to swim in the spring, and I hope it can remain as healthy as possible so future generations can also enjoy it.”

Ye received his doctorate in hydrology from the University of Arizona in 2002 before completing his post-doctoral research with the Hydrology Technical Group in Portland, Oregon, part of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He joined FSU’s faculty in 2007 as part of the Department of Scientific Computing before transferring to EOAS in 2017. During his time at FSU, Ye has been honored with awards such as the Department of Energy’s Early Career Award, FSU’s Developing Scholar Award, and the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers. He was elected as a fellow of the Geological Society of America in 2012.

Visit the FSU Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science website to learn more about Ye’s work and research.

The post FSU hydrogeologist receives $2.5 million to map Wakulla Springs system, providing insight into Florida’s water supply appeared first on Florida State University News.

Florida State University recognized the research contributions and creative work of associate professors with this year’s Developing Scholar Awards.

The awards are sponsored by the Council on Research and Creativity, and they include funding to promote the awardee’s program of research and creativity. Faculty were nominated by their respective academic departments.

“These faculty members exemplify excellence in scholarship, and we congratulate them on this well-earned recognition,” said Vice President for Research Stacey S. Patterson. “FSU is honored to celebrate their accomplishments and to support their ongoing research and creative work.”

This year’s awardees are:

David Braithwaite, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences
In his “Queen of the Sciences” lab, Braithwaite investigates mathematical thinking and logical reasoning and how people learn and develop these skills. Using behavior studies and computational modeling, he aims to improve our understanding of cognitive processes involved in math and logic to advance psychological theory and improve education.

Ravinder Nagpal, Department of Health, Nutrition, and Food Science, Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Nagpal researches the role of the gut microbiome in age-related intestinal and neurocognitive health. His research examines how beneficial and pathogenic microbes and their metabolites function, with the goal of developing nutritional and pharmacological interventions to improve the microbiome and reduce conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.

Joel Smith, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Arts and Sciences
The Smith Lab is focused on improving synthetic approaches to assemble some of nature’s most complex molecules. Smith and his team investigate the most concise way to assemble naturally occurring molecules, which often inspires the invention of brand-new chemical reactions and improves the synthesis, function, and translational potential of organic molecules and transformations.

Qian Yin, Department of Biological Science, College of Arts & Sciences
Yin studies how individual proteins or protein assemblies intervene in related biological processes such as membrane transport, the innate immune response, and host-pathogen interactions. Her work illuminates the interactions among inflammation, infection, cellular cleanup processes and rearrangement of protein filaments in cells. A recent focus is on the endomembrane system, which is the focal point of both antimicrobial defense and cell maintenance.

The post Florida State University celebrates early career faculty with Developing Scholar Awards appeared first on Florida State University News.