Two faculty members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been elected 2017 Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Animal biology professor Carla E. Caceres and statistics professor Douglas G. Simpson are among 396 people to be awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow this year.

Caceres studies factors that promote and support biodiversity, including genetics, reproductive and feeding strategies, individual variation and the structure of ecological communities. According to a statement from AAAS, Caceres is recognized for her “contributions to our understanding of the role of parasites in defining plankton community structure.” Caceres directs the School of Integrative Biology at Illinois.