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 […]
Category: Research
News about Research
Invisible “Dark Matter”
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 […]
Award-Winning Geologist Recognized by State Legislature
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 […]
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Former CIA Officer Heads New UA Initiative
From the September 2014 edition of Desktop News | Reginald D. Hyde, a UA alumnus and former deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and security in the U.S. Department of Defense, has been named executive director of UA’s new Cyber Institute, a collaborative effort between UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering, Culverhouse College of Commerce, and other groups. Hyde, who retired from government last year, will head the new institute, which will facilitate interdisciplinary research and educational […]
Extracting Uranium With Shrimp
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
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 […]
Expeditions in Ecuador
From the August 2014 Desktop News | Some of the world’s most prominent botanists have named a tree species found in western Ecuador the Gustavia johnclarkii after a University of Alabama professor. The most interesting part? This is the sixth species to be named in his honor. Dr. John L. Clark, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences and curator and director of the University of Alabama Herbarium, has made frequent trips to Ecuador since he served as […]
Groundbreaking Groundwater Research
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 […]
New UA Cybercrime Lab Launched
From the July 2014 Desktop News | As computer-based crimes become more prevalent, local law enforcement agencies need the technology to gather and access digital evidence of those crimes. Dr. Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar, assistant professor of criminal justice, will serve as an academic liaison for a new digital forensics crime lab at UA. Created through a partnership between the Department of Criminal Justice and local law enforcement agencies, the lab will assist local, and possibly national, law enforcement officials with processing […]
Students Named Fulbright Scholars
From the July 2014 Desktop News | Six recent graduates of the College were awarded Fulbright grants from the U.S. State Department to conduct research and teach abroad during the 2014-2015 school year. They were among 1,800 students chosen from a pool of 11,000 applicants nationwide. “For the College to have not one, but six students chosen for prestigious 2014-2015 Fulbright grants speaks very highly not only of these young men and women, but of the College faculty who have […]