A Florida State University faculty member has been recognized for his continued service to a national professional organization focused on the study of polymers, substances found in everything from plastics to spiderwebs.

Justin Kennemur, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been awarded the 2026 Distinguished Service Award from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Polymer Chemistry, or POLY, for his service to the division, including his elected role as secretary from January 2023 to December 2025. He is the first faculty member from FSU to receive the award.

“I feel incredibly humbled to have earned this award,” Kennemur said. “It takes a village for POLY to operate at the level it does. I’d be remiss if I didn’t share this award with all of the active people in POLY who contribute to its mission, vision and goals.”

POLY is the premier professional organization promoting polymer science and its value to society. The organization supports thousands of members advancing the broader field and practitioners as they meet the global challenges of today and tomorrow by connecting them to peers through conferences, workshops and educational opportunities to share their research and progress the field of polymer chemistry. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes a member of the organization whose service and professional accomplishments have made a significant and lasting impact on POLY.

“This organization serves as a melting pot by which students, industry scientists, government workers, and academics in the field of polymer science can collaborate, learn and create a network of like-minded professionals to encourage the growth of polymer research,” Kennemur said. “We work toward a common vision of promoting polymer science and its values to society.”

Polymers are found in a range of man-made and natural materials from rubbers and textiles to tree bark and tentacles. They’re composed of macromolecules, large molecules made up of repeating structures of basic chemical building blocks known as monomers. Kennemur’s research focuses on constructing complex chemical compounds using polymeric materials, such as those found in plastics and elastomers, to develop innovative materials for clean energy technologies like fuel cells and sustainable alternatives to conventional plastics.

“Both synthetic and natural polymers are everywhere, and we can see their impact within every facet of industry,” Kennemur said. “Construction, transportation, outer space exploration, not to mention skin, hair, feathers, wood: any material that isn’t a mineral or a metal is likely a polymer. Even your DNA is a polymer.”

The Kennemur Research Group takes inspiration from organic chemistry concepts in the natural world, like complex polymers found naturally in starch or collagen, to develop synthetic techniques that advance polymer chemistry, especially in the development of sustainable plastics that can be reused and recycled more effectively. Kennemur previously created eco-friendly plastics from pine sap, a more renewable material than the crude oil typically used to manufacture synthetic plastic. He intends to synthesize novel polymers to build even more sustainable materials, further minimizing the impact of single-use plastics.

“Make no mistake — plastics have revolutionized society in many positive ways, but we have become too complacent in using them once and throwing them out without a clear path toward their reuse,” Kennemur said. “We need more sustainable solutions so we can go back to appreciating plastics for the fantastic materials they are with less environmental pollution and potential health impacts.”

Kennemur received his doctorate in chemistry from North Carolina State University in 2010 before completing postdoctoral polymer research at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. He joined FSU’s faculty in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 2014, and he remains a member of the American Chemical Society with specific involvement in its Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering as well as POLY.

“Dr. Kennemur is a star and an emerging leader in polymer chemistry who has made a name for himself through his innovative research,” said Wei Yang, chair of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and a professor of biochemistry. “He’s also an outstanding teacher of organic chemistry and a great graduate mentor.”

Since joining FSU’s faculty, Kennemur has earned the William R. Jones Outstanding Mentor Award from the Florida Education Fund and the FSU Developing Scholar Award, and his research has been funded by institutions such as the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the ACS Petroleum Research Fund. In May, he was elected an associate member of the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida.

Visit the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry website to learn more about Kennemur’s work and research.

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Seven distinguished faculty members from Florida State University have been elected as new members of the Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine of Florida (ASEMFL).

Membership in ASEMFL is one of the highest honors for scholars in the state, recognizing researchers who live and work in Florida and have made outstanding contributions to science, engineering and medicine nationally and globally. FSU now has 38 elected faculty members of the organization, including President Richard McCullough.

“This recognition of seven of our faculty members underscores the world-class caliber of research and scholarship taking place at Florida State University,” McCullough said. “Election to ASEMFL is a testament to their dedication, innovation, and profound impact on their respective fields. From pioneering advancements in magnetics and particle physics to revolutionary breakthroughs in healthcare technology, quantum materials, dyslexia research, and anxiety treatment, these scholars embody FSU’s commitment to academic excellence and societal impact.”

The newly elected FSU members are:

• Kathleen Amm: Amm is director of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (National MagLab), headquartered at FSU. An FSU alumna, she is an expert in superconductivity and
  magnet technology with more than 20 years of experience leading industrial and national laboratory programs, including prior leadership at GE Research and Brookhaven National Laboratory. Her work focuses on high magnetic field science and engineering with applications in medical and energy.
• Suvranu De: De serves as the Google Endowed Dean for the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and is a professor of mechanical engineering. His pioneering research focuses on multiscale modeling, virtual reality for healthcare, noninvasive neuroimaging and artificial intelligence. He is an elected fellow of multiple professional societies, including the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.
• Jorge Piekarewicz: Piekarewicz is a a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor in the Department of Physics whose research centers on the behavior of nuclear matter under extreme conditions of density. His work bridges the gap between terrestrial experiments and astronomical observations, using physical observables to understand the complex interior and properties of neutron stars.
• Harrison Prosper: Prosper is the Kirby W. Kemper Endowed Professor of Physics and a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to high-energy physics, particularly through his work with the Compact Muon Solenoid experiment at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider. His research has contributed to discoveries involving the gluon, top quark and the Higgs boson, as well as advancements in using Bayesian statistics and machine learning in high-energy physics analysis.
• Mike Shatruk: 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.
• Rick Wagner: Wagner is a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor of Psychology and holds the W. Russell and Eugenia Morcom Chair. He also serves as an associate director of the Florida Center for Reading Research. His research focuses reading acquisition and dyslexia, advancing the scientific understanding of phonological processing and reading disabilities.
• Brad Schmidt: Schmidt is a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology. He also directs the Anxiety and Behavioral Health Clinic at FSU. He is an internationally recognized expert on the nature, causes, treatment and prevention of anxiety psychopathology, PTSD, substance use and suicide prevention, and he has published more than 575 peer-reviewed articles.

The new inductees will be formally recognized at the ASEMFL annual meeting in November. For more information about the academy and its members, visit the ASEMFL website.

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A team of researchers from Florida State University and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory is looking to nature to find microbes that can be used to create new antibiotics to treat the growing threat of drug-resistant bacteria.

Infection from so-called “super bugs” is a leading cause of death globally. Drug resistant bacteria contribute to nearly five million deaths every year, according to the World Health Organization. As more pathogens develop resistance, that number is expected to jump nearly 70% in the next 25 years.

The team of FSU and MagLab researchers will screen soil microbes from around the world to hunt for sources of new antibacterial drugs. The Novo Nordisk Foundation is funding the project as part of an international drug discovery initiative.

“People have been searching for new antibiotics for many years, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to discover novel compounds. Our goal is to revolutionize the drug discovery pipeline,” said Xiangpeng Li, an assistant professor in the FSU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “If we don’t do anything, antibiotic resistance will be a huge problem for the human race.”

Buried treasure: Potential medical marvels in the soil

Molecules made by microbes have long been used to treat bacterial infections. The first antibiotic, penicillin, was developed from mold nearly 100 years ago. Common antibiotics like streptomycin are produced by bacteria.

The researchers will test soil samples supplied by Rob Spencer, a biogeochemist and professor in the Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science. He studies the carbon cycle, and particularly the rapidly changing environments of the Arctic and tropics.

“It’s common to think about soils as just dirt, but they are essential for our nutrient, carbon and water cycles, and microbes in soils hold huge potential for discovery of new drugs,” Spencer said.

His samples from extreme environments like the polar regions hold particular promise because they have not been extensively examined.

“Those samples might contain very novel microbes,” Li said. “They have been frozen for maybe tens to hundreds of thousands of years. We are more likely to find new things.”

How it works

To find sources for potential new antibacterial drugs, the team has the ambitious goal of screening a billion microbes.

Li specializes in droplet microfluidics, manipulating tiny drops of fluid about the width of a human hair through troughs etched on a silicone disc to rapidly conduct chemical screening. His microfluidics system will quickly process tens of thousands of droplets at a time.

“Typically, when we search for new compounds from nature, it’s a rather arduous process working with individually isolated microbes, but with the speed of microfluidics and the analytical power of the Ion Cyclotron Resonance Facility, we can sample all of the microbes from a variety of environments all at once. It’s a very exciting collaboration,” said Edward Kalkreuter, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Inside the droplets, soil microbial cells will be combined with a common antibiotic-resistant bacterium called Klebsiella pneumoniae and a fluorescent color-coded tag to allow for rapid sorting.

Then the MagLab’s Ion Cyclotron Resonance Facility, or ICR, will identify bioactive molecules from the soil microbes.

“You might have a soil sample and it kills the Klebsiella, but you don’t know what those molecules are. So that’s where we come in,” said ICR Director Kicki Håkansson.

The lab’s powerful ICR mass spectrometers will analyze the droplets that show antimicrobial activity to determine which molecules are responsible for the antibacterial properties. The precision analysis will also be crucial for making sure the discovery is indeed new.

“We’re looking for signals that have not been discovered before. We don’t want to rediscover penicillin,” Li said. “To do that, we annotate the molecular composition of each signal and compare it against databases of known compounds.”

Taking on that data analysis challenge will be the team’s fifth member, Ryan Rodgers, a researcher at the ICR.

International collaboration

The researchers will also share data and ideas with 21 other research groups around the world as part of an international drug discovery consortium with additional funding provided by the Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust. This coordinated investment and collaborative effort will accelerate the search for new medications that are crucial to addressing this growing crisis.

“This new approach allows us to look very thoroughly at compounds that haven’t been looked at,” Håkansson said. “And if we find something, this could be transformative, which is what’s really exciting.”

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 Florida State University chemists have synthesized new molecules derived from bacteria found in a Pacific Ocean sea sponge, a breakthrough for the future of drug development, particularly for rare forms of cancer.

“Around 50 percent of approved drugs are either natural products or derivatives of natural products,” said Zackary Firestone, a fourth-year doctoral student in FSU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the study’s lead author. “Synthetic access to these molecules is important because it allows for easier procurement for biological testing as well as the making of new derivatives.”

The research team is the first to successfully synthesize two new marine natural products: tetradehydrohalicyclamine B and epi-tetradehydrohalicyclamine B. Both were isolated from bacteria that lives in symbiosis with Acanthostrongylophora ingens, a Pacific-dwelling sea sponge.

Sea sponges and their cohabitant bacteria are an important source of biologically active molecules. The chemists who realize these natural marine products’ potential through chemical synthesis play a foundational role in evaluating their merit as new medicinal leads for various diseases. The findings were published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, ACS’ flagship scholarly journal.

How it works

Discovered in 2018, tetradehydrohalicyclamine B can inhibit proteasomes, large, barrel-shaped protein complexes that perform waste-management activities within cells by disposing of damaged proteins.

Some rare cancers, like multiple myeloma and mantle cell lymphoma, produce an abundance of toxic proteins, meaning the cancer’s survival and spread rates are heavily dependent on the cancer cell’s ability to dispose of this additional waste. Proteasome inhibitors are an important form of cancer therapy: They enable a buildup of toxic proteins, which places cancer cells under so much stress that they die off, slowing or stopping the spread in its tracks.

Epi-tetradehydrohalicyclamine B, discovered in 2019, hasn’t yet been the subject of published biological study. However, due to its unique structure, the molecule has attracted considerable attention among organic synthetic chemists for its pharmaceutical potential.

Both molecules are derived from bacteria growing in Acanthostrongylophora ingens, a sea sponge primarily found off the coast of Indonesia. As the source for a variety of bioactive molecules, the sponge is in high global demand by researchers. These samples are individually collected by trained scuba divers and often frozen immediately to prevent chemical degradation before shipment. Laboratory synthesis of key molecules within the sponge will expand research activity without limits instilled by natural sea sponge populations.

“These complex molecules have shown promise in medicinal applications, but gathering large quantities of them is difficult and expensive,” Firestone said. “We make these molecules from materials you can buy from suppliers, giving researchers easier access to the molecules as well as the ability to modify them to improve their properties.”

Why it matters

Whether as a drug molecule or a natural product, the precise molecular geometry is critical for interacting with the target protein. The first syntheses of tetradehydrohalicyclamine B and epi-tetradehydrohalicyclamine B resulted in two mirror image geometries, only one of which was biologically active. Firestone is now the first to synthesize these molecules with only the desired geometry, which will allow researchers to better evaluate how these substances’ structures interact with endogenous human targets like the proteasome.

“I really enjoy the problem-solving aspect of making molecules,” Firestone said. “In some ways, it feels like a puzzle where you’re trying to use a plethora of available reactions to build a complex molecule in the most efficient way possible.”

A legacy of molecular synthesis

Firestone’s work is part of a broader research program in the Smith Laboratory, an organic synthesis research lab led by Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Joel M. Smith.

The lab explores new ways of synthesizing complex molecules, laying the scientific foundation for the creation of novel small-molecule drugs. While the Smith Laboratory centers its efforts on neurological disorders such as migraines, severe depression, and Parkinson’s disease, Firestone’s research is poised to have eventual applications in cancer treatment.

“Zack is a tenacious synthetic chemist,” Smith said. “In addition to intellect, he’s extraordinarily resilient and disciplined when it comes to doing great science. This makes him exceedingly adept at tackling difficult synthetic problems with a thoughtful and diligent approach, setting him up for a very successful future, both at FSU and beyond.”

FSU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has a legacy of molecular synthesis and drug development. The late chemist and FSU Professor Robert Holton synthesized the groundbreaking cancer drug Taxol, bypassing the limitations involved in extracting the cancer-inhibiting agent paclitaxel from the bark of the Pacific Yew tree, and allowing for more than a million patients to benefit from the medication.

For more information about Firestone’s work and research in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, visit chem.fsu.edu.

FSU researchers Thiago A. Grigolo and Filipe G. Pernichelle were coauthors of this study. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health and by the National Science Foundation.

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Even during a hurricane season expected to be less active, Florida State University experts say Floridians should prepare early, stay alert and avoid focusing too narrowly on storm categories or forecast cones.

During a media briefing Wednesday ahead of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, FSU researchers and emergency management specialists discussed the issues communities continue to face, from rapid coastal growth and rising insurance pressures to the expanding role of artificial intelligence in disaster response.

Here are five key takeaways from the discussion:

1. It only takes one storm

Several experts cautioned against letting seasonal forecasts create a false sense of security.

“It’s the landfalling hurricanes that matter, not the number of hurricanes per season, in terms of human impacts, for the most part,” said Mark Bourassa, a professor in FSU’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science and associate director of the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies. “If it hits you, it’s bad. It’s something that you do have to be aware of the whole time.”

David Merrick, director of FSU’s Emergency Management and Homeland Security Program and the Center for Disaster Risk Policy, said one quiet season does not eliminate the risk of a devastating storm, pointing to the destruction left by Hurricane Andrew when it made landfall in South Florida in 1992.

“Hurricane Andrew was the first storm of that season,” Merrick said. “It does not take 20 storms. It just takes the one.”

2. Being outside the forecast cone does not guarantee safety

Experts also warned residents not to focus too narrowly on a storm’s forecast track.

Merrick noted that dangerous impacts such as tornadoes, flooding and wind damage can occur far outside the center of a storm.

“Those impacts can go a long way inland,” he said. “They can go left and right of the cone.”

He emphasized that communities outside the projected path can still experience significant damage and disruptions. And as a hurricane develops, the forecast track can move, bringing the center of the storm to communities that only expected minor impacts. Bourassa also pointed to warming ocean temperatures as an area researchers are watching closely, particularly along Florida’s Gulf Coast.

“We’re a little bit more nervous about the temperatures rising and seeing intensity changes as the hurricanes come right onshore,” Bourassa said.

3. Florida’s rapid coastal growth is increasing risk

Dennis Smith, planner in residence in FSU’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning, said Florida’s population growth continues to place more people and property in vulnerable coastal areas.

“The issue hasn’t gotten better in the last 30 years,” Smith said. “We have more people who are living in areas that are at the highest risk.”

Smith said communities are increasingly being forced to think beyond individual homes and consider broader infrastructure needs such as drainage systems, roads and public facilities.

“We have a lot more in our built environment than simply our residential structures,” he said.

The discussion also highlighted how insurance availability is intertwined with planning and development decisions.

“Insurance drives housing availability, and so it becomes a planning issue,” Smith said.

4. Resilient construction and mitigation efforts can make a difference

Patricia Born, the Payne H. and Charlotte Hodges Midyette Eminent Scholar in Risk Management and Insurance at FSU’s Herbert Wertheim College of Business, said Florida’s insurance market appears stronger than it did several years ago, partly because of a quieter storm season and improving reinsurance conditions.

But she said long-term stability will depend on reducing losses through mitigation and resilience efforts.

“One way to control insurance costs is to try to control the losses themselves,” Born said.

Newer buildings are often more resilient than older structures, but insurers still face challenges gathering accurate information about homes and upgrades.

“Some houses that are very old have had roofs replaced two or three times, and they may be much more resilient than an insurance company thinks,” Born said.

She said improving data about construction quality, inspections and mitigation measures could help insurers better understand risk and expand coverage options across the state.

5. Artificial intelligence is beginning to change disaster response

FSU researchers also discussed how artificial intelligence and remote sensing technology are beginning to reshape emergency management and disaster recovery efforts.

Merrick said researchers are exploring how AI tools can help emergency managers make faster decisions, improve damage assessments and allocate resources more efficiently after disasters.

“Emergency managers almost universally are like, yes, we want this tool,” Merrick said.

Still, he said the technology remains in an early stage and raises important questions about accuracy and ethics.

“There’s also an almost universal concern about what happens when the answer that the algorithm or the AI gives is wrong,” Merrick said.

Smith said researchers are also studying how drones, LiDAR imagery and AI analysis could help communities identify infrastructure weaknesses before storms strike.

“I think we’re going to see a trend to begin to integrate that into risk assessment and mitigation planning on the front end,” Smith said.

Visit the FSU News website for a full list of FSU hurricane experts who are available to speak with the media.

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The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season runs June 1 through Nov. 30, bringing increased potential for destructive storms.

Florida State University faculty are leaders in the study of forecasting, evacuation, insurance and building resilience against hurricanes. They are available to speak with media through the 2026 hurricane season and beyond.

Four faculty members answered questions during a virtual media briefing.

Forecasting, Formation and Tracking

Mark Bourassa, professor, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science, and associate director of the Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies
mbourassa@fsu.edu , (850) 644-6923
Bourassa uses on-site and remote (aircraft and satellite-based) observations as well as meteorological models to research air-sea interactions and how satellites measure what is happening on Earth’s surface. He is an expert on the network of global meteorological and oceanographic observations that inform forecasts, and the identification of tropical disturbances, which are possible precursors to tropical cyclones. Bourassa is also a team leader for the NASA Ocean Vector Wind Science Team.

Chelsea Nam, assistant professor, Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science
ccnam@fsu.edu, (850) 644-1787
Nam researches formations and intensification of tropical cyclones and the hazards brought by these storms. She uses radar data from airborne, shipborne and land-based sources to develop high-resolution models tracking cyclones. Nam is a member of the American Meteorological Society Scientific and Technological Activities Commission Committee on Radar Meteorology.

Emily Powell, assistant state climatologist, Center for Ocean-Atmospheric Prediction Studies
epowell@coaps.fsu.edu, (850) 644-0719
Powell provides information about the historical and current climate and weather of Florida for application across a range of sectors and industries. Her expertise includes understanding the drivers of seasonal hurricane forecasts, such as the EL Niño/La Niña cycle, providing historical context, and investigating community risks associated with tropical cyclones. Recent projects have focused on historical climate trends and variability, natural hazards and public health risks, and strategies for building community resilience. She also coordinates the Florida Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS), a voluntary-based network of citizen scientists measuring and reporting precipitation from their own backyards.

Community Resilience

Pedro L. Fernández-Cabán, assistant professor, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center
plfernandez@eng.famu.fsu.edu , (850) 410-6251
Fernández-Cabán’s research couples laboratory and field experiments to assess the structural performance of civil infrastructure during windstorm events. His recent work focuses on developing state-of-the-art AI and machine learning models to predict hurricane wind fields and their interaction with coastal landscapes. Fernández-Cabán’s research leverages ground-level anemometric datasets collected during landfalling hurricanes and advanced wind tunnel techniques to better model the impact of coastal storms on civil infrastructure.

Katie Kehoe, assistant professor, College of Fine Arts
mkk22f@fsu.edu
Kehoe primarily works in performance and site-specific installations with a focus on natural disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes. She led a 2024 project that honored the resilience of the rural Florida community of Steinhatchee in the aftermath of hurricanes Idalia and Debby. The project, “Learning from Local Experience to Strengthen Disaster Resilience,” was part of a pilot research initiative that examines how rural communities recover from extreme weather events such as hurricanes.

Paul Niell, associate professor, Department of Art History, College of Fine Arts
pniell@fsu.edu
Niell’s research focuses on the architectural history and cultural landscapes of the Caribbean. Through his scholarship, he has worked closely with indigenous communities to foster conversation about their traditional architecture and construction methods, designed to be resilient against the region’s intense storms. He has taught courses on Caribbean architecture and culture and is available to discuss how historic building practices helped ensure survival for the region’s Native peoples and how we might be able to apply their knowledge to make our communities more resilient to hurricanes today.

Emergency Management

David Merrick, director of the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Program; director of the Center for Disaster Risk Policy
dmerrick@fsu.edu , Office: (850) 644-9961, Cell: (850) 980-7098
Merrick has worked in state emergency management for more than 21 years in roles including planning, external affairs and air operations. He developed and oversees the Emergency Management and Homeland Security Program’s Disaster Incident Research Team, which deploys to disaster impact areas to perform field research on disaster and emergency management. This team has deployed to disasters such as hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Michael, Ian, and Helene to support federal, state and local agencies. His research interests include emergency management planning and policy, remote sensing and unmanned aircraft systems, and information technology in emergency management.

Environmental Law

Shi-Ling Hsu, D’Alemberte Professor, College of Law
shsu@law.fsu.edu , (850) 644-0726
Hsu is an expert in the areas of environmental and natural resource law, economics and property. He has published in a variety of legal journals, co-authored the casebook Ocean and Coastal Resources Law and has appeared on the American Public Media radio show “Marketplace.” Before entering academia, he was a senior attorney and economist for the Environmental Law Institute in Washington, D.C.

Evacuation

Eren Ozguven, associate professor, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, director of the Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center
eozguven@eng.famu.fsu.edu , (850) 410-6146
Ozguven directs the Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response Center, which improves the quality of life in Florida and the Southeast by identifying disaster vulnerability, improving infrastructure and investigating ways to minimize negative impacts of natural disasters. His research interests include transportation accessibility, modeling of emergency evacuation operations, artificial intelligence and the simulation of transportation networks. Recent scholarship focuses on the relationships among different infrastructure networks in Florida and how that contributes to disaster preparation.

Maxim A. Dulebenets, associate professor and graduate program director, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
mdulebenets@eng.famu.fsu.edu , (850) 410-6621
Dulebenets’ research mainly focuses on operations and optimization. His research group has developed efficient algorithms that can be used to schedule large-scale evacuations in preparation for major natural hazards. His models capture realistic features of emergency evacuation planning, including potential impacts of evacuation settings on evacuees themselves. His recent studies propose new types of optimization models and solution algorithms for emergency evacuation planning under pandemic settings, considering a higher risk of virus spread in overcrowded emergency shelters. 

Risk and Insurance

Patricia Born, Payne H. & Charlotte Hodges Midyette Eminent Scholar in Risk Management & Insurance, Herbert Wertheim College of Business
pborn@wertheim.fsu.edu, (850) 644-7884
Born studies the insurance market structure and performance, professional liability, health insurance and the management of catastrophic risks, such as hurricanes and other natural disasters. She is a past president of the American Risk and Insurance Association and the Risk Theory Society.

Charles Nyce, Dr. William T. Hold Professor of Risk Management and Insurance and chair of the Risk Management/Insurance, Real Estate & Legal Studies Department, Herbert Wertheim College of Business
cnyce@wertheim.fsu.edu , (850) 645-8392
Nyce’s research focuses on catastrophic risk financing. He has written numerous articles on risk management and insurance topics, including title insurance, enterprise risk management, predictive analytics and natural hazards.

Public Health

Chris Uejio, professor, Department of Geography, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy
cuejio@fsu.edu
Uejio studies how the physical environment influences human health and well-being. His recent research includes investigations of tropical cyclones, extreme heat and health. Uejio has been quoted in the Orlando Sentinel, Tampa Bay Times, Wall Street Journal, Science Friday and other news outlets about public health issues, including heat waves and hurricanes.

Urban Planning

Dennis Smith, planner in residence, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, College of Social Sciences and Public Policy
djsmith3@fsu.edu
Smith is the director of the Mark & Marianne Barnebey Planning & Development Lab, which uses the academic and professional resources of Florida State University to connect with public and private partners to provide capacity and innovative planning for the sustainable growth and long-term viability of Florida communities. His work has focused on risks to the built environment, including projects for resiliency, transportation modeling, evacuation planning for high-risk areas and vulnerability assessment. He has extensive experience managing state and federal programs and a thorough knowledge of laws relating to land use, transportation and disaster recovery.

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The model combines real-time and historical data to predict outbreaks and protect public health

Every summer, beach closures disrupt families, harm local businesses and raise public health alarms. Most of the time, the warning comes after it is already too late.

A new artificial intelligence framework developed at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering aims to change that by alerting water managers to E. coli contamination risk before anyone falls sick.

Researchers led by Assistant Professor Nasrin Alamdari developed an AI-powered predictive modeling framework that uses environmental and hydrometeorological data to provide early warnings of Escherichia coli (E. coli) contamination in recreational waterways, giving communities a window to act before health risks emerge.

Their model, which was published in Water Research, identified unsafe conditions with approximately 85% accuracy, demonstrating its potential to offer earlier warnings before levels reach unsafe thresholds.

“Beach closures often occur because we detect contamination after water conditions have already become unsafe,” said Alamdari, a researcher in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Resilient Infrastructure and Disaster Response (RIDER) Center. “Our goal is to move from a reactive approach to a predictive one, leveraging continuous environmental data, including rainfall, river flow, turbidity, temperature and upstream conditions, to estimate E. coli levels in near real time and up to a day in advance.”

How it works

Traditional water quality monitoring relies on manual sampling followed by laboratory analysis, a process that takes 18 to 24 hours to yield results. By the time a beach or river is closed, swimmers may have already been exposed to dangerous levels of contamination.

The framework developed by researchers uses current and historical environmental data to estimate contamination risk without waiting for lab results. Inputs include upstream hydrologic conditions, streamflow rates, rainfall totals, turbidity readings and water temperature. By combining these variables, the model can flag elevated E. coli risk with 24 hours advance warning.

A 2023 sewage spill that occurred after a malfunction at the Big Creek Water Reclamation Facility illustrates exactly the kind of scenario the model is built to address.

“The 2023 Big Creek sewage spill is an example of how a sudden treatment failure can rapidly contaminate downstream recreational waters,” said Ali Salou Moumouni, a graduate researcher on the project. “Our predictive models use current and past environmental and hydrometeorological data to estimate contamination risk before lab results arrive. By factoring in upstream hydrologic conditions, our model provides earlier warnings and more targeted monitoring, improving preparedness during sudden contamination events.”

Why it matters: Human health impacts and economic costs

E. coli contamination in recreational waterways can infect people swimming there, causing gastrointestinal distress, nausea or fatigue. Vulnerable populations, such as the very young or old, are at greater risk.

The consequences of delayed contamination alerts extend beyond public health. When closures happen unexpectedly, hotels, outfitters and water recreation businesses lose revenue with little warning. Municipalities absorb higher costs from emergency public notifications and increased health incident response.

“Delays expose the public to greater health risks and increase medical expenses from waterborne illness,” Alamdari said. “Local economies that depend on recreation and tourism suffer revenue losses when visitors cancel trips or avoid affected areas, while municipalities incur higher operational costs for water testing and emergency response. Repeated advisories can also erode public trust, leading to longer-term declines in visitation and further economic loss.”

Proactive alerts, by contrast, give businesses and government agencies advance notice, reduce unnecessary closures and help communities protect both public health and economic stability. By shifting from reactive to predictive monitoring, communities can better protect public health while reducing unnecessary closures and improving economic resilience.

Risk factors

The study also documents how land use changes intensify contamination. Between 2007 and 2023, urbanization in the study area increased impervious cover from 24% to 28%, altering runoff pathways, leading to more polluted runoff and higher and more variable E. coli levels in streams.

As precipitation patterns grow less predictable, even moderate rainfall events carry elevated contamination risk in urbanized watersheds. The model accounts for rainfall history, streamflow and watershed wetness indicators to improve prediction during those in-between conditions that traditional models often miss.

“Our findings show that every development decision influences water quality and public health, highlighting the need for green infrastructure,” said Imtiaz Syed Usama, a graduate researcher on the team.

Storms compound the problem. E. coli levels can spike within hours of heavy rainfall, but traditional lab testing is too slow to catch those surges before people enter the water.

“Our model flips the script: by combining rainfall, streamflow, turbidity and other hydrometeorological data, it helps predict E. coli risk in near real time and up to a day ahead, including during extreme weather,” said Nasr Azadani Mitra, a graduate researcher at RIDER. “Communities without routine lab testing can still issue early warnings and protect public health.”

This research was supported by grants from Florida State University.

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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.

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At high speeds, even the smallest movement can have major consequences.

When an aircraft tilts sharply during flight, the air around it does not flow smoothly. It twists into powerful, swirling currents that can destabilize the entire vehicle. These swirling structures, known as vortices, can behave unpredictably, sometimes causing aircraft to pull to one side or rotate unexpectedly. In extreme cases, they can damage critical components such as sensors or wing flaps.

New FAMU-FSU College of Engineering research shows how different angles of flight affect the vortices that form behind cones in flight. The research, published in Journal of Aircraft, could help design more stable missiles and high-speed aircraft.

“Aircraft in flight are subject to extreme forces, and as speed and maneuvering increase, these forces only get stronger,” said study co-author Rajan Kumar, chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and director of the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion. “This study helps to understand critical phenomena responsible for those forces so engineers can create efficient and more stable designs.”

How it works

Vortices are common, but under certain conditions, they can become catastrophic.

As the cone-shaped nose of an aircraft moves through the air, vortices form behind it. As the aircraft increases its angle of incidence, or how steeply it is tilted relative to airflow, the behavior of these vortices changes. At low angles, airflow remains balanced and predictable. Beyond a critical angle, however, vortices can become large and unstable. When this breakdown happens, air slows down sharply and may spread out into different patterns.

This shift creates uneven swirling flows, or asymmetric vortices, that generate unwanted side and rotational forces, causing the aircraft to veer off course. In high-stakes environments, particularly military operations, even a slight deviation can mean missing a target or losing control entirely.

What they found

To better understand the transition from stable to asymmetric vortices, Kumar’s team combined experimental testing with advanced computational simulations to model complex airflow and identify when and how instability develops.

Using this method, they simulated airflow over a cone-shaped object traveling just above the speed of sound at Mach 1.1 at three angles of incidence: 15, 25, and 30 degrees.

At a 15‑degree angle, the main swirl of air breaks down into a complex pattern resembling two intertwined spirals, which then split into many thin, tangled strands of swirling air.

At 25 and 30 degrees, the breakdown looks different. The swirl twists apart in a single spiral pattern, indicating even stronger instability.

As the angle of incidence increased, vortex asymmetry also increased. Airflow shifted from structured and predictable to unstable and erratic, illustrating how quickly control conditions can deteriorate in real-world flight.

Vortex breakdown

The study helps answer a long-standing question in aerospace research: Why do vortices suddenly become asymmetric?

The study showed that growing instabilities within airflow unite to create larger disruptions. As small secondary vortices form and interact with primary vortices, they merge into larger structures that disrupt the aircraft’s balance.

The research also showed that vortex behavior depends on several interacting factors, including the size of the vortices and their orientation relative to the aircraft. Together, these elements determine how much force is exerted on the vehicle and how difficult it becomes to control.

Why it matters: The future of flight

Understanding the forces at work on aircraft in flight has direct implications for how they are designed and operated. These findings help engineers define safe flight conditions by identifying when airflow remains stable and when additional control systems are needed. This is especially important for high-performance aircraft that rely on extreme maneuverability.

The research also supports new design strategies, including improved control surfaces, flow control techniques and future systems that could adjust automatically during flight.

Kumar and his team are expanding their research to explore vortex behavior at higher speeds and they are transonic investigating control methods that could allow aircraft to respond to instability in real time, potentially using advances in artificial intelligence and automated systems.

At Florida State University, this work is also shaping the next generation of engineers. Students involved in this research go on to careers in industry, government labs and defense agencies.

“Research outcomes matter, but our most important product is our students. They are the future of engineering and science,” Kumar said.

Doctoral student Jordan Wilkerson and Associate Professor Unnikrishnan Sasidharan Nair were co-authors on this study. This research was supported by the Army Research Office.

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As rain falls, lurking within stormwater runoff are hidden microplastics, polluting the water sources they drain into. Even though microplastics originate in urban environments such as cities, existing data sets focus on marine and coastal areas. Without data sources on microplastics in cities, scientists are unable to develop models for predicting stormwater runoff that deal with this pollution.

In a multi-institutional study featuring the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, researchers compiled numerous data sources to develop the Dataset of Urban RUnoff Microplastics (DURUM), a standardized data set compiling research on microplastics in urban stormwater from around the globe. The research, which was published in Scientific Data, enables comparisons across studies and supports drainage infrastructure, urban planning and environmental policy and regulation.

“Plastic pollution creates issues in the environment and human health. To protect ourselves and the world around us, we need to be able to predict the conditions under which microplastics spread and pollute our water,” said study co-author Assistant Professor Ebrahim Ahmadisharaf. “This was not possible until now. We synthesized several different sources to create a standardized data set, DURUM, which will have global impacts.”

How it works

When it rains, stormwater runoff systems quickly drain excess water from streets, protecting buildings and their occupants. Stormwater systems also help filter pollution before it reaches rivers, lakes and oceans.

In the study, the researchers created a global, standardized data set of microplastics in urban runoff, combining information from 180 sampling procedures from 15 countries to create a centralized hub of information on microplastics.

Each entry includes information such as where samples were taken, what microplastics were found in samples, microplastic concentration and more. This study aims to fill the large gap in urban stormwater runoff modeling, which will help in designing reliable stormwater systems to reduce microplastic pollution impacts.

“There are already global data sets on microplastics in marine environments, but our study dives into a completely new area,” Ahmadisharaf said. “Urban areas are unique because they have high populations and high plastic consumption. With our current technology, we cannot quickly and reliably detect these high microplastic concentrations. We need to develop new models and validate them with adequate observed data to predict microplastics in urban stormwater runoff.”

Why it matters

Microplastics are everywhere, and cities are a major source. Wear from tires and plastic accumulation from littering release these tiny fragments into the environment. Effective drainage infrastructure can help prevent microplastic pollution.

By helping scientists understand how microplastics move through urban stormwater systems, DURUM can inform the design of drainage infrastructure and mitigation strategies that more effectively reduce microplastic pollution.

“Right now, there are no established water quality regulations addressing plastics,” Ahmadisharaf said. “As such regulations are developed, it will be essential to identify and understand the sources of microplastics and the pathways through which they are transported into water bodies. This will help us design mitigation and prevention infrastructure to limit export of plastic to water bodies. The data we compiled supports the models that will inform these crucial decisions.”

Future directions

The DURUM system is similar to a map that shows how pollution spreads, guiding researchers to new conclusions for developing improved urban stormwater transport systems.

The data set is public domain, so researchers all over the globe can access it. Ahmadisharaf and colleagues plan to update DURUM as more data is discovered, enhancing it to support modeling research.

“This data set enables new capabilities for validating predictive models. With DURUM, we can be more confident about what our models predict,” Ahmadisharaf said. “It also creates a new understanding of the key drivers of microplastics in urban stormwater runoff and could lead to new insight as we continue to update the data set.”

Acknowledgements

FSU doctoral student Abdul Mobin Ibna Hafiz in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was the lead author of this work. FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Assistant Professor Jeffrey Farner was a co-author of the study. Researchers from the University of Missouri, Wageningen University, the University of Exeter, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, Tsinghua University and Tulane University contributed to this study.

The FSU team’s research was supported by research grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Science Foundation.

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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.

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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.

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