Five University of Florida faculty members have been named American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows, a recognition awarded for their efforts toward advancing science applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished.
The five join 46 other UF professors listed by the AAAS as fellows, a distinction also earned by UF President Kent Fuchs in 2010.
The awardees are
John J. Ewel, emeritus professor, department of biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences -- For distinguished contributions to the field of ecology, particularly to our understanding of tropical ecosystem functioning and management.
Hugh Fan, professor, department of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering – For distinguished contributions to the field of microfluidics, particularly for platform development and their biomedical applications.
Alice C. Harmon, professor, department of biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences – For advancing her profession by meritorious service on several editorial boards and for seminal biochemical work on calcium-dependent protein kinases in plants.
Robert Dan Holt, eminent scholar, Arthur R. Marshall Jr. Chair in Ecology, department of biology, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences – For distinguished fundamental contributions to ecological theory, and in particular for advancing the integration of ecology and evolution.
Laura P.W. Ranum, professor, department of molecular genetics and microbiology, College of Medicine – For distinguished contributions to molecular and translational neuroscience, particularly in disease mechanisms for microsatellite expansion diseases and discovery of repeat associated non-ATG (RAN) translation.
This year, 391 members have been awarded this honor by AAAS. New Fellows will be presented with an official certificate and a gold and blue (representing science and engineering, respectively) rosette pin on Feb. 18 at the AAAS Fellows Forum during the 2017 AAAS Annual Meeting in Boston. This year’s AAAS Fellows will be formally announced in the AAAS News & Notes section of the journal Science on Nov. 25.
