Auburn University's online crowdfunding initiative, Tiger Giving Day, fully funded 22 projects for various schools, projects, and units across campus. The online fundraising event, which ended at 11:59 p.m. on Feb. 21, inspired gifts from nearly 3,000 Auburn alumni, friends and fans, who raised more than $500,000. The College of Sciences and Mathematics would like to thank our generous supporters for their participation in Tiger Giving Day. Because of your donations, we were able to raise $10,602 to help create a home for Auburn's dinosaur egg and $5,965 to go toward sending pre-med students on a study abroad trip of a lifetime.

For further information about the projects and their goals, go to www.tigergiving.org.

Because of the college’s central role in instructing undergraduates, in 2014, COSAM took the initiative to provide cutting-edge teaching methods by working with the Provost’s office to construct a new Engaged in Active Student Learning, or EASL, classroom to be used in a variety of COSAM courses. The space has been well received, and this fall, Auburn University will expand on the concept of the EASL classroom with the new, 69,000-square-foot Mell Classroom Building. With 29 active learning classrooms, two lecture halls and approximately 50 group study spaces, the $35 million facility is one of the single largest investments in engaged active student learning in the Southeast.

Ayden Kish, a junior from Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, was nominated for a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. The Goldwater Scholarship was established to provide scholarships to outstanding students who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. Kish is a double major in physics and philosophy with a minor in mathematics. He conducts research under the direction of Edward Thomas, professor in the Department of Physics. Three other students from Auburn University were also nominated.