A new publication in the journal Nature has called into question a long-held hypothesis about the last common ancestor of animals. A group of single-celled (or colonial) protists called choanoflagellates are the closest living relatives of animals. Choanoflagellate cells have a whip-like flagellum surrounded by a basket-like structure that they use to capture and eat […]
Read Moreabout BSC research helps shed light on last common ancestor of animals
The Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alabama is pleased to introduce Dr. Kenneth Hoadley, a new faculty member who will be stationed at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Delaware in 2016, Dr. Hoadley worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research […]
Aplacophorans are unusual shell-less and worm-shaped molluscs related to snails, slugs, clams, and octopus. About 300 species are known to science but because there are only a handful of scientists worldwide studying the group, it is estimated that there are likely tenfold more species waiting to be discovered. Little is known about aplacophoran evolutionary history, […]
Read Moreabout Dr. Kocot’s team discovers bizarre new species and sheds light on molluscan evolution
Congratulations to Dr. Carla Atkinson who received the 2019 President’s Faculty Research Award in Physical and Biological Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering in the Emerging Scholar category! […]
Read Moreabout Dr. Carla Atkinson awarded 2019 President’s Faculty Research Award
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 […]
Read Moreabout Congratulations to the *many* BSC students recognized during honors week!
Congratulations to Dr. Ryan Earley for being awarded the UA Leadership Board’s Outstanding Commitment to Students Award. This award recognizes a tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the College of Arts and Sciences for service in the advancement of students beyond the classroom. […]
The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based Master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. This year, BSC graduate students Sommer Starr (Mortazavi lab) and Abigail Rae Sisti (Earley lab) were awarded fellowships and graduate student Meghan […]
In new work published in the journal eLife, Dr. Asma Hatoum-Aslan and one of her graduate students, Lucy Chou-Zheng, uncover new insights into how a common skin bacterium combats its viruses. The researchers discovered that the immune system in Staphylococcus bacteria known as CRISPR-Cas does not function on its own, but rather, it mobilizes other […]
Dr. Paige Ferguson, along with UA M.S. alumus Emily Brown, recently published a structured decision making analysis aimed at increasing the Red-cockaded Woodpecker population in the Oakmulgee Ranger District of the Talladega National Forest and balancing stakeholder objectives in this area. Their paper is one of the first published studies on the endangered red-cockaded woodpecker […]
New work published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution by an international team of researchers including Dr. Gui Becker shows how ambibian skin microbiomes – the bacteria and other microrganisms living on frogs and their relatives – are distributed globally. The team examined climate and geographic data to understand their effects on the microbiome […]
Read Moreabout Dr. Becker Assists in Global Study of Amphibians
