Featured – Department of Biological Sciences

Drs. Benstead, Huryn, and Shogren awarded $990K NSF grant to study thermal compensation in stream ecosystems in response to drought

September 21, 2023

Drs. Benstead, Huryn, and Shogren’s research proposal entitled “Collaborative Research: NSFDEB-NERC: Warming’s silver lining? Thermal compensation at multiple levels of organization may promote stream ecosystem stability in response to drought” ($990,203) has been funded by the Nation Science Foundation. This collaborative NSFDEB-NERC project (with Wyatt Cross at Montana State) will combine laboratory measurements (University of Iceland), stream mesocosm manipulations of temperature and drought (University of Birmingham, U.K.), and whole-reach drought manipulations (Hengill geothermal catchment, Iceland) to test the overarching hypothesis […]

Registration for the 2021 Bama Biology Bootcamp is open

February 21, 2021

Bama Biology Bootcamp (B³) is a one-week intensive program run by the Department of Biological Sciences for students enrolled in or planning to enroll in BSC 114 or 118. Its purpose is to help students make a successful transition from the expectations of high school to those of university, setting the stage for a great experience at UA. The 2021 B³ program will run from August 9th to 13th. To learn more and register, visit b3.as.ua.edu.

Update on Course Instruction Modes for Fall 2020 Semester

July 22, 2020

Many of you have likely received an email from the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences this morning regarding changes to course instruction for the Fall 2020 semester consistent with the recommended guidelines to promote health and safety on our campus. The Department of Biological Sciences wanted to follow up with some specific information for our majors and minors. All of our courses are being offered under multiple formats during the Fall 2020 semester, including traditional face-to-fact on […]

Dr. Atkinson receives NSF CAREER award

July 13, 2020

Dr. Carla Atkinson just received news that her proposal “CAREER: Functional diversity and ecosystem function provisioning by a guild of macrofaunal consumers in riverine ecosystems” was funded by the National Science Foundation Division of Environmental Biology. Her work aims to merge the characterization of the functional traits of communities of freshwater mussels, the most globally imperiled faunal group, to critical ecosystem processes such as water filtration and biogeochemical cycling. Further, she plans to integrate the concepts of biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships […]

Jennie Thies (Caldwell lab) awarded NIH Diversity Research Supplement

July 22, 2019

Congratulations to Jennie Thies (Caldwell lab) for receiving an NIH Diversity Research Supplement! This highly competitive award is a 2-year grant that supports ongoing dissertation research training for individuals from under-represented groups. It will allow Jennie to focus solely on lab work without having the demands of teaching. With this award she will be able to have a combination of “hands-on” research experience in addition to didactic training that will help her become the best scientist she can be. This […]

Congratulations to the many BSC students recognized during honors week!

April 16, 2019

The department of Biological Sciences is very proud of our students whose achievements in academics, research, and teaching were recognized during Honors Week. Congratulations all! Inge and Ilouise Hill Research Fellowship Katie Sandlin (Reed) Joab Langston Thomas Scholarship Rebecca Varney (Kocot) Outstanding Teaching by a Graduate Student in Biological Sciences Fall 2018 – Samuel Scopel (Caldwell) Fall 2018 – Jennifer Thies (Caldwell) Spring 2018 – Jennifer Gresham (Earley) Spring 2018 – Feng Kong (Ramonell) Bishop Award Anthony Cremo (Yoder) Aurora […]

Exploring Fundamental Drivers of Ecosystem Function

October 10, 2011

Dr. Benstead’s research program focuses on how energy availability, nutrient limitation, and temperature interact to affect food web structure and ecosystem-level processes. While his research leverages the unique characteristics of streams and their suitability for ecosystem-level research, it concentrates on broad questions that are also relevant to other ecosystem types. Although guided by theory, Dr. Benstead’s research has a strong empirical approach, spans scales from the individual to the ecosystem, and often exploits both natural landscape gradients and ecosystem-level manipulations. […]

Do these genes make me look fat?

October 10, 2011

The Reed Lab uses genomic technologies and statistical genetics to assess the relative contribution of diet and genetic variation to metabolic disease in natural populations. The fruit fly is used as a model of Metabolic Syndrome, a condition effecting greater than 30% of (human) Americans. Metabolic Syndrome is typified by obesity and insulin resistance and is a precursor to developing type-2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It is the result of a complex interaction between genetics and the transition to a […]

Evolution of morphology

August 15, 2011

Dr. Yoder’s lab uses the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster to learn how genetic changes have been responsible for the evolution of diverse animal forms. He looks at how altered gene expression (when and where genes are turned on or off) has shaped the fly’s abdomen. For example, male Drosophila have fewer segments in their abdomen than females. But in other flies, like mosquitoes, segment number is the same in both sexes. Understanding what kinds of genetics changes are responsible for […]

Fish behavior in mangrove forests and volcanic lakes

August 10, 2011

Dr. Ryan Earley specializes in integrative animal behavior, with particular emphasis on fishes that inhabit some of the most fascinating (and challenging) ecosystems on the planet. He fuses field-based research on the ecology of these fishes with rigorous laboratory experimentation on the mechanisms – from genes and hormones to neural circuits – that drive phenotypic variation. In March 2010, Dr. Earley and several of his students donned their SCUBA gear to survey the impact of predation pressure and breeding status […]