January 13, 2010

Craig Aumack. Download image.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Craig F. Aumack, a Ph.D. candidate in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Biology, has been elected the student member of the executive committee of the Phycological Society of America (PSA).

Aumack will serve on the PSA executive committee for two years, 2010-11.

Founded in 1946, the PSA is considered the foremost group promoting the research and teaching of algal biology and publishes the Journal of Phycology, which is considered among the top-tier scholarly journals in all of marine and freshwater biology.

Aumack now can influence society policies and procedures in his role as a voting member of the group's executive committee. As the committee's student member, he plans to focus much of his attention on the society's student-oriented programs, including its Croasdale Fellowships, which provide financial aid to graduate students completing phycology courses at biological stations.

"I feel that the future success of the PSA lies, in part, with the current student members of the society and their continued development as professional phycological teachers and researchers," Aumack says. "As such, I feel my role as student representative is crucial as I serve as a conduit between the graduate students and the executive board to ensure that the society continues to support the needs and wants of any current student constituents, as well as new members." 

UAB Professor of Biology Charles Amsler, Ph.D., was the 2009 Phycological Society of America president. He says Aumack was voted into the executive committee by a society-wide general election.

"Craig's commitment to phycological research and the importance of promoting the field in classrooms throughout the country has won him the support of PSA members," Amsler said. "He will represent the society well, and his election speaks to the value of the biological research he is conducting at UAB in pursuit of his Ph.D."

About UAB

The UAB Department of Biology is a dynamic academic partnership that provides a broad-based graduate and undergraduate curriculum. Most members of the graduate faculty have research specialties in comparative biochemistry, physiology and eco-physiology of aquatic organisms. A second, important department research focus is environmental microbiology.