Auburn researcher is part of Smithsonian Magazine's Top Ten Dinosaur Discoveries of 2023

Thomas Cullen, assistant professor of paleobiology in the Department of Geosciences and curator of paleontology for Auburn University Museum of Natural History, is listed not once, but twice on Smithsonian's Magazine The Top Ten Dinosaur Discoveries of 2023.

Check out Cullen's research noted in 3. A sharp-clawed dinosaur munched plants and 10. Dinosaurs had lips to lick on the list! 

NSF awards STEM Education Individual Postdoc Research Fellowship to first recipient at Auburn University

Paula E. Adams, a post-doctoral scholar in the Department of Biological Sciences, is the first person from Auburn University to receive a prestigious STEM Education Individual Postdoc Research Fellowship (STEMEd IPRF) totaling $283,448. The two-year project, Understanding instructor and student concepts of race to measure the prevalence of race essentialism in biology education, is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Graduate Education with co-funding from The Kaleta A. Doolin Foundation.  

“This is an exciting project that looks at how biology intersects with society,” said Adams, who is the primary investigator (PI) of the award. “It dives into how concepts of race are perceived in the classroom by instructors and students, plus the role traditional curricular materials play in promoting inaccurate understandings of race.”

Auburn chemist seeks to expand the capabilities of infrared spectroscopy

For Chris Grieco, an assistant professor in Auburn University’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, he is seeking to develop a novel measurement approach using a Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) Spectrometer through a $30,000 grant from the Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburg.

“We are pushing the limits of spectroscopy technology through this innovative method, which will directly let us see how electrons are moving and interacting as well as influencing the overall structure of the sample material,” said Grieco. “It will provide critical information for the design of next-generation electrochemical materials.”

He used the funding to purchase a widely-used instrument, an FTIR spectrometer, and then combined it a unique way with electrical devices that inject electrons directly into the sample. The equipment will be housed in the Chemistry Building.

Auburn’s Marshall Scholarship winner working to find solutions

There are moments in life that change and define your future — it happened to Cameron Tice the day he met a woman with active addiction. Tice, Auburn University’s newest Marshall Scholarship awardee, found himself face-to-face with a person who would eventually lead him to not only winning two national prestigious scholarship awards, but finding his passion to one day create and implement rehabilitation systems that work for individuals struggling with addiction and their families.

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