Awards – Page 17 – College of Arts & Sciences

Student explores Louisiana salt trade with archeological dig

October 30, 2014

You’d think that spending the summer at the site of Louisiana’s oldest French settlement would be nothing short of grand. But Paul Eubanks, a doctoral student in the Department of Anthropology, tells a different story. Eubanks’s six-week stay in Natchitoches involved daily ventures into the swamps of northwestern Louisiana and ample amounts of digging as he conducted research for his dissertation, which will focus on the history of salt production in the area. Though he describes Natchitoches as a town […]

Author Wins Public Health Award

October 10, 2014

From the October 2014 edition of Desktop News | A book documenting the link between contamination from a major chemical company and Anniston’s extensive civil rights history recently won an award for contributing to the history of public health. Dr. Ellen Spears, an assistant professor in New College and the Department of American Studies, is the 2014 recipient of the Arthur J. Viseltear prize given by the American Public Health Association’s Medical Care Section. The award recognized Spears’ book, Baptized […]

Investigating Birth Defects

September 11, 2014

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | Kristin R. Di Bona, a doctoral candidate and graduate research assistant in the Department of Biological Sciences, received an award and cash prize for her research related to birth defects. The Marie W. Taubeneck award is given annually by the Teratology Society in recognition of scholarship in the study of birth defects and developmentally-mediated disorders. Di Bona earned the distinction for her graduate research, which focuses on the developmental and reproductive […]

Invisible “Dark Matter”

September 11, 2014

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | Three University of Alabama physicists are among dozens of researchers planning and developing a new international search for dark matter – an invisible material that scientists believe makes up roughly 27 percent of the universe’s mass. Drs. Andreas Piepke, Jerry Busenitz and Ion Stancu, all professors in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, are University representatives on the project, which is being managed by the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. UA scientists […]

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Award-Winning Geologist Recognized by State Legislature

September 11, 2014

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | Dr. Samantha Hansen, assistant professor in the department of geological sciences, was recently honored by a resolution in the Alabama House of Representatives that recognized her accomplishments in winning a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House earlier this year. Hansen received the PECASE award from President Obama during a reception at the White House in April. “Commendations and congratulations are herein conveyed to Dr. Samantha Hansen […]

Student Named Scholar Athlete of the Year

September 10, 2014

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | Junior Hayden Reed, a redshirt sophomore on UA’s track and field team, was named the men’s outdoor field events NCAA Division I Scholar Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. He is majoring in biology with a 3.52 grade point average (GPA) and is the first man from Alabama to win the award since its inception in 2007. The Orange, Texas, native claimed the […]

Extracting Uranium With Shrimp

September 10, 2014

From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a University of Alabama start-up company approximately $1.5 million to help extract uranium from the ocean using an innovative magnet – a compound found in shrimp. Uranium, the fuel for nuclear power, naturally occurs in seawater and in the Earth’s crust. Scientists have sought for decades a more economical and efficient way to remove it from the ocean. Using chitin, a compound found in shrimp […]

Student Attends National Symposium

August 11, 2014

From the August 2014 Desktop News | Ashley Jolly, a University of Alabama doctoral student studying organic chemistry, was one of approximately 75 graduate students who presented their research at a national research symposium last month. The American Chemical Society Division of Organic Chemistry hosts the Graduate Research Symposium annually to provide organic chemistry graduate students the opportunity to interact with leaders in academia, industry, funding agencies and publishing at a single venue. The students also have opportunities to attend […]

Groundbreaking Groundwater Research

August 11, 2014

From the August 2014 Desktop News | Dr. Chunmiao Zheng never imagined that his alma mater would name him a distinguished alumnus nearly 30 years after he received his doctorate, yet he received such an honor this year. Zheng, the George Lindahl III Endowed Professor of Hydrology in the Department of Geological Sciences, received the 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, his alma mater, for a highly original and influential textbook and software that have transformed the […]

Dancer Named Film Festival Finalist

July 7, 2014

From the July 2014 Desktop News | A University of Alabama senior was named among the top 14 choreographers who submitted short, dance-focused films to a national film festival this year. Whitney Thompson, a dance and biology major from St. Clairsville, Ohio, shares the honor with graduate students, teaching assistants and other undergraduates across the country. The Dance Shorts Student Film Festival was the first of its kind and was sponsored by the University of South Florida. It highlighted up-and-coming […]