Desktop News January 2017 – College of Arts & Sciences

UA Mock Trial Team Wins First Place in Tournament

January 12, 2017

From the January 2017 Desktop News | With a team that’s only existed for five years – and this year’s team being particularly green at that – no one expected The University of Alabama Mock Trial Team to come out on top of one of the largest collegiate mock trial tournaments in the country. But that’s exactly what they did. Over Veterans Day weekend, UA’s Mock Trial Team competed against more than 50 mock trial teams from 31 universities, including traditional mock […]

UA Scientist Named AAAS Fellow

January 12, 2017

From the January 2017 Desktop News | The world’s largest general scientific society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected a University of Alabama scientist to the rank of Fellow. Dr. Patricia Sobecky, UA associate provost for academic affairs and professor of biological sciences, was one of 391 people elected as an AAAS Fellow in 2016. Awardees are chosen because of their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. “We offer our enthusiastic congratulations to Patty […]

Anthropologist Elected to Prestigious Antiquarian Society

January 12, 2017

From the January 2017 Desktop News | Dr. Ian Brown, professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology, was recently elected to The Society of Antiquaries of London—the oldest and most prestigious association for antiquarian studies in the world. The society, which is roughly 300 years old, consists of distinguished archaeologists, art historians, architectural historians, and others who excel in the study of prehistory and antiquities. Though there are approximately 3,000 fellows in the society, only 5 percent are from […]

UA Students Win First Environmental Research Competition

January 12, 2017

From the January 2017 Desktop News | Two students in the Department of Geological Sciences recently received $5,000 by winning the first University of Alabama Outstanding Research Competition. The competition funds theses and dissertations that perform cutting-edge research related to the assessment and treatment of chemical contaminants in soil and groundwater. The competition was created by Geosyntec Consultants, an engineering firm that works with clients to address new ventures and complex problems involving the environment, natural resources, and civil infrastructure. “Geosyntec is […]

Drought Continues in Alabama

January 11, 2017

Dr. Sagy Cohen predicts drought using hydrology map

From the January 2017 Desktop News | According to Dr. Sagy Cohen, an assistant professor in the Department of Geography, drought doesn’t end at the first sign of rain or even heavy downpour. “When we got that downpour the first week of December, people thought the drought was over,” Cohen said. “But that’s not true.” In fact, though the National Weather Service predicted a wetter-than-average December in the Southeast, there has not been enough rain to make up for the deficit […]

Guest Curator and UA Faculty Open “Freedom?” at Paul R. Jones Gallery

January 11, 2017

From the January 2017 Desktop News | The University of Alabama’s Black Faculty and Staff Association recently joined with Brooklyn-based curator Dalila Scruggs to create a new, long-term exhibition at the Paul R. Jones Gallery in downtown Tuscaloosa. The exhibit, titled “Freedom? Selections from the Paul R. Jones Collection,” runs from Jan. 23 to April 28 and showcases approximately 30 works by African American printmakers, photographers, and painters in order to explore the ways Black liberation has and has not been achieved […]

New Thought on Black Holes

January 11, 2017

From the January 2017 Desktop News | Dr. Matthias Kaminski, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy recently teamed up with Nobel laureate Gerard’t Hooft and a group of other international theoretical physicists at the biennial Schwarzschild conference in Frankfurt, Germany, to discuss the mysteries of black holes. “Although astrophysicists have found convincing evidence of the existence of black holes, some other bizarre properties remain behind our experimental grasp,” said professor Bill Keel, a UA professor in the Department […]