Two College of Agriculture faculty members were announced among Auburn University’s five 2024 Alumni Professors Sept. 20.
Eve Brantley, a professor and associate director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, is a renowned expert in water quality and management. Her research focuses on developing science-based solutions for water resource management, securing more than $8.5 million in grants to study water protection through innovative stormwater practices, bioretention media and other devices that slow water flow and filter pollutants.
Brantley collaborates internationally with partners in Cuba and Guyana and domestically with the Alabama Soil and Water Conservation Committee, the USDA National Resources Conservation Service and the University of Alabama in Huntsville to advance statewide watershed planning. She also is committed to mentoring students and often leads tours of the restored creek on the Auburn campus, a project she worked on with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and Auburn University Facilities.
Before serving as associate director of Alabama Extension, Brantley was director of the Auburn University Water Resources Center. She is a professor and Extension specialist in the Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences.
Ash Bullard is a professor and director of the Southeast Cooperative Fish Parasite and Disease Laboratory. As an authority in fish health and aquatic conservation, he leads a multi-state fish disease diagnostics laboratory backed by a $5 million grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Bullard’s research focuses on fish disease diagnostics and aquatic pathogen surveillance in the Southeastern U.S.
In addition to overseeing the five-year grant, Bullard collaborates with graduate students and fellow scientists in the School of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences to establish partnerships with Southeastern state agencies, including the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Gulf of Mexico Initiative and the U.S. National Sea Grant Program. His groundbreaking work led to the first discovery of whirling disease in Southeast trout and includes research on the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
Bullard has authored more than 160 scholarly works and has received the Grantsmanship Award from the College of Agriculture. Internationally, he has conducted research in Africa, South America and Asia, with funding for his research programs exceeding $20 million.
Sponsored by the Auburn Alumni Association, the Alumni Professorships represent the highest standard of teaching, research and service awarded by the association. This year’s five Alumni Professors will be acknowledged alongside other faculty honorees at the Endowed Faculty Recognition Ceremony hosted by the Provost’s Office later in the fall 2024 semester.
