The recipients for the 2011 - 2012 COSAM Dean's Research Awards have been announced and were recognized at the awards ceremony on March 21, 2012. The ceremony recognized a faculty member, three graduate students and one undergraduate student.  Two of these individuals were from the Department of Biological Sciences.

This year's faculty recipient, Scott R. Santos of Biological Sciences (pictured above), gave the annual Dean's Faculty Research Award Lecture, "The Santos Lab: Eight years of research at Auburn University" at the award ceremony. Santos focuses his research on aquatic and terrestrial microbes and multi-cellular organisms. His research involves understanding the molecular evolution of marine invertebrates and the conservation genetics of anchialine habitats and biota in Hawaii. Santos has received $3 million in grants for his research from the National Science Foundation in the last three years.

Kevin M. Kocot, doctoral candidate in Biological Sciences (pictured below), was recognized for his research on molluscs, specifically, the relationship between gastropods and bivalves. Kocot and collaborators were able to use cutting-edge genomic techniques to reveal a relationship between the two groups that had not been suspected previously.