BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Professor Stephen A. Watts, Ph.D., has won the 2007 Caroline P. and Charles W. Ireland Prize for Scholarly Distinction. A dinner will be held in his honor Monday, April 30, at The Club, with a reception at 6 p.m. and dinner at 6:45 p.m. During the dinner, Watts will present his public lecture, “Crossing Bridges: Aquaculture, Medicine and the Environment.” Reservations are $20 each. For reservations, call 205-934-0771.

UAB presents the Ireland Prize award annually to a faculty member in the schools of Arts and Humanities, Natural Sciences and Mathematics or Social and Behavior Sciences for professional and academic achievements and contributions made to the university and local community. The prize comes with a $5,000 award.

Watts’ research includes aquaculture of sea urchins and has led to novel investigations and collaborations with numerous U.S. agencies as well as with scientists in New Zealand, China, Japan, Scotland, Norway, Israel and Mexico. Working outside the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Watts has expanded his research area to studying the development of the sea urchin as a model for human embryological development, bone growth and development, and to evaluating the effects of nutrition on developing teeth. Among his previous achievements in enhancement of science education at UAB is the initiation of the 5th year Master of Science Program in the Department of Biology. Watts, the winner of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2006, serves as director of the Department of Biology Graduate Program.

During his tenure at UAB, Watts has published more than 115 research manuscripts and seven book chapters along with presentations of more than 250 abstracts at scientific meetings. Watts earned his bachelor’s degree from Auburn University in 1979 and his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of South Florida in 1981 and 1986, respectively. He has been a member of the UAB faculty since 1988.