COSAM students travel more than 5,000 miles and were featured on the national news in Iceland

Students from the Liles Lab in the Department of Biological Sciences in COSAM were conducting research in northern Iceland when they were featured on the Icelandic national news.

“I am proud that these students were able to represent Auburn University at the Arctic Microbial Ecology Workshop hosted at the University of Akureyri,” said Mark Liles, associate dean of research and graduate studies in COSAM. “These AU students had the opportunity to sample from some extreme habitats like geothermal sites, interact and work with students from UMass-Dartmouth and Reading University in the UK, and work in a team format to culture extremophilic microorganisms.”  

Preparing the underserved: Five Auburn University alumni revolutionizing tax preparation industry with tax pro software

A group of Five Auburn University alumni who were tired of the hassles and headaches associated with tax preparation and who wanted to improve access and efficiency for underserved communities have teamed together to create the software development company SmartWiz.

The talented Auburn graduates developed the first-ever all-in-one tax software for tax professionals, and their efforts caught the attention of technology behemoth Google. Recently, Google awarded SmartWiz $150,000 in developmental funds to advance and distribute their tax accounting software to millions of Americans through of the 2023 Google for Startups Black Founders Fund and Latino Founders Fund awards.

Congratulations to Miranda Silano featured as a Lee County Emergency Management Team Highlight

Miranda Silano was featured as the Lee County Emergency Management Team Highlight last week. She is graduating with her master’s degree from Auburn University and is now interning with this critical service in Lee County.

“Being able to intern with the Lee County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) has been one of the highlights of my time at Auburn University. The tasks that I mostly involve using GIS (Geographic Information System) to shed light on tornado interactions with the residents of Lee County,” said Silano. “I have been able to apply skills that I have learned from the GIS classes I took through the Department of Geosciences to satisfy requirements for my Master’s of Science in Geography and for the GIS Certificate. These skills include knowing the basics of GIS and what information can be gathered from the maps produced by GIS.”

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COSAM Today is published by COSAM's Office of Communications and Marketing. Questions? Send an email to mcg0052@auburn.edu.