Welcome to Research: USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, our annual publication showcasing the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee’s expanding profile as a research-active institution where faculty and students actively engage in research in STEM fields, business, education, IT and cybersecurity, the arts, social sciences and hospitality and tourism.

We are proud of our research successes during the past year, which include an annual doubling of proposal submissions, more than a 300 percent monetary increase in research awards and five research equipment grants. All are indicators of our commitment to produce research that matters to the education of the student, serves as an economic engine for the community and contributes solutions for some of our most challenging local and global problems.

Last year marked our inaugural edition of Research: USF Sarasota-Manatee campus, and this latest issue offers insight into more of the great work by our faculty and students, along with something new – a special pull-out section that tells the story of USF Sarasota-Manatee campus’s many community engagement initiatives and our valuable and growing partnerships across the Sarasota-Manatee region.

Together, these two publications demonstrate USF Sarasota-Manatee campus’s unique role within the community as an institution that is part of a large, preeminent research university system, yet is small enough for students to collaborate with faculty on significant research activities.

Our faculty arrive with diverse research backgrounds, often continuing their work from a previous institution. They develop research activity with colleagues at other institutions and with our graduate and undergraduate students. Our students have the opportunity to work closely with faculty as early as their freshman year and to build on those relationships throughout their academic careers.

Their work is featured here, encompassing a broad range of issues: easing refugees’ transition into our country’s education system, meeting new challenges created by cyber criminals and cutting-edge technology emerging in hospitality and tourism, entrepreneurial resiliency in developing countries and human impact on climate change.

We hope you find these stories about USF Sarasota-Manatee campus research discoveries interesting and enjoyable, and we invite you to engage with our incredible faculty and students.