faculty – Page 11 – College of Arts & Sciences

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Virtual Reality Sandbox

November 14, 2016

Dr. Sagy Cohen doing a demonstration in the sandbox.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZUAFNVx2-w] From the November 2016 Desktop News | The newest interactive exhibit at the Alabama Museum of Natural History is part sandbox, part Xbox, and it’s teaching students of all ages about topography, flood hazards, and watersheds. “With Google maps and other applications, people aren’t used to reading paper maps anymore,” Dr. Sagy Cohen, a professor in the Department of Geography, said. “But in my field—and even for people who like hiking or hunting—reading topographical maps is still a very […]

Psychology Professor Honored for Contributions to Geropsychology

October 11, 2016

Dr. Scogin winner of APA research award for his work on geropsychology

From the October 2016 Desktop News | Dr. Forrest Scogin, a professor of psychology at The University of Alabama, received the American Psychological Association Committee on Aging’s Award for the Advancement of Psychology and Aging at its annual convention in August. Scogin, whose primary concentration is clinical geropsychology, researches mental health and aging, as well as psychotherapy and depression. He’s also affiliated with the Alabama Research Institute on Aging, a UA-based interdisciplinary research group that promotes the quality of life for older adults. […]

Researchers Explore Biomass Potential to Replace Petrochemicals

October 11, 2016

Arduengo and German exchange student Philip Maximilian Knaff work in a UA lab.

From the October 2016 Desktop News | For years, manufacturers of some pharmaceuticals and everyday items made of plastic have relied on non-renewable petrochemicals that gush from the bowels of the Earth—black gold, Texas tea—as a key ingredient. Now Dr. Anthony J. Arduengo III, a University of Alabama chemistry professor, and an international group of scientists are working to replace petrochemicals with a much more chemically complex component that grows, rather than springs, from the ground. The component? Wood. “Wood, a renewable […]

Fruit-Fly Diet Impacts Descendants, UA Researcher Finds

October 11, 2016

From the October 2016 Desktop News | For a fruit fly, what its grandparents ate may affect how much it weighs. And, according to Dr. Laura Reed, an assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, similar relationships between generational diet and obesity may hold true for humans as well. To study obesity, Reed and her team experiment with the diets of fruit flies. They feed some of the larvae a high-fat diet while they give the control group a regular diet. Then, […]

UA Researcher Helps Unlock Biodiversity Mystery

September 12, 2016

A sample of green algae collected from the Gulf of Mexico.

From the September 2016 Desktop News | The discovery of a deep-water seaweed that evolved into a multicellular plant more than 540 million years ago has added a new branch to the tree of life, according to a biologist at The University of Alabama. Dr. Juan Lopez-Bautista, professor of biological sciences at UA, co-wrote a study of algae collected from the Gulf of Mexico that revealed a significantly different cellular structure than first believed. The finding, published in Scientific Reports, details the […]

Researchers Bring HIV Education to Parolees and Probationers

September 12, 2016

From the September 2016 Desktop News | Due to overcrowding in Alabama prisons, the state recently began diverting felons with lesser charges into parole and probation programs. One unexpected outcome, however, was that these convicted offenders, who fall in a higher risk bracket for HIV, no longer had access to the HIV education classes routinely offered in prison. Wanting to close this educational gap and bring free HIV testing to those willing to participate, Dr. Bronwen Lichtenstein, UA professor of criminal justice, […]

UA Appoints New Summersell Chair and Director of Hudson Strode Program

September 12, 2016

From the September 2016 Desktop News | The College of Arts and Sciences welcomes the new Charles Grayson Summersell Endowed Chair of Southern History and the new director of the Hudson Strode Program in Renaissance Studies. Charles Grayson Summersell Endowed Chair of Southern History Dr. Lesley Jill Gordon, former professor of history at the University of Akron, is the new Charles Grayson Summersell Endowed Chair of Southern History at The University of Alabama. The Summersell Chair endowment was established in 1997 by […]