Posted on March 20, 2002 at 1:50 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) biology Professor Stephen Watts, Ph.D., has been elected president of the Alabama Academy of Science for 2002-2003.

The Alabama Academy of Science, established in 1924, was created to promote interest in scientific matters in the state and to encourage the study of science by the youth of Alabama. Since 1927, the academy has been affiliated with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

“I am honored to have been elected by my peers to this position,” Watts said. “The academy has always provided an excellent and needed venue for the discussion of scientific ideas in junior and senior scientists. I hope during my tenure that this excellence continues.”

Watts, who has been on the UAB faculty since 1988, earned his doctorate and his master’s degree at the University of South Florida. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Auburn University.

Watts has done extensive research in the area of aquatic science, exploring the development of land-based aquaculture systems for producing a number of water-based crops in rural Alabama, including sea urchins, tilapia, freshwater shrimp and crawfish. These innovative systems could one day provide new jobs for Alabama’s farmers while protecting overfished waters.