Professor Jose Barbosa
photo by Angela Foster/UTC
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga College of Arts and Sciences and the CAS Access and Inclusive Excellence Committee will host the annual CAS Spotlight on Faculty Excellence at 6 p.m. on Thursday, April 4 in the University Center Auditorium.
Now in its third year, the Spotlight on Faculty Excellence series recognizes outstanding CAS faculty and provides them a platform to share their research, scholarship and creative activity with the UTC campus and Chattanooga community.
This year’s honoree is Dr.
Jose M. Barbosa, a professor in the Department of Biology, Geology and Environmental Science.
Dr. Barbosa will give a lecture titled “Cultivating Tomorrow’s Scientists” about his career mentoring students through his research projects. He is the UTC faculty sponsor of the L.L. Roper Teaching and Learning Garden, an outdoor classroom/laboratory where students across various academic disciplines come together to plant, water, cultivate, harvest, laugh and learn.
The event is free and open to the public, and attendees will have the unique opportunity to receive plants from Dr. Barbosa’s greenhouse. To RSVP, register using this
link. A Q&A and reception will follow the presentation.
Dr. Barbosa’s talk will focus on how urban gardening activities may contribute to increased food security, human nutrition and mental health.
He has been a member of the UTC faculty since 2007, progressing from assistant professor to associate professor (2013) to professor (2020). Before arriving at the University, Dr. Barbosa was a post-doctoral research fellow at Auburn University.
The previous Spotlight on Faculty Excellence honorees were Herman H. Battle Professor of African American Studies Earl Braggs (2022) and Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Gale Iles (2023).