Drs. Atkinson, Benstead and Jones have been awarded an EPSCoR RII Track 2 FEC proposal titled “Aquatic Intermittency effects on Microbiomes in Streams (AIMS),” led by colleagues at the University of Kansas and with collaborators at University of Mississippi, University of Southern Mississippi, University of Oklahoma, Kansas State University, and Idaho State University. This 4-year project with a start date of September 2020 will allow the team to address knowledge gaps on intermittently flowing streams, which control the quantity and quality of water delivered downstream to perennial […]
Category: News
Jane and Jim Rasco Endowed Scholarship in Biology established
This year Dr. Jane Rasco and Jim Rasco have established the The Jane and Jim Rasco Endowed Scholarship in Biology. The scholarship shall be awarded based on the following criteria: Priority of consideration shall be given to sophomore students who are enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences, are majoring in biology, who have maintained between a 3.2 and a 3.6 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, and who are residents of the state of Alabama. The purpose […]
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Dr. Kocot awarded NSF grant to digitize ALMNH Invertebrate Zoology collection
Dr. Kocot received a grant as part of a large collaborative project entitled “Digitization TCN: Collaborative Research: documenting marine biodiversity through Digitization of Invertebrate collections (DigIn).” This project is led by Dr. Regina Wetzer (Los Angeles County Museum); and the UA share is $33,235; project total: $1,776,008). Dr. Kocot, a co-PI on the project, and his collaborators at 23 institutions nationwide aim to greatly improve the accessibility of data on marine invertebrate biodiversity by more than doubling digitally-accessible marine invertebrate […]
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Dr. Gui Becker awarded NSF grant to study impacts of rainfall variability on wildlife disease transmission
Dr. Gui Becker has been awarded an NSF grant as lead PI to study the impacts of rainfall variability on wildlife disease transmission. The project titled” Linking Host Life History, Movement Ecology, and Climate to Predict Epizootics in Megadiverse Tropical Amphibian Communities” is global in scope, with field sites in three megadiverse tropical regions: Brazil, Peru, and Cameroon. By advancing disease transmission theory for diverse species assemblages, this research will provide novel insights into community-level impacts of emerging diseases and […]
Congratulations to the 2020-2021 BGSA officers
President: John Sutton (Fierst lab) Vice-President: Jennie Thies (Caldwell lab) Secretary: MaryBeth Rowland (Correll lab) Treasurer: Sam Siomko (Becker lab) GSA Rep: Jennifer Fortunato (Earley lab)
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Update on Course Instruction Modes for Fall 2020 Semester
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 […]
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Dr. Atkinson receives NSF CAREER award
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 […]
Dr. Harris recognized as Distinguished Teaching Fellow
Congratulations to Dr. Phil Harris who was recognized by the College of Arts and Sciences as a Distinguished Teaching Fellow. Dr. Harris will be working with junior faculty across the college to assist with teaching strategies in large classroom environments. Dr. Harris will hold the title for three years.
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Diversity, Inclusion and Respect are core values of the Department of Biological Sciences
“At The University of Alabama our core principles include fostering a culture of inclusivity and respect for every member of our community, whether we are together in Tuscaloosa or engaging virtually throughout the world.” – President Stuart Bell Diversity, Inclusion and Respect are core values of the Department of Biological Sciences. We condemn the recent events that have led to the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, as well as the injustice and racial discrimination that exists in […]
Dr. Janna Fierst awarded NSF CAREER
The NSF Faculty Early Career Development, or CAREER, Program is the most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty at NSF. Recipients are recognized as being individuals with the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. With this award, Dr. Fierst and her team will develop new bioinformatic tools to detect horizontal gene transfer using nematode worms as a model system. As part of […]