Julie Schram, pictured with UAB Biologist Maggie Amsler (left), out in the field in Antarctica.Julie Schram has been awarded the 2015 UAB Samuel B. Barker Award for Excellence in Graduate Studies at the Doctoral Level. The award — named for UAB’s first graduate dean, Dr. Samuel Booth Barker — recognizes top UAB-wide achievements by graduate students each year.

“I am grateful to have my research recognized. It really is an honor and a tribute to the supportive community we have here in the Biology Department. There is no way I could have done my research without the support and guidance from the faculty, staff, and fellow graduate students,” says the future Dr. Schram.

Julie’s research takes place in Antarctica, where she is assessing the effects of climate change on the ecological interactions among sea bottom creatures as well as investigating the effects of ocean acidification on sea stars.

This is the fourth Barker PhD award won by Biology Department students since 2010.