Several new faculty members have joined the departments within the College of Sciences and Mathematics.

The Department of Biological Sciences welcomes three new assistant professors, Tonia Schwartz, Dan Warner and Laurie Stevison.

Schwartz spent four years working in Australia researching population genetics in fisheries, the evolution of metabolic proteins in birds and crocodiles, and sexual selection in lizards. She received her Ph.D. from Iowa State University, and as the James S. McDonnell Postdoctoral Fellow in Complexity Science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she studied the evolution of molecular networks and transgenerational effects of stress. At Auburn, her laboratory will study how stress responses affect reproduction and aging, and how these molecular stress responses can evolve across populations and across species.

Warner conducted his Ph.D. research at the University of Sydney where his work focused on the evolutionary ecology of temperature-dependent sex determination in an Australian lizard. In 2012 he joined the faculty in the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as an assistant professor. With his recent move to Auburn University, his laboratory intends to continue research aimed at understanding the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape organismal responses to their environments across all life stages, from embryos to adults.

Stevison received her Ph.D. from Duke University. Her research is focused on which evolutionary forces drive species formation and what consequences speciation has on population genetic variation. Her current work attempts to estimate variation in recombination and hybridization in a comparative genomics context and identify parts of the genome where hybridization is restricted between species. 

To read the full story, click here.

Dr. Calvin McCulloh has received the 2015 H. Moren Fuller Award, given by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Dentistry Alumni Association. McCulloh was presented the award during the Alabama Dental Association’s annual meeting in Orange Beach, Ala. McCulloh attended Auburn University for three years and went on to UAB’s School of Dentistry without receiving his pre-dental degree. In 2008, Stewart Schneller, former dean of COSAM, determined that McCulloh had completed appropriate coursework to be awarded his pre-dental, biomedical sciences degree from Auburn. After approval by the Auburn University provost, president and board of trustees, a private graduation ceremony was held at the McCullohs’ home where he was presented with his degree.

McCulloh graduated from dental school in 1956 and after completing two years of military service with the U.S. Air Force, opened a practice in Vestavia Hills, Ala., in 1958 where he remained until 2000. He then taught at the UAB School of Dentistry until his retirement in 2010.

Among many awards and honors, he was the first recipient of the Birmingham Dentist of the Year Award and was the first dentist to serve as Southeast regent for the American College of Dentists from 2002 to 2006. He was also president of the Alabama Dental Association and the Birmingham District Dental Society.

The H. Moren Fuller award is named for one of the first members of the UAB School of Dentistry Advisory Board. 

The 5^th annual Marie W. Wooten Memorial Run will be held Saturday, Sept. 19. Race day registration will begin at 6:30 a.m. and last until 7:45 a.m. on the Roosevelt Concourse in front of Parker Hall and the Sciences Center Auditorium. Participants can choose from a 10k, 5k or 1 mile walk. This year’s races feature all new routes that will take runners through the newly renovated Toomer’s Corner. Proceeds will benefit COSAM’s Marie W. Wooten Memorial Scholarship. To register, visit the website by Sept. 5. For more information, visit the Marie W. Wooten Memorial Run Facebook page or contact Brook Moates at moateeb@auburn.edu or 334.844.2931.