ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEASTERN BIOLOGISTS (ASB)
PROMOTING BIOLOGY THROUGH RESEARCH AND EDUCATION FOR MORE THAN 75 YEARS.
80TH ANNUAL MEETING OF ASB
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
3-6 APRIL 2019
NOMINEES FOR ASB 2019 OFFICER ELECTIONS
The following individuals were nominated by the ASB Nominations Committee and have agreed to serve in the indicated capacities if elected. Elections will take place online only. ASB Members will receive an electronic invitation to vote via SurveyMonkey on Wednesday, 6 March. Each member is limited to a single vote through this e-invitation, and all voting will be anonymous. There are opportunities to indicate write-in candidates on the ballot. Voting for these elections will close at midnight on Wednesday, 27 March, one week prior to the ASB 2019 annual meeting in Memphis. Results of the election will be announced at the Friday Night Awards Banquet at the conclusion of the annual meeting.
VICE PRESIDENT - Chris Brown, Georgia Gwinnett College, Lawrenceville, Georgia
Dr. Brown is an Associate Professor of Biology at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, GA. He has been teaching full time since 2009 and has taught introductory biology for majors and nonmajors, and classes in zoology, evolution, ecology, entomology, parasitology, and animal behavior. He loves teaching students how science works and bringing them into nature. Dr. Brown holds an A.S. in biology from South Georgia College (2001), a B.S. in biology from Shorter College (2003) and a Ph.D. in Biology with a focus on ecology and evolution from Vanderbilt University (2009). His dissertation centers on the behavioral ecology of Neochlamisus leaf beetles with special attention to the creation, maintenance and function of their remarkable animal architectures. He is interested in organisms of all kinds and has researched insects, rodents, and box turtles in the Arizona desert; Anolis lizards in the Puerto Rican rainforest; insects in temperate forests of eastern North America, and trematode-snail interactions in the foothills of the Appalachians. His research on small mammal and insect diversity now serves as a conduit to expose undergraduate students to the scientific process. He greatly appreciates ASB for providing so many students opportunities to share their research and introducing them to professional biologists. He has been a member of ASB since around 2002 and won the society’s Student Research Award in 2009. He formally served on ASB’s book review committee and since 2013 has served on the program committee for ASB which is responsible for abstract submission and program creation. He is currently serving as member-at-large on the executive committee.
MEMBERS-AT-LARGE (two seats)
Davy Giles, University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Dr. David (Davy) Giles is an associate professor in the Department of Biology, Geology, and Environmental Science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. David was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology. He earned a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences with a concentration in Microbiology from East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, TN after receiving a B.A. in Biology from Maryville College in Maryville, TN. His research interests are in the area of bacteriology; specifically, his lab examines the utilization of exogenous fatty acids by Gram-negative bacteria for membrane adaptation and phenotypes associated with environmental persistence and virulence. David has directed 5 Honors Theses in his lab (all presented research at ASB and 2 students were awarded Best Poster in Microbiology). In the past 3 years, sixteen undergraduate trainees have been co-authors on peer-reviewed publications. At UTC he teaches Microbiology, Cell Biology, Human Infectious Disease, Biology Seminar, and an Honors course on the epidemiology of emerging and reemerging diseases (Deja Flu). Attending his first meeting in 2001, David has served on the ASB Poster and Presentation Awards Committee (member and chair) and enjoys being a poster/talk judge for ASB conferences.
Matt Heard, Belmont University, Nashville, Tennessee
Matt Heard is an Assistant Professor of Biology and the Director of the Environmental Sciences program at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. Matt earned his B.A. in Ecology and French at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville in 2004 and his Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Brown University in 2012. Matt was the recipient of the Voss Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Environmental Change Initiative at Brown University where he worked between the Ecology & Evolutionary Biology and Epidemiology Departments. Prior to coming to Belmont, Matt was also an Assistant Professor of Biology at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC for four years (2012-2016). At Belmont, Matt teaches courses in both Biology and Environmental Science for undergraduate students of all levels. Research in his lab focuses on understanding how humans are impacting the world and conducting research on water quality, land-use change, invasive species, and infectious disease outbreaks. Matt has been attending ASB for many years and has served the society in a number of capacities including serving as a judge for student research presentations and chairing and serving as a committee member for the Senior Research Award. He was also recipient of ASB’s Senior Research Award at the 2013 Annual Meeting. Matt is also an associate editor for Southeastern Naturalist and Frontiers of Biogeography. Matt looks forward to helping to serve ASB in new and exciting ways moving forward.
