News – Department of Biological Sciences

Publication from Drs. Ciesla and Maitra

April 10, 2024

Collaborative research from Drs. Ciesla and Maitra and graduate student Swarnali Chatterjee was recently published in the journal Biomedicine and Pharmacotherapy. The UA team has identified a natural compound, gardenin A, which provides neuroprotection in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Previously this chemical was shown by Drs. Ciesla and Maitra to provide neuroprotection in a Drosophila model of PD. The UA team alongside their OHSU collaborators plan to further work on this interesting natural compound and evaluate its […]

Bama Biology Bootcamp (B³) helps undergraduates make a successful transition to college

April 9, 2024

Bama Biology Bootcamp (B³) is a one-week intensive program run by The University of Alabama Department of Biological Sciences for students enrolled in or planning to enroll in Biology courses. Its purpose is to help students make a successful transition from the expectations of high school to those of college. B³ is offered as a 1 credit hour course. Participants will be able to register for BSC 103 – Bama Biology Bootcamp during their Bama Bound registration time. The 2024 […]

Congratulations to Drs. Chtarbanova-Rudloff, Ciesla, Heinrich, and Hodges!

April 8, 2024

We are thrilled to announce the promotions of several of our faculty members, effective August 16, 2024. Dr. Stanislava Chtarbanova-Rudloff and Dr. Lukasz Ciesla have been granted tenure and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. Dr. Kaleb Heinrich and Dr. Tyler Hodges have been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.

Dr. Kocot awarded $840K NSF PurSUiT grant to study evolutionary history of the diverse peracarid crustaceans

March 25, 2024

Natatolana meridionalis (Isopoda). Photo by Emily McLaughlin.

Dr. Kocot’s proposal entitled “Collaborative Research: PurSUiT: A Backbone for the Peracarida” ($840,771) has been funded by the National Science Foundation’s Division of Environmental Biology and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR). This collaborative project with lead PI Dr. Sarah Gerken (University of Alaska, Anchorage) and PI Dr. Regina Wetzer (Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County) was funded to support research on Poorly Sampled and Unknown Taxa (PurSUiT). “The PurSUiT category is meant to encourage biodiversity discovery […]

Species discovered by Drs. Carmen Cobo and Kevin Kocot ranked among top-ten new marine species of 2023

March 21, 2024

Each year, the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) releases its annual list of the top-ten marine species described by researchers during the past year to coincide with World Taxonomist Appreciation Day on March 19th! If you were unaware of this celebration of all the work that taxonomists do to document and describe the world’s biodiversity, you can find more here and here. Dorymenia boucheti Cobo & Kocot 2023 is a newly described species of Solenogastres (Mollusca, Aplacophora) from the South […]

Second edition of Dr. Arthur Benke’s book “Rivers of North America” published by Academic Press/Elsevier

February 5, 2024

Academic Press/Elsevier has recently published a second edition of Professor Emeritus Art Benke and Bert Cushing’s award-winning book, Rivers of North America (2005). Published in 2023, Benke teamed up with Mike Delong and Tim Jardine to produce what is essentially a second volume with rivers that were treated briefly in 2005 now expanded to “focus river” status and many new rivers added. Benke also coauthored four of the chapters, and UA emeritus faculty Milt and Amy Ward and current professor […]

Dr. Hart Quoted in NY Times on Strange Behavior in Deep-Sea Anglerfishes

December 7, 2023

Dr. Hart, an expert on anglerfishes, was sought out by the NY Times to comment on a newly published article in Journal of Fish Biology, where scientists discovered bizarre behavior by a genus of deep-sea anglerfishes: swimming upside down. Gigantactis deep-sea anglerfishes were documented several times in ROV footage and photographs eerily hanging upside down near the ocean floor or in the water column, the lure located on the top of their head hanging downward towards the sea floor. Dr. […]

Dr. Hoadley receives two new grants for non-invasive study of coral thermal tolerance

November 30, 2023

Dr. Ciesla to give virtual NIH Office of Dietary Supplements seminar on 10/11 @ 10 a.m. CST

October 3, 2023

On October 11th at 10 a.m. CST, Dr. Lukasz Ciesla will present an NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) seminar entitled Dietary Supplements and Neurological Resilience in Aging. Dr. Ciesla will talk about a major focus of his research, the potential of chemicals present in plants abundant in the human diet to increase neurological and cognitive resilience to aging. Download the seminar flyer for more information. Zoom meeting number: 161 487 8886Meeting passcode: ODSseminar (63773646 from phones)Audio connection: 1-669-254-5252 call-in […]

New study in PNAS by Kocot lab members sheds light on early mollusk evolution

September 25, 2023

The Cambrian Explosion was a dramatic event during which almost all major animal groups emerged simultaneously, making it a challenge to reconstruct the relationships between different branches of the animal tree of life. To better understand the early evolution of Mollusca, the second most diverse group of animals, a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences co-authored by Dr. Kevin Kocot and PhD candidate Meghan Yap-Chiongco in Department of Biological Sciences and Alabama Museum of Natural History […]