Faculty Research Interests
The College of Sciences fully supports the research interests of its faculty. Through research, scholarship, and grants faculty members continue their research and discovery. It’s these continued pursuits that build the body of knowledge for science and quality, diverse educational opportunities for students.
The College of Sciences offers students a scientific education to meet the needs of the 21st century, allowing them to compete for a variety of careers in an increasingly complex and evolving world.
Department Faculty Research Interests
Chelsea Ward
Professor/Head | College of Sciences
Ph.D. (2005) Auburn University in Biology
BS (1998) Florida Institute of Technology in Marine Biology
Dr. Ward’s research focuses are on immunology and stress physiology as it relates to temperature and changing environments. She also has interested in latitudinal gradients in stress physiology, immunology, and metabolism in Anurans.
Maria Florencia Breitman
Assistant Professor | College of Sciences
Dr. Breitman research is focused on (1) exploring the biodiversity and urban ecology of reptiles and amphibians in urban forests under different management treatments, (2) next-generation teaching: designing and implementing scientifically based teaching and peer-mentoring approaches for different class/lab settings, and (3) providing AUM undergraduate students with authentic research experiences tailored to their career goals (including octopuses biomechanics, human dental research, collection management, and more!). Dr. Breitman and other amazing collaborators @ AUM have developed Flight School, which is a very successful mentoring program that increases the skills of students by supporting and training mentors and faculty. Dr. Breitman welcomes and celebrates everyone’s ideas! If you are interested in research and/or mentoring, please reach out to Dr. Breitman!
Webpage https://breitmanlab.com/
Gabriel Costa
Professor | College of Sciences
Dr. Gabe Costa is an Assistant Professor of Biology and Environmental Sciences, and Coordinator of Environmental Sciences and GIS at AUM. His research is mainly focused in understanding the ecological and evolutionary drivers of variation in Biodiversity across the globe. Dr. Costa has worked with different groups of organisms such as amphibians, reptiles and mammals disentangling the roles of abiotic, biotic and evolutionary factors in explaining diversity patterns from local to global scales. Dr. Costa is also interested in using his findings to create instrumental knowledge that can support conservation decisions. By understanding what factors influence how biodiversity changes across space we might be able to quantify, predict, mitigate and possibly manage the growing negative impacts caused by human activities. Dr. Costa teaches Biostatistics, Species Distribution Modeling, Landscape Ecology, and Biogeography and Macroecology. His classes usually have a strong focus on analytical skills including learning to work in the R environment, GIS and spatial analysis. Dr. Costa research has reached a broad audience with over 60 peer reviewed articles published that collectively have been cited more than 2,400 times (Scholar page) (Lab page)
Nicholas Cuba
Assistant Professor
Nicholas Cuba
Assistant Professor | College of Sciences
Hoe Hun Ha
Associate Professor | College of Sciences
Ph.D. State University of New York at Buffalo (2011)
M.A. State University of New York at Buffalo (2007)
B.S. Utah State University (2003)
Dr. Hoehun Ha is Associate Professor of Geography specializing in Geographic Information System (GIS). His primary research interests focus on the linkages between socio-physical environment and human interactions, using GIS and statistical methodologies. His research includes 1) the spatial modeling of chemical exposure and risk assessment, and the investigation of soil contamination with toxic substances in Anniston, Alabama. He also has worked on 2) conservation easement suitability modeling : a case study from South-East Michigan and 3) roadkill hot-spots modeling using a geographic socio-environmental niche-based approach: a case-study from 3 state highways in Central California. Furthermore, in his current research, he has developed 4) spatial models in public health – physical / socioeconomic based approach; a case study from U.S counties.
His teaching interests cover a wide range of geography courses including: Introduction to GIS, Advanced GIS, GIS in Environmental Modeling & Management, GIS in Public Health, Cartography, Geography of World Region, Human Geography, Spatial Statistics, and Earth Systems Science.
Dr. Ha’s publications have appeared in numerous internationally reputable scholarly journals including: Environmental Science & Technology, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, Transportation, Applied Geography, Ecological Informatics, High Altitude Medicine & Biology, International Journal of Environmental Health Research, and International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. He is a member of Association of American Geographers (AAG) and Applied Geography Conference (AGC). (Scholar page)
Pryce Haddix
Associate Professor | College of Sciences
Ph.D. Microbiology, May 1992, University of Kentucky
B.A. Biology with chemistry emphasis, May 1985, Transylvania University, Lexington, KY
Dr. Haddix is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department in the School of Sciences. He has a broad background in microbiology and molecular biology. His research interests are in the biological functions of bacterial pigments and the use of bacteria as biological sensors for the detection of environmental contaminants.
Dr. Haddix’s primary research interest involves identifying and characterizing the biological function of a red pigment made by the soil bacterium and opportunistic bacterial pathogen Serratia marcescens. His early work on this project built a circumstantial case for a negative role for prodigiosin pigment in cellular energy production during high-rate cell multiplication when cellular energy levels begin at their maximum (PubMed ID # 18805986). More recent work has revealed that the pigment has a positive function in cellular energy production when cellular energy levels are low; this positive function ultimately produces a doubling of pigmented cell yield over that of non-pigmented cells (PMID # 29616306). His most recent work has more clearly defined the negative role, and a manuscript describing these results is due to be submitted for publication in spring, 2019. Ongoing experimental work will more closely address the positive function and build a model for prodigiosin pigment in the cellular energy fluxes associated with Serratia marcescens population growth.
Vanessa Koelling
Associate Professor | College of Sciences
Ph.D. University of Georgia (2008), Genetics
B.A. Reed College (2000), Biology
Bio: Dr. Vanessa Koelling is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology and Environmental Science. She is a plant evolutionary biologist, which means that she studies how plant populations change over time in response to new environmental conditions. Within the field of evolutionary biology, she is particularly interested in the evolution of plant mating systems, the mechanisms of plant speciation, and in plant evolutionary genetics. Her work aims to understand which evolutionary mechanisms are most important in plant mating system evolution and speciation, and to understand the causal genetic changes underlying plant adaptations. She currently studies these topics using the common yellow monkeyflower (Mimulus guttatus), a wildflower endemic to the Western United States with many features that make it an ideal system for the study of evolution. She has also begun a new project to study the population genetics, ecophysiology, and evolution of two of Alabama’s native azaleas (Rhododendron cumberlandense and Rhododendron prunifolium). In addition, she is interested in eventually expanding her research into other Southeastern plants.
Dr. Koelling has published her work in distinguished scientific journals, such as Heredity, the American Journal of Botany, and The American Naturalist. She is a member of the Society for the Study of Evolution and the Botanical Society of America. (Scholar page)
Dr. Koelling is also an experienced teacher who has taught a range of introductory and specialized courses. She especially enjoys teaching topics in evolution, genetics, and applied bioinformatics. She incorporates inquiry-based and active-learning methods into her courses, and continually seeks new ways to engage and motivate students in her classrooms.
Ben Okeke
Professor | College of Sciences
Ph.D. (1994): University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
M.S. (1989): University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland
B.S. (1985): University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria
Professor Okeke is a Distinguished Research Professor of Industrial and Environmental Microbiology in the Department of Biology and Environmental Science. His research interests include: biofuel and co-products, biosensors, bioremediation, enzyme biotechnology, effects of pollutants on microbial communities, indicators of microbiological safety of water and food, and genetic engineering of microbes. He teaches industrial microbiology, environmental microbiology, special topics biotechnology, general microbiology and directed research. Professor Okeke did postdoctoral work at the University of California, Riverside; Gifu University, Japan; and the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Trieste, Italy. Dr. Okeke has 60 research papers in peer reviewed journals, three US patents, two books, numerous conference abstracts and several research grants including a million dollar grant for research on fuel ethanol from biomass. His excellence awards include Alumni Professor, Ida Belle Young Endowed Professorship. He is the founding Director of the Bioprocessing and Biofuel Research Lab (BBRL). Dr. Okeke served as Associate and Assistant Editor for two peer reviewed international journals; the Journal of Environmental Quality and Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology.
Claudia Stein
Associate Professor | College of Sciences
PhD, Biology, University of Potsdam & Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Germany, 2008
Diploma Biology (chemical ecology, botany), Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, 2003
Dr. Stein is Assistant Professor in Biology and Environmental Sciences specializing in plant ecology. She is broadly interested in understanding the patterns, causes and consequences of plant diversity. Her main research focusses on the mechanisms by which species interactions, such as plant-soil microbial feedbacks and plant-herbivore interactions, affect species diversity, biological invasions, and ecosystem functioning under climate change. The motivation of her work is to develop management solutions to successful restoration and conservation and to mitigate the effects of climate change. She works in a variety of systems, including grasslands, working rangelands, and woodlands.
Her recent publications include journal articles in Ecology, Journal of Ecology, Oecologia, Plant and Soil, Mycorrhiza, and Ecology and Evolution. She is a member of the Ecological Society of America (ESA) and Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GfÖ).
Duk (Daniel) Kim
Department Chair; Professor | College of Sciences
Ph.D. (2003) Chemistry, Florida International University
MS (1987) Chemistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
BS (1985) Chemistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
Dr. Daniel Kim is an organic Chemist. His current research interests lie in using ultrasound to accelerate slow chemical reactions, removal of resisting pollutants in polluted water. He applies ultrasound to measure the antioxidant capacity of natural materials. His background experience has a broad spectrum from synthesis of unusual organic compounds, nuclear chemistry using nuclear reactors or particle accelerators, environmental remediation using advanced oxidation technologies, and modification of solid materials using accelerated particle beams. Dr. Kim is the Chemistry Chair and advisor of the Chemistry Club.
Haewon An
Lecturer | College of Sciences
Ph.D. (2012) Biochemistry, University of Houston
B.S. (2007) Chemistry, University of Houston
Dr. Haewon An is a Lecturer in the AUM Department of Chemistry. She teaches General Chemistry and Organic Chemistry Lab. Her research has focused on elucidating the essential roles of several residues in Vibrio harveyi FRP activity during her Ph.D. She further tried to determine the roles of Phospholipase D (PLD) in an anesthetic effect of living organisms during her postdoctoral experience at Scripps Research Institute in Florida. She also has chemistry research experiences to prepare palladium shells with gold and silica nanoparticles. She has supervised and instructed numerous students in biochemical techniques.
Steve Arnold
Assistant Professor | College of Sciences
Ph.D. (1990) Chemistry, Louisiana State University
B.S. (1985) Chemistry, Louisiana State University
Dr. Steve Arnold’s area of expertise is Physical Chemistry. His research interests are in UV-visible absorption and emission spectroscopy. Dr. Arnold instructs students at AUM in Physics as well as General Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, and Instrumental Analysis. Dr. Arnold further serves as the academic advisor for students pursuing degrees in Physical Science with the Chemistry option.
John Hutchison
Associate Professor | College of Sciences
Ph.D. (2007) Organic Chemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
B.S. (2000) Chemistry, University of Southern Indiana, Evansville, IN
Dr. John Hutchison is an Associate Professor in the AUM Department of Chemistry. His area of expertise is Synthetic Organic Chemistry. His research interest lies in the synthesis of structurally interesting and/or biologically active organic molecules. Graduate and post-doctoral work involved the development of synthetic strategies towards the synthesis of eupomatilone-6, sclerophytin A, cladiell-11-ene-3,6,7-triol, antascomicin B, organometallic Ni and Pd-complexes, and CdSe nanoparticles. While at AUM his undergraduate research students have completed the total synthesis of three natural products gymnoascolide A, eutypoid A, and microperfuranone. Current undergraduate research projects involve short-syntheses of biologically active natural products and structure activity studies of antibacterial C-4 and C-5 substituted butenolides. Dr. Hutchison enjoys working with AUM students in both the classroom and laboratory. He is a good research mentor and he is an outstanding life guide for students.
Randall Richardson
Lab Coordinator | College of Sciences
M.A. (1991) Auburn University at Montgomery
B.A. (1989) Auburn University at Montgomery
Mr. Randy Richardson has served the Department of Physical Sciences as Laboratory Coordinator since 1994. In this capacity, Mr. Richardson maintains the chemistry laboratory in all aspects including chemical maintenance, safety, and instruction of students while in laboratory classes. Mr. Richardson has served on several committees while at AUM including: AUM’s ADA Task Force – Helps assure AUM is in compliance with regulations related to the Americans With Disabilities Act. AUM’s Diversity Council – Established to assist the University in developing statements offering the views of the institution towards fostering and maintaining respect for the many diverse individuals that comprise the AUM population. Mr. Richardson further serves the Department of Physical Sciences and AUM as the webmaster for the Departmental web pages. He was selected to receive the Outstanding Staff Award “Administrative Category” for exemplary service and dedication, academic year 1999- 2000. Mr. Richardson is charged with the production aspects of all departmental laboratory manuals, as well as co-author of several of the manuals. Departmental Laboratory manuals are a major source of funding for the department and helps fund purchases of much needed equipment for student use in the laboratories, such as an NMR Spectrophotomter, several Jasco spectrophotometers, and a fluorimeter.
Randy Russell
Assistant Professor | College of Sciences
Randy Russell is the Advisor for Pre-Physical Therapy studies. Additionally, Mr. Russell instructs students in Astronomy, Introduction to Physical Sciences, and Physics.
Emma Si
Lecturer | College of Sciences
Ph.D. (2011) Analytical/Environmental Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
M.S. (2003) Chemistry, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario
B.A. (2001) Chemistry, Shandong Normal University, China
Dr. Emma Si is an Assistant Professor in the AUM Department of Chemistry. Her research interests include (i) understanding the photochemistry of inorganic mercury with selected organic molecules; (ii) developing analytical methods for chemical speciation of toxic metals in aquatic environment; and (iii) developing novel remediation techniques for air and water pollution. She is actively involved in mentoring undergraduate research students at AUM and their results have been presented at various international and national conferences.
Nick Thomas
Professor | College of Sciences
Dr. Nick Thomas is a Professor of Chemistry at AUM and was selected as Distinguished Teaching Professor 2006 ? 2009. He teaches Inorganic Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, and General Chemistry. His primary areas of research have been the coordination chemistry of transition metals, including lanthanide (rare earth) elements, and chemical education. He has written encyclopedia entries and numerous feature articles on a variety of general interest topics for newspapers and magazines around the country.
Nicholas Cuba
Assistant Professor
Nicholas Cuba
Assistant Professor | College of Sciences
Robert Underwood
Professor | College of Sciences
Ph.D. Mathematics (1992), State University of New York at Albany
M.S. Mathematics Education (1986), State University of New York at Albany
Robert Underwood is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics in the School of School of Sciences. His research interests concern the classification of Hopf algebra orders in group rings and the application of Hopf orders to Galois module theory and the theory of formal groups.
Dr. Mosisa Aga | Time series analysis, bootstrap approximation methods, and Gaussian long memory processes.
Dr. Yue Chen | Electromagnetic wave propagation in metamaterials, homogenization theory of partial differential equations, inverse problem, stability analysis of crystal growth, mathematical materials science, solid mechanics.
Dr. Tianran Chen | Numerical analysis, scientific computing, application of numerical methods in physics and chemistry, systems of polynomial equations, homotopy continuation methods, numerical algebraic geometry.
Dr. Jerome Goddard II | Applied mathematics, reaction diffusion equations and nonlinear elliptic boundary value problems arising from population dynamics and combustion theory.
Dr. Enoch Lee | Rings, modules, near-rings, semigroups, universal algebra, radical theory, number theory, cryptology, coding theory.
Dr. Luke Smith | Math Education
Dr. Yi Wang | Machine learning, optimization, Numerical methods
Dr. Robert Underwood |Classification of Hopf algebra orders in group rings and application of Hopf orders to Galois module theory and the theory of formal groups.
Steven Lobello
Professor | College of Sciences
BA, Christian Brothers College, Psychology
MS, Mississippi State University, Clinical Psychology
PhD, University of Southern Mississippi, Counseling Psychology
MSPH, University of Alabama in Birmingham, Epidemiology Education
Bio: Steven LoBello completed his PhD in counseling psychology at the University of Southern Mississippi in 1986. He began his career as a psychologist in clinical practice, specializing in psychological assessment of clinical cases requiring intellectual assessment. He is a licensed psychologist in Alabama. He joined the AUM Psychology faculty in 1989. His initial research program involved statistical issues in I.Q. tests and best practices in teaching test administration and scoring to graduate students.
In 1998, he returned to graduate school at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Attending classes on a part time basis, he earned a master’s degree in epidemiology in 2003. While at UAB, he was fortunate to become affiliated with the Injury Control Research Center as a Senior Scientist, and was principle investigator of a longitudinal study of rehabilitation outcomes. This project was planned and initiated by others many years earlier, and was brought to completion during this grant period. The project was a study of outcomes among individuals with spinal cord, head, and multiple trauma, as well as severe burns. The project was funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
Dr. LoBello has an active research lab with graduate students who have a broad range of heath behavior interests. Research topics have included studies of quality of life among people with asthma who use alternative and conventional medicines, influenza vaccination among people with asthma, prevalence of depression among pregnant women, and the relationship of depression to chronic illness. In his research program, Dr. LoBello frequently uses the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data sets. He is a student of using population-based health survey data and epidemiological methods to investigate health behavior research problems.
B.S., Arkansas State University
M.S., Memphis State University
Ph.D., The University of Memphis
