Many students wonder what kind of job they can get with their degree, or what path they should take if they want to go into industry. The COSAM Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs introduced the SUCCEED Symposium to shed light on these kinds of questions and showcase diverse, non-academic careers, learn potential paths to those careers, and network with Auburn alumni and other professionals who are using their degrees and skills in non-academic settings or beyond research fields. The first SUCCEED Symposium took place on Monday, Feb. 26, and featured 13 panelists. To view a photo gallery of the event, visit the COSAM Facebook page. For more information on how you can serve as a mentor or panelist at a future SUCCEED Symposium, please contact Kimberly Mulligan-Guy, PhD, director of the COSAM Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs, at kxm0001@auburn.edu.

The Auburn Alumni Association awarded four recipients with its highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award, on March 3, 2018, at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. Among the recipients was COSAM alumna Dr. Erica Stringer-Reasor, biomedical sciences ’04, who is a Hematology and Oncology faculty member at the UAB School of Medicine. Stringer-Reasor received the Young Alumni Achievement Award, which recognizes extraordinary accomplishments by members of the Auburn Family age 40 and under.

Stringer-Reasor completed an internal medicine internship at Tulane University and an internal medicine residency at Baptist Health System in Birmingham before receiving her board certification. Following certification, she completed two fellowships at the University of Chicago, one in hematology oncology and another in clinical pharmacology and pharmacogenomics.

In 2015, she joined the faculty at the UAB School of Medicine with clinical interests in breast cancer, women's health, developmental therapeutics and targeted therapeutics. She received the Young Doctor's Summit Award at the 2012 International Gynecologic Cancer Society, the 2013 American Association of Cancer Research's Minority Scholar in Cancer Research Award, and the American Society of Clinical Oncology's 2014 Young Investigator Award. Stringer-Reasor is an annual member of the Auburn Alumni Association. She lives with her husband, Geno, in Birmingham.

COSAM congratulates Dr. Stringer-Reasor!

Auburn University faculty and staff, including Overtoun Jenda, assistant provost for Special Projects and Initiatives and professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, visited the African country of Malawi to strengthen ties between Auburn and Malawi public universities. To date, more than 100 Malawi faculty and administrators have completed an Auburn University orientation program on distance learning and cutting-edge technology that delivers coursework to locations far beyond the existing colleges and universities within the system. In a show of dedication to the future development of collaborative instruction, research, and extension programs and activities, Auburn University President Steven Leath and the Vice Chancellors of the four main Malawi public universities signed a new memorandum of understanding.

Award-winning author and biologist Sean Carroll will give the Auburn University College of Sciences and Mathematics Leadership Council Distinguished Lecture on March 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Sciences Center Auditorium. Carroll will discuss his book, “The Serengeti Rules: The Quest to Discover How Life Works and Why It Matters.” A reception and book signing will take place prior to the lecture at 4:30 p.m. in the Sciences Center Auditorium Atrium. A limited number of books will be available to purchase at the reception. The event is open to the public and there is no fee to attend. For more information on the lecture, contact Ken Halanych, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, at ken@auburn.edu. For more information on Carroll, visit his website at this address: seanbcarroll.com/.

In case you missed it, COSAM Biology Professor Geoffrey Hill lent his expertise to Shelby County resident Charlie Stephenson who noticed an unusual bird at her backyard feeder in late January and posted about it on Facebook. The bird is a one-in-a-million yellow cardinal, and the story appeared in a variety of outlets, including AL.com the Washington Post, Fox News, USA Today and Newsweek.

The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Auburn Section of the American Chemical Society named Marcetta Y. Darensbourg, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M University, the recipient of the 2018 Kosolapoff Award. Darensbourg is an inorganic chemist who studies organometallic chemistry, and her lecture was titled, “Old Biology Inspires New Chemistry: The Hydrogen Economy from Pond Silt to Photovoltaic/Fuel Cells.”

Named in honor of Professor G. M. Kosolapoff, an Auburn Chemistry professor who was renowned for his teaching, the Kosolapoff award lectures bring outstanding chemists to speak each year on topical areas in chemistry that would be of wide interest to the general public. Of the 31 award winners to date, 12 have been Nobel laureates. To see photos of the lecture, visit the COSAM Facebook album.

Auburn University recognized faculty members with the university's highest honors at the Faculty Awards ceremony Wednesday, Feb. 28, at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. The awards honor some of the institution’s most innovative teachers, researchers and scholars for their unique and distinguished contributions to the university’s mission.

Among this year’s recipients was Ken Halanych, the Stewart W. Schneller Endowed Chair in the College of Sciences and Mathematics’ Department of Biological Sciences and the co-director of the Molette Biology Laboratory for Environmental and Climate Change Studies. Halanych received the Auburn University Creative Research and Scholarship Award, which recognizes his work in the fields of molecular systematics, phylogeography and evolution of marine invertebrates.

The Department of Physics was also recognized with Auburn University’s Departmental Award for Excellence in Education. Created in 2013, the award is administered on behalf of the Office of the Provost through the university’s Biggio Center and the University Senate Teaching Effectiveness Committee. The award recognizes the efforts of departmental faculty for their commitment to improving education at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Congratulations to Halanych and all of the faculty in the Department of Physics!

COSAM alumnus Neil Lamb, PhD, vice president for Educational Outreach at the Huntsville-based HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, received the National Science Teachers Association's Faraday Science Communicator Award for excellence in teaching science. NSTA is the world’s largest organization committed to promoting excellence and innovation in science teaching and learning for all.

Under Lamb's leadership, HudsonAlpha's educational programs about genetics and the work of HudsonAlpha reached more than 1.5 million students, educators, clinical professionals, patients and members of the public in the 2016-2017 academic year.

HudsonAlpha President and Science Director Rick Myers, PhD, recognized Lamb for his award at the last session of Biotech 201, a free public education seminar series.

“Dr. Lamb is one of the best science communicators in the nation,” said Myers. “He has an amazing ability to take very complex science and explain it in a way that is understandable for every audience. This honor is well deserved.”

Lamb received his undergraduate degree in molecular biology from Auburn University in 1992.

Congratulations Dr. Lamb!

Middle and high school students came to campus to compete in the Greater East Alabama Regional Science and Engineering Fair, or GEARSEF.

GEARSEF is a regional affiliate fair of the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, or ISEF. GEARSEF hosts students from 19 counties in central and southeast Alabama. The top students in each category and division earn the chance to compete at the Alabama State Science and Engineering Fair. Students who advance to the Intel ISEF will compete against the top 1,500 students in the world for nearly $4 million in prizes and scholarships.

The first-place recipient of Best of Fair in the Junior Division was Arnav Srivastava from East Samford School in Auburn. The first-place winner of Best of Fair in the Senior Division was Lucas Lynn of Wetumpka High School.

COSAM congratulates all of the 2018 GEARSEF participants.

To view a photo gallery of the event, visit the COSAM Facebook page.

On Saturday, March 31, the Davis Arboretum is proud to present the second annual Auburn Azalea Festival! The event will take place at the arboretum from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend!

We had so much fun last year with everyone who came out, and we intend to have even more fun this year! Stop by and shop at our native plant sale featuring our Auburn Azalea Series, and chat with azalea expert Ernest Koone from the Lazy K Nursery who will be on site to answer ALL of your azalea questions. Also enjoy live music while you check out some of the best local artists and makers in the area.

Don't worry about getting hungry while you're here, because we have some delicious food trucks lined up to serve you. The Auburn University Museum of Natural History will on site with live animals and a preview of an exciting new event coming up in October!

This is one event you won't want to miss! Come spend the day outside with us and enjoy experiencing one of the largest Azalea collections in the country in all of its splendor and glory! We hope to see you here!

To stay up to date on the latest information about the festival, join the Davis Arboretum Facebook event.