While hordes of pre-health students scramble to prepare for medical school interviews and perfect their already polished applications, a University of Alabama senior has taken a different approach to pursuing his passion for medicine. Brian McWilliams, though beginning his third year of college, will graduate this spring with a bachelor’s degree in biology. By the end of his fourth year he will receive his master’s in business administration. He also leads a student organization that ships medical supplies overseas and […]
Tag: Department of Biological Sciences
Lipid Deficiency Linked to Parkinson’s
From the October 2014 edition of Desktop News | A study co-authored by researchers in The University of Alabama’s Caldwell Lab focuses on the potential roles lipids have in the death or malfunction of dopamine-producing neurons, which leads to symptoms associated with Parkinson’s disease. The study was recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was led by senior researcher Dr. Stephan Witt at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. The University of Alabama’s lead author […]
Investigating Birth Defects
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 […]
Student Named Scholar Athlete of the Year
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Meeting of the Minds
From the July 2014 Desktop News | Imagine meeting the winner of a Nobel Prize. Now imagine spending an entire week with 38 Nobel Prize winners. That is the opportunity of a lifetime that Brandon Hill, a doctoral student in the Department of Biological Sciences, had this summer. Along with about 600 other young researchers from 80 countries, Hill was selected from a group of some 1,500 applicants to attend the 2014 Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Lindau, Germany, […]
UA Delegation Travels to Greece
From the June 2014 Desktop News | When someone is truly confused by something, they might say “It’s all Greek to me,” but The University of Alabama Greece Initiative is just the opposite; it’s all about furthering understanding and collaboration between UA and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. A group of faculty members from the University recently traveled to Greece to meet with representatives from Aristotle University to discuss potential projects on which faculty from both entities could cooperate. “The Alabama Greece […]
Biology and Classics Graduate Finds Home in Oil Industry
From the 2014 Celebrating Excellence | What do Colombia, Gabon and Brazil all have in common? For one thing, Lauren Wilder, a UA graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology and classics, helped negotiate exploration rights for oil and gas in all three places. Wilder’s first trip abroad as a land negotiator with Hess Corporation was to Lima, Peru. She traveled with two other Hess employees, “experienced professionals” she calls them, who had been to Peru dozens of times. “I […]
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Students Win Goldwater, Hollings, Truman Scholarships
From the May 2014 Desktop News | Five College of Arts and Sciences students recently won prestigious national awards, helping UA to rank once again among the top universities with students selected. Of the eight UA students winning awards, two students from the College were named Goldwater Scholars, two were named Hollings Scholars, and one was named a Truman Scholar. Brian Goodell, a chemical engineering and physics major from Plattsburgh, N.Y., and Lynda Truong, a chemistry major from Grand Prairie, […]
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