News
February
Brice, Byaly, Clontz, and Sarver competed in the Smart City Hackathon
02/26/2015
Daniel Brice (former PhD graduate), Alex Byaly, Steven Clontz, and Zachary Sarver competed in the Smart City Hackathon competition in the Shelby Center last weekend as "Math Dept Team Alpha." Eight teams of 3-6 programmers each faced off from 9am Saturday to 4:30pm Sunday, with the task of building smart tools (software or hardware) for the benefit of Auburn, AL.
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2015 Summer Bridge Program Applications due March 15th
02/26/2015
The COSAM Summer Bridge Program is an intensive four-week residential program for talented and highly motivated minority students who want to get a head start in their college career. This program, which takes place on the main campus of Auburn University, emphasizes academic preparedness, development and enhancement of study and time management skills, establishment of academic and social support and career awareness. Chemistry and Mathematics faculty, graduate teaching assistants, counselors and academic advisors will staff the program. Applications must be post-marked by March 15, 2015.
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PASS Mentoring Program Members Reconnected on Feb 8th
02/26/2015
On February 8th, members of the PASS Mentoring Program met in Science Center Classrooms Building room 115 to reconnect mentors and mentees. The goal of the PASS Mentoring Program is to Promote Academic Success for Students (PASS) by providing a healthy learning and social environment. Minority freshmen are paired with upper classmen in their major areas for a smooth transition into college. The program seeks to create a “family away from home” environment to help freshmen reach their academic and social potential at Auburn University. Each mentor/mentee pair was reminded of the mission of the PASS Mentoring Program, mentoring roles and responsibilities, and the mentoring process. The event concluded with a review of mentoring contracts, upcoming events, and record keeping. The PASS Mentoring Program is continuing to promote increased opportunities for student success. For additional information on PASS, visit HERE.
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Perry and Holmes Win Teaching Awards
02/24/2015
(1) Ms. Kat Perry has won the 2015 COSAM Outstanding GTA Award.
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Biology Clubs hold the 2nd Biology Trivia Night!
02/24/2015
All four student clubs in Biological Sciences (Tri Beta, Society for Conservation Biology, Microbiology Club, Marine Biology Club) held a Jeopardy-style Biology Trivia contest on February 23, 2015. Members from the clubs formed interdisciplinary teams that then attempted to answer questions about biological subjects. Organized by the faculty advisors of the clubs (led by Mark Liles, and including Tony Moss, Paul Cobine, Betty Elder and Bob Boyd), six student groups of about six students each competed fiercely for a set of prizes while eating pizza and a selection of desserts made by Betty Elder. Much knowledge was shared and students had a lot of fun during the event. The top prize was “Ecocubes” containing Hawaiian Red Shrimp graciously donated by Professor Scott Santos.
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COSAM to host science communications workshop
02/20/2015
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, from 4 to 6 p.m., the College of Sciences and Mathematics’ Museum of Natural History and the Alabama Natural Heritage Program will host science writers Sarah Keartes and Jason G. Goldman who will present a workshop on science communication. Keartes is a staff writer for Earth Touch News Network and contributor to Southern Fried Science. Goldman is a staff writer and podcaster with Earth Touch News Network who regularly contributes to media outlets such as Scientific American, BBC Future, Conservation Magazine, io9, The Guardian and The Washington Post. Earth Touch News Network is a science news organization that produces videos and written pieces about wildlife and nature for dissemination to a wide audience through a variety of platforms, including film, television and web. Keartes and Goldman will deliver a short presentation on leveraging the Internet for science communication, and attendees are encouraged to bring ideas from their own research to workshop ways to frame stories for both journalists and a general audience through blogs and social media. The workshop will take place in 122 Sciences Center Classrooms Building and is open to students, faculty and staff. For more information, contact Candis Birchfield at ceh0012@auburn.edu.
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Department of Biological Sciences to host Bioinformatics Bootcamp
02/20/2015
High-throughput DNA sequencing technologies are rapidly transforming the life sciences and making bioinformatic skills a necessity. From May 11-15, the Department of Biological Sciences will offer a "Bioinformatics Bootcamp" where instructors Scott Santos, Les Goertzen and Ken Halanych will introduce participants to bioinformatic tools and computational biology workflows. Researchers at all levels of expertise are welcome. Please note, participants are expected to complete introductory exercises two weeks prior to attending the Bootcamp, and application materials should be submitted by March 31 as a single PDF via email to bioinformatics@auburn.edu. Cost for the Bootcamp is $350 per person.
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Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry receives gift from Newman estate
02/20/2015
The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry has received a gift in the amount of $147,000 from the estate of Robert Newman ’54. Newman earned his bachelor’s in chemistry and spent his professional career with U.S. Steel and Uniroyal. Newman allocated $100,000 to endow graduate awards in the department and $47,500 for equipment purchases. Newman was a devoted supporter of Auburn and made donations almost every year from 1978 until his death in December 2013.
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Nguelifack accepts assistant professor position
02/20/2015
Brice Nguelifack, Ph.D. student in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position offer in the Department of Mathematics at the United States Naval Academy. The academy is a selective, four-year federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland.
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Abebe promoted to full professorship
02/20/2015
Dr. Ash Abebe's promotion to full professorship has been approved by Dr. Jay Gogue, the President of Auburn University. It will be effective Fall Semester, 2015.
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COSAM alumna spotlight: Meredith Voyles
02/19/2015
Meredith Voyles, ’96, ’01, ’11, is a veterinary ophthalmologist currently practicing at Veterinary Ophthalmology Services in Nashville where she specializes in animal eye disease. After receiving her veterinary degree from Auburn in 2001, she spent nearly six years in general small animal practice in Fairhope, Ala. Voyles returned to Auburn University in 2006 joining the faculty as the Community Outpatient Clinician.
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Kuperberg and Zeng granted Professional Improvement Leave
02/17/2015
Krystyna Kuperberg and Peng Zeng have been granted Professional Improvement Leave (PIL) by the Provost Office in Fall 2015 and Spring 2016, respectively.
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02/17/2015
PhD student Mr. Brice Nguelifack received and accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position offer in the Department of Mathematics at the US Naval Academy (USNA), which is a highly selective four-year federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland.
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SCB and Honors Biology participate in indigo snake project
02/15/2015
Auburn University’s chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) continued its involvement with the Alabama Indigo Snake Reintroduction Project on Saturday, February 14, 2015. The hope was that we could find some snakes basking around the gopher tortoise burrows that they use as homes in winter. We were especially hoping to find juvenile snakes, as that would indicate the reintroduced population is starting to reproduce. SCB members were joined by some students from the Honors Organismal Biology class so that we had a good sized crowd of 10 students. Our group was met by former DBS Master’s Degree student Jimmy Stiles (currently a member of the indigo snake recovery team), Jimmy’s wife Sierra (also a former DBS Master’s Degree student and member of the team), Dr. David Steen (faculty member from the AU Museum of Natural History) and a Detection Dog (Charlie) trained to find indigo snakes by their scent. The dog’s two-member handling team set up a demonstration so we could see Charlie at work finding snake skins that they had hidden in a couple locations in the forest. Then we pitted the dog team against our group’s snake-finding skills as we searched several areas of the forest for snakes. After about 4 hours of searching, the human and dog teams both came up empty-handed as far as snakes were concerned, although the human team found a couple lizards. We plan on going back on March 7 to continue the hunt (Charlie won’t be there as he has another project he’s working on).
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02/10/2015
Taylor Farmer, who is doing undergraduate research with Dr. Peter Livant, and who is supported by an Auburn University Undergraduate Research Fellowship, gave an oral presentation at the 47th Southeastern Undergraduate Research Conference in Tuscaloosa. I am pleased to report that she was awarded the second place prize in the Organic/Inorganic division. Congratulations, Taylor!
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Kim and Easley Finalists for Innovation Award
02/10/2015
Assistant Research Professor Joonyul Kim, working with Associate Professor Christopher Easley, will present his work at the 2015 meeting of the Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS 2015). Their presentation was selected as a finalist for the SLAS Innovation Award, a $10,000 cash award given to recognize highly innovative techniques developed in academic or industrial laboratories. Dr. Kim's presentation, entitled "Zero Background in Homogeneous Proximity Assays Using Thermofluorimetric Analysis (TFA) for Quantitation of Attomole Protein Levels in Serum," has been highlighted in the SLAS conference program and website.
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Scotland 2015: Walking in the footsteps of Hutton
02/09/2015
Registration for the study abroad program in Scotland, “Walking in the footsteps of Hutton,” is now open?
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Auburn University program promotes worldwide mathematical research in southern Africa
02/09/2015
In 2009, Overtoun Jenda, associate provost for Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, attended a conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, held by the Southern Africa Mathematical Sciences Association (SAMSA).
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Armbruster receives grant to study the fish fauna in Guyana
02/09/2015
Jonathan Armbruster, of the Department of Biological Sciences, received a grant from the Coypu Foundation Trust to study the fish fauna of the upper Ireng River in Guyana, a country in Northern South America formerly known as British Guiana. Armbruster is currently studying when fishes moved into or became isolated within the high Pakaraima Mountains and the diversity of fishes there. The rivers draining the Pakaraima Mountains fall off the plateau resulting in waterfalls like the 740-foot Kaieteur Falls. The waterfalls separate the lowland and upland fauna into distinct biotas. Auburn researchers, together with faculty at the Royal Ontario Museum, first began studying the fishes and Pakaraima Mountains of Guyana in 1998 following a National Geographic sponsored trip.
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SCB meeting features indigo snake
02/06/2015
The February meeting of the AU Society for Conservation Biology featured Jim Godwin talking about the indigo snake reintroduction project. Members got to meet a 6 foot long snake and are invited to participate in field work at Conecuh National Forest on Feb. 14 and Mar. 3 (both Saturdays). We also heard about plans to restart our Tigers 4 Tigers Committee, as well as plans for other Spring Semester activities.
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Mariita wins at NSF EPSCoR Science and Technology Open House
02/06/2015
Richard Mariita, a graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences, won 2nd place at the National Science Foundation's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) Science and Technology Open House in Montgomery. Mariita presented his poster, "Seasonal Variability in the Diversity of Microbial Assemblages and Antibiotic Resistance Determinants of an Estuary System." The poster session showcased the work of more than 110 research students representing nine Alabama counties. Representatives from over 17 industries served as judges during our poster session.
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Name change for Department of Geology and Geography reflects broad range of expertise
02/06/2015
AUBURN UNIVERSITY — The Auburn University Board of Trustees voted today to change the name of the Department of Geology and Geography to the “Department of Geosciences.” The change is due to the ever-widening areas of expertise of the department’s faculty and the resulting increase in both interdepartmental and interdisciplinary instruction and research.
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Assistant Professor Patkowski receives “OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award” from the ACS.
02/05/2015
Assistant Professor Konrad Patkowski has been awarded the "OpenEye Outstanding Junior Faculty Award” from the Computers in Chemistry Division (COMP) of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The award will be presented at the Spring 2015 ACS Meeting in Denver, CO and includes a $1,000 prize. The award highlights outstanding tenure-track junior faculty members at the forefront of the computational chemistry field.
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Dr. Orlando Acevedo featured on the cover of Journal of Physical Chemistry
02/02/2015
A Featured Article from Prof. Orlando Acevedo, the S. D. and Karen H. Worley Associate Professor, was featured on the front cover of the Journal of Physical Chemistry A. The article was also selected as an ACS Editors' Choice. This work was supported by a research grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
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Cover Article for Easley and Judd
02/02/2015
A recent manuscript from Prof. Christopher Easley’s research group (group page)—in collaboration with Prof. Robert Judd’s group at Auburn’s College of Veterinary Medicine—was featured on the front cover (link) in the latest issue of the Royal Society of Chemistry’s journal, Analyst. The article is entitled “A microfluidic interface for the culture and sampling of adiponectin from primary adipocytes,” and the work was supported by a research grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
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