The list includes USF's first Black honoree
TAMPA, Fla. 鈥� The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has named 10 University of South Florida researchers as new Fellows, including a College of Education associate professor who will become the university鈥檚 first Black faculty member to receive one of the world鈥檚 most prestigious honors for academic research.
Ruthmae Sears is being recognized for her work in mathematics education as well as leading a team of academic experts in a recent study of structural racism and effects on the daily lives of people for the City of St. Petersburg.
The new AAAS Fellows span multiple colleges and disciplines, bringing the total number of Fellows at 黑料网吃瓜爆料to 92.
"Our faculty is the lifeblood and backbone of the 黑料网吃瓜爆料," USF President Rhea Law said. "And this distinguished, diverse group of faculty who represent a wide-range of disciplines are a big reason why 黑料网吃瓜爆料is America's fastest-rising university, driving growth and economic development in the Tampa Bay region and beyond."
The tradition of AAAS Fellows dates to 1874. AAAS Fellows are a distinguished cadre of scientists, engineers, and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines ranging from research, teaching, and technology, to administration in academia, industry, and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.
An induction ceremony for the new Fellows will be held on Feb. 19 at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Philadelphia.
鈥淎AAS is proud to bestow the honor of AAAS Fellow to some of today鈥檚 brightest minds who are integral to forging our path into the future,鈥� said Dr. Sudip Parikh, AAAS chief executive officer and executive publisher of the Science family of journals. 鈥淲e celebrate these distinguished individuals for their invaluable contributions to the scientific enterprise.鈥�
The new AAAS Fellows from 黑料网吃瓜爆料are listed below:
Norma A. Alcantar, PhD
Engineering
Citation: For seminal work in sustainable functional technologies to remove pollutants and purify drinking water, novel therapies for Alzheimer鈥檚 and cancer, ocean oil spill clean-up methodologies, and advances in aquaculture systems.
Alcantar is the associate dean for research and a professor in the Department of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering in the College of Engineering. Alcantar is a global pioneer in developing innovative natural technologies for environmental, medical, and industrial applications. Her research focuses on interfacial phenomena and chemical characterization of biomimetic membranes, drug delivery systems, micellar surfactants, green chemistry materials, water purification systems, nanoparticles and organic/inorganic thin films. She is internationally recognized for her inventions to filter contaminants from fresh water and provide clean drinking water in areas around the world lacking access to clean water; creating new technologies for clearing up oil spills; implementing a hybrid technology to remove bacteria and ammonia from aquaculture systems; and creating novel therapies for Alzheimer鈥檚 disease and treatments for cancer tumor cells. She currently holds 22 U.S. patents and was recently chosen to be inducted into the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame.
Delcie Durham, PhD
Engineering
Citation: For seminal contributions to sustainability and green engineering with an emphasis on product realization through lifecycle analysis and thermodynamic principles of energy and exergy for energy conversion and storage devices.
Durham is Professor Emerita of Mechanical Engineering in the College of Engineering and served as dean of the 黑料网吃瓜爆料Graduate School. She is recognized for her pioneering research on sustainability and environmentally benign manufacturing and for her national leadership in advancing science. Her research focused on sustainable materials processes, life cycle analysis and assessment, and green engineering design. For nine years, she was a program director at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in engineering design and subsequently in the agency鈥檚 materials processing and manufacturing program. With other women program directors in the engineering directorate at NSF, she pioneered and co-sponsored a series of training workshops on academic leadership for women engineering faculty.
Valerie J. Harwood, PhD
Biological Sciences
Citation: For distinguished contributions to the field of biology, particularly for advances to microbial source tracking research and technologies, and demonstration of differential survival of E. coli strains in the environment.
Harwood is professor and chair of the Department of Integrative Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences. She is an environmental microbiologist whose research focuses on water quality, and the nexus between microbial ecology and human health. She has made pioneering discoveries on bacterial contamination of bodies of water and is one of the founding scholars in using molecular methods to track the sources of microbes in environmental waters. One of her most important contributions helped significantly advance Microbial Source Tracking (MST) 鈥� the science of determining the dominant source of fecal pollution in environmental waters. She has worked closely with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies on the development of MST as a regulatory tool. She has served as expert consultant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, among others.