UF Research

12/23/2025

In 2025, University of Florida researchers continued moving the state, nation and world forward. As we look toward 2026, we anticipate the continued impact they will have across various fields.

12/19/2025

Mosquitoes in central Florida were found to feed on 86 different animal species, capturing almost the full range of local vertebrate biodiversity and demonstrating their value as a tool for wildlife monitoring.

University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences entomologist and senior author of a recent study, Lawrence Reeves, Ph.D shows that analyzing mosquito blood meals can reveal animals from tiny frogs to large mammals, offering an efficient alternative to traditional, labor‑intensive survey methods.

Within a small area in central Florida, mosquitoes fed on a whopping 86 different species of animals.

12/17/2025

Countries around the world recently secured a landmark victory by adding over 70 shark and ray species to CITES Appendix I and II, meaning strict international trade limits that UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences biologist Gareth Fraser describes as “long overdue” to curb overfishing and habitat loss. These protections aim to halt steep population declines—about 70% since the 1970s—and help restore ocean health by safeguarding ecologically essential species like whale sharks, manta rays and deep-sea guitarfish.

Sharks have had a tough time since the 1970s, when overfishing, habitat loss and a growing trade in their fins began to cut their populations. ‘Jaws’ didn’t help.

12/15/2025

Data centers are being built much faster than utilities can add power plants, creating costly timing mismatches. As energy policy researcher Theodore Kury notes in The Conversation US, uncertainty drives costs, and state regulators must decide how to allocate these expenses for “large load centers” among data centers, utilities, and other ratepayers. States are testing solutions like conditional approvals and demand-based charges to balance risk and ensure reliable service.

How many data centers will be built – and how much electricity they’ll need – is uncertain. Being prepared costs money, but so does being unprepared.

12/12/2025

Many Americans, particularly in rural areas, face declining access to reproductive health care, contributing to maternal mortality rates that are the highest among high-income countries.

UF Health Clinical Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Adetola Louis-Jacques and PhD Candidate in Sociology, Criminology and Law, Seun Mauton Ajoseh describe in The Conversation US how expanding doula services—nonmedical support during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum—shows promise for improving maternal outcomes, reducing disparities, and lowering health care costs despite ongoing barriers like cost and awareness.

Doulas bring a holistic, person-centered approach that can improve birth outcomes and lower overall costs.

12/12/2025

When Tyler Nelson suddenly went from a competitive runner to coping with recurring bouts of muscle weakness, paralysis and pain, it marked the beginning of a new way of life — and a new focus in his work as a young neuroscientist at the MBI.

“He is vehemently passionate,” says his partner in and out of the lab, fellow pain science trainee Dr. Heather Allen. “What he hopes is to keep dissecting, further and further, to figure out the biological mechanisms so we can better understand the disease, and that will allow us to better treat it.”

Read more: bit.ly/48yJXCR

12/03/2025

Retail crime and safety threats are rising, despite reports suggesting theft is declining. The National Retail Federation’s 2025 report, developed with UF’s Loss Prevention Research Council (LPRC) highlights increasingly complex, tech-driven challenges such as organized theft, online fraud and in-store violence. Criminals are leveraging social media to coordinate attacks, prompting retailers to adopt new security measures and prioritize worker safety.

LPRC urges early preparation, better data, and collaboration among retailers, law enforcement and tech partners. Federal efforts aim to combat organized retail crime through legislation and centralized reporting. Read Hayes (pictured first), a UF research scientist and director of UF’s LPRC based at UF Innovate, partners with over 200 organizations to deliver evidence-based solutions that enhance store safety and customer experiences.

In the SafePlaces lab at UF, Hayes and his team simulate retail environments to help identify opportunities to deter would-be criminals. LPRC teams are also studying ways to improve safety beyond store walls, testing parking lot technologies including license plate readers and flashing deterrent systems designed to discourage potential criminals and reassure law-abiding shoppers.

“Retailers are under pressure to keep their stores safe, welcoming and competitive,” Hayes said. “The more we can understand offender behavior, customer expectations and emerging technologies, the better we can help retailers, communities and law enforcement reduce harm.”

12/02/2025

"Responsibly programmed chatbots can offer comfort and keep people engaged, much like counseling does. But when someone in crisis relies on a chatbot as a lifeline, they must be redirected from AI to a trained professional as quickly as possible. Anything less risks lives."

In a U.S. News op-ed, Yusen Zhai, Ph.D., offers suggestions to improve AI chatbots, providing more responsible protocols to address the growing use of chatbots as therapists.

11/25/2025

Wild turkeys rebounded after near extinction in 1900, but populations are declining again, especially in the Southeast. Habitat loss is the leading cause, and wildlife ecologist Marcus Lashley studies solutions through prescribed fire, habitat restoration, and ecological factors affecting turkey survival. 🦃

11/18/2025

Daniel Hahn's lab is improving environmentally friendly methods for insect pest control.

11/14/2025

Ever walk up and down the beach and wonder how old the seashells you have in your pockets are?

Florida Museum of Natural History paleontologist, Michal Kowalewski and University of South Florida Professor of Biological Oceanography, Thomas Frazer use seashells as historical records to study habitats and ecological stability through a field called conservation paleobiology.

Their research on Florida’s Nature Coast shows that seagrass meadows, vital for biodiversity and coastal protection, have remained remarkably stable for centuries, as evidenced by mollusk shells dating back millennia. These findings described in The Conversation US article, suggest restoration efforts should focus on preserving existing meadows rather than assuming new ones can easily replace lost habitats.

Scientists are using mollusk shells to evaluate the health of Florida’s seagrass ecosystems.

11/13/2025

Florida is already the nation’s second-highest wine-consuming state, but Pierce's disease has long prevented Florida growers and vineyards from establishing a large-scale wine industry.

But now, researchers are hopeful that a Pierce's disease-resistant grape variety developed by Department of Viticulture and Enology at UC Davis, Erante Noir, could change this.

This season Horticultural Sciences at University of Florida researchers worked with Château Le Coeur to make wine from trials harvested at University of Florida IFAS Plant Science Research and Education Unit.

More on this long-term experiment, we hope will lead to a wine renaissance 🔗 go.ufl.edu/3nqbhfp