Auburn University’s Donald E. Davis Arboretum earns national recognition for oak collection

As the College of Sciences and Mathematics Donald E. Davis Arboretum prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary, it has other big news to also celebrate. The Auburn landmark has been recognized as a member of the North American Plant Collections Consortium, or NAPCC, Multi-Site Quercus Collection, or MSQC. “This recognition of the arboretum's oak collection is really exciting for the university,” Dee Smith, curator of the Davis Arboretum, said. “It integrates Auburn University into a national organization of collections and increases the visibility of our research and conservation efforts.”

Auburn researchers: climate change plays major role in decline of blackbird species

Populations of the rusty blackbird, a once-abundant North American species, have declined drastically in recent years, and Auburn University researchers say climate change is to blame. That’s the finding of graduate students Chris McClure, Brian Rolek and Kenneth McDonald published recently in the scientific journal Ecology and Evolution. Under the direction of ornithology professor Geoffrey Hill, McClure, Rolek and McDonald studied the blackbird decline and wrote the paper “Climate change and the decline of a once common bird.” The group analyzed rusty blackbird breeding data and climate indices and examined temperature oscillations in the Pacific Ocean, and concluded that climate change does in fact play a major role in the recent decline of the population.

Graduate Student Awards for 2012

The Graduate Program Committee is proud to recognize the outstanding achievements of a few of our graduate students with the following Departmental Awards and nominations for University-wide Awards: Outstanding Graduate Student Nominee (Ph.D.): Jingyuan Xiong Outstanding Graduate Student Nominee (M.S.): Michael DeVore Dean’s Research Award Nominees: Tae Bum Lee Kennon Deal Merriwether Fellow Nominee: Billy McCann Dow Fellows: Jiaming Hu Leah Godwin Malone-Zallen Fellow: Walter Casper IV Distinguished Dissertation Award Nominee: Yuancheng Li

Science Matters Registration Now Open!

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SCB gets behind-the-scenes tour at Zoo Atlanta

SCB gets behind-the-scenes tour at Zoo Atlanta

Auburn University Mathmatics Club Presents Spring Guest Lecture by Dr. Alfred Menezes

AU Math club spring guest lecture

AU Explore Registration is Now Open!

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Spring Y.E.S. Registration

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COSAM is conducting an internal search for a new Associate Dean of Academic Affairs

COSAM is conducting an internal search for a new Associate Dean of Academic Affairs

NOBCChE Meeting at AU Sets Records

A record-setting group of 142 registered participants took part in the Southeast/Southwest Regional Meeting of the National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) at Auburn University on November 11 and 12, 2011. The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Department of Chemical Engineering held well-attended Open Houses which included poster sessions and laboratory tours. Another record was set at the subsequent poster session for registered participants, with 37 students and scientists making presentations. Several technical sessions, a campus tour for high school students and teachers, professional and teachers’ workshops, an award ceremony for students and an address by Darrell Davis, a recently retired Laboratory Director in the Drug Enforcement Administration, were included in the program of activities.

SCB visits caves in Jackson County Alabama

SCB visits caves in Jackson County Alabama

Outstanding poster awards for graduate students Allen and McCann

Graduate students Billy McCann and Caley Allen received awards for outstanding posters at the Twentieth Conference on Current Trends in Computational Chemistry in Jackson, Mississippi on October 29, 2011. Ms. Allen and Mr. McCann are advised by Assistant Professor Orlando Acevedo.

Auburn researchers secure NSF math and science partnership

Professor Curtis Shannon and assistant professor Christopher Easley, both of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and associate professor Virginia Davis of the Department of Chemical Engineering, are part of an National Science Foundation-funded math and science education partnership led by Shaik Jeelani of Tuskegee University titled, "The NanoBio Partnership for Alabama's Black Belt Region." The Auburn researchers were awarded $550,000 over five years for teacher training and curriculum development that focuses on the interface between nano-science and biology. Other partners in the grant include Alabama State University, the University of Alabama (Birmingham and Tuscaloosa campuses) as well as Central Alabama, Enterprise, Shelton State, Wallace State and Wallace State at Selma Community Colleges.

SCB completes workday on Indigo Snake Reintroduction Project

SCB completes workday on Indigo Snake Reintroduction Project

Assistant Professor Patkowski receives grant

Assistant Professor Konrad Patkowski, who joined the Auburn faculty in January of 2011, has received a grant from the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society. His proposal was entitled "Accurate Ab Initio Studies of Hydrocarbon Physisorption on Carbon Nanotubes". Dr. Patkowski is a theoretical chemist who specializes in the theory of intermolecular forces.

Auburn University Space Program to launch state's first student-built satellite into space

Auburn's famous battle cry, "War Eagle," will be heard from space Oct. 27 when it is transmitted to earth from a student-built satellite known as "AubieSat-1." The construction of the satellite is part of the Auburn University Student Space Program, and AubieSat-1 is the first student-built satellite in the state to be accepted by NASA for launch. The satellite will launch aboard a NASA-sponsored Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Once in space, the satellite will communicate with Auburn students in Morse Code, and the phrase "War Eagle" is the signal that the launch was successful and the satellite is in orbit and operating correctly.

COSAM to host international workshop featuring nuclear fusion

From Oct. 6 through 8, the College of Sciences and Mathematics, or COSAM, will host the 2011 Atomic Data and Analysis Structure, or ADAS, workshop at The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center. This year marks the first time the ADAS workshop has been held outside of Europe.

Dee Smith to be honored during ceremony at Florida Atlantic football game on September 24th, 2011

The Arboretum’s Curator, Dee Smith, will receive special recognition as one of the University’s Employees of the Year for 2011 during ceremonies before the home football game on September 24th, 2011.

Auburn University and Auburn City Schools educators fly in NASA's "Weightless Wonder"

Educators from Auburn University and Auburn City Schools floated like astronauts during a once-in-a-lifetime flight on NASA's "Weightless Wonder" aircraft. The team of six educators call themselves the "Flying Tigers," and as they floated, they conducted experiments that were set up in a clear plastic box to see how various objects and scientific concepts would alter under a reduced gravity environment. According to the team, words cannot accurately describe the feeling of being weightless.

AU Student Space Program featured on Alabama Public Television

Alabama Public Television did a feature on COSAM's Auburn University Student Space Program as they prepare for the launch of the first student-built satellite in the state, AubieSat-1.

Physics Professor given the John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research

Last year, an international team of scientists, including Auburn University Physics Professor Francis Robicheaux, made a scientific breakthrough by trapping and holding the anti-matter version of the hydrogen atom. The international team, known as ALPHA, was recently awarded the John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research for the introduction and use of innovative plasma techniques which produced the first demonstration of trapping antihydrogren.

SCB and Wild Animal Safari team up for COSAM Open House

SCB and Wild Animal Safari team up for COSAM Open House.

Assistant Professor Easley featured in Analyst

Assistant Professor Christopher Easley was profiled in the Emerging Investigators issue of Analyst, a publication of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Dr. Easley contributed a featured article to this issue, which focuses on the work of promising scientists in the early stages of their academic careers.

Physics professor receives $2.1 million grant

Physics Professor and Director of the Plasma Sciences Laboratory, Edward Thomas, received an NSF award through the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. This competitive program research training in our nation's institutions of higher education, museums, science centers and not-for-profit organizations. The total amount awarded to Thomas is $2.1 million, which includes a 30 percent cost-sharing by Auburn University. This project represents one of the largest MRI projects ever awarded to Auburn University.

NIH SBIR Grant for Assistant Professor Easley

Assistant Professor Christopher Easley and his collaborator David Mead of Lucigen Corporation of Middleton, Wisconsin have received Small Business Innovation Research funding from the National Institutes of Health for their project entitled “Functional Selection of High Performance Enzymes”.

Congratulations to 2011 CMB Undergraduate Summer Research Scholars (USRS)!

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Auburn University's Student Space Program was featured on NBC 38

Auburn University's Student Space Program, which is directed by Physics Professor J-M Wersigner, was featured on NBC 38. The program's student-built satellite, Aubie-Sat, is scheduled to launched into space on Oct. 25, 2011. When the satellite is launched, Aubie-Sat will be the first student-built satellite in the state to go into space.

Defense Threat Reduction Agency grant for Dr. Anne Gorden

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Auburn University hosted residential science program for incoming freshmen

A group of 22 highly motivated incoming Auburn freshmen were on campus this summer during the month of June for the 15th annual Summer Bridge Program hosted by the College of Sciences and Mathematics. The four-week residential program kicked off June 5, and engaged students from groups traditionally underrepresented in sciences, mathematics and engineering in activities designed to help them make a smooth transition from high school to the Auburn campus.

NOBCChE Conference at Auburn

NOBCChE Conference at Auburn

Geography professor helps preserve historic Toomer’s Oaks

Luke Marzen has been a geography professor at Auburn for 10 years. Originally from Iowa, Marzen said he has grown to love Auburn, especially the traditions surrounding university athletics. “I have rolled Toomer’s corner a couple of times but more than anything, I like to go there after football wins and just enjoy the atmosphere,” Marzen said. “I was in Washington for the annual Meteorology Society meeting when the news broke that the trees had been poisoned. I was pretty shocked when I heard. My first thought was of trying to contact my former student, Dusty Kimbrow (’08), to do a scan of the trees.”

Physics professor involved in anti-matter breakthrough

Last year, an international team of scientists including Auburn University physics professor Francis Robicheaux made a scientific breakthrough by trapping and holding the anti-matter version of the hydrogen atom. When the discovery was initially announced, the team, known as ALPHA, had captured 38 atoms of antihydrogen, storing each for a mere sixth of a second. Since then, ALPHA has made significant progress by trapping 309 antihydrogen atoms, with some held for as long as 15 minutes.

2011 COSAM Undergraduate Research Fellows

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COSAM Summer Travel Awards Recipients

COSAM Summer Travel Awards Recipients

Graduate students Cheruiyot, Mazzillo, Kocot and Weese recipients of 2011 DBS Awards

Graduate students Dorothy Cheruiyot, Maria Mazzillo, Kevin Kocot and David Weese recipients of 2011 DBS Award.

Dr. Christopher Easley discusses his diabetes research

Diabetes is a disorder of the endocrine system signified by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in insulin production, insulin action, or both. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. and results in $174 billion in direct and indirect medical costs per year. Indeed, medical costs are more than two times greater for those with diabetes, due in part to a host of health problems that can result from the disease including: blindness and eye problems, kidney failure, limb amputation, heart disease, stroke, hypertension, pregnancy complications and depression.

Jessica Stephens recipient of the 2011 SGA Outstanding Student Award from the AU Graduate School

Jessica Stephens selected as the recipient of the SGA Outstanding Student Award for the AU Graduate School.

The Society for Conservation Biology gets a behind-the-scenes tour of the Birmingham Zoo

The Birmingham Zoo's Indo-Chinese tiger, Kumar, weighs 230 lbs. As a means of monitoring the tiger's overall health, Kumar gets weighed twice a month by trained zoo keepers utilizing a strategic series of hallways and barriers, or holding area, connected to his exhibit. Indeed, all of the Birmingham Zoo's big cats are monitored in this fashion, and the Society for Conservation Biology, or SCB, got a behind-the-scenes look at how the system works.

Society for Conservation Biology visits Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center

The AU Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology sponsored a field trip to the Alabama Aquatic Biodiversity Center in Marion, AL on March 5.

Nanette Chadwick chosen as Director of Auburn Sustainability Program

Dr. Nanette Chadwick chosen as Director of Auburn Sustainability Program.

2010-2011 Dean's Medals and Outstanding Junior in Biological Sciences

2010-2011 Dean's Medals and Outstanding Junior in Biological Sciences are announced.

Society for Conservation Biology visits Birmingham Zoo

The AU Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology sponsored a field trip to the Birmingham Zoo on February 12.