|
A&M-Corpus Christi Among State’s Top 10 Public Research Universities
 Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi ranks among the state’s top 10 public universities in research expenditures according to a report recently released by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The study rated A&M-Corpus Christi 10th in the state and second among the nine Texas A&M System universities with $13.7 million in research expenditures for 2006. Texas A&M University in College Station was second in the state with research expenditures of $446.1 million. Full Story.
 Fellowships to Bring Mexican, Cuban Scientists to HRI
The Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies (HRI)
has received a $1.5 million endowment to support teaching and research fellowships for scientists from Mexico and Cuba. The Furgason Fellowships, named in honor of retiring HRI Executive Director Robert Furgason, were made possible by philanthropist Edward Harte and local attorney Jonathan Hornblower. Full Story.
Awards, Honors, and Grants
 Dr. Marion Nipper, senior research scientist with the Center for Coastal Studies. is one of three professors who were awarded $264,287 from The Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET), NOAA, for the evaluation of bioavailability and toxicity of hydrophobic organic compounds (HOCs) in coastal sediments. The evaluation is a collaborative project with Dr. R. Scott Carr, field station leader of the U.S. Geological Survey Marine Ecotoxicology Research Station, and Dr. Phil Gschwend, professor of civil and environmental engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The project will use a state of the science instrument, the Sediment Profile Imaging and Micro-sampling System (SPIMS), recently developed under a prior grant from CICEET, for in situ assessments of sediment quality for the preservation of marine life on the Texas coast.
 Dr. John Fernandez, a professor in the University’s College of Science and Technology, has been selected as the Rogelio “Roger” Benavides Chair in Computer Sciences and chair of the Department of Computer Sciences. The Benavides Memorial Chair was established by the Benavides family in memory of husband and father Roger Benavides to emphasize the research and teaching of industrial safety. Their expectation is that the holder of the Benavides Chair will be a professor of computer sciences with a strong background in all aspects of computing. Full Story.
| Research and Scholarly Activity |
 Dr. Ian MacDonald, professor of environmental science, was among an elite group of international scientists who recently returned from a month-long expedition to the Gulf of Mexico’s “Deep Slope” to study asphalt volcanoes deeper than 1,000 meters. The team, which included geologists, geochemists, microbiologists, physiologists and ecologists from the United States, France Germany and Austria, revisited several recently discovered sites as well as four previously unexplored sites to collect data on these hydrocarbon seep communities that will provide more information on the growth of deep seep animals and how their communities change over time. Full Story.
|
 Dr. Kirk Cammarata, associate professor of physical and environmental science, is working on the South Texas Undergraduate Curriculum Consortium for Educating Biotechnical Science Students (SUCCESS) program. The SUCCESS program was created to build a customized workforce of under-represented students in South Texas, improve scientific literacy through inquiry-based learning activities, incorporate instructional technology into existing and planned certificate courses and provide professional development for high school and college educators. The initiative is being developed in collaboration between Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Del Mar College, the University of Houston, Corpus Christi Industry Partners, and the Life Sciences Division of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California. |
Around the Island
Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi has been selected as one of the “Best 290 Business Schools of 2008” by The Princeton Review, a New York-based education services company. The University is one of 23 business schools that The Princeton Review is adding to the guidebook this year. Full Story.
 A Psychology Department study headed by Dr. Paul Merritt indicates that smokers who try to give up cigarettes may suffer from episodic memory lapses due to nicotine withdrawal. The study found that exposure to nicotine through tobacco use causes structural changes in the brain, especially those associated with memory. The result of this rewiring is that the brain relies on the presence of nicotine to function normally. When nicotine is withdrawn, these brain areas are not functioning at their normal level. Full Story.
 
|
The University will hold its 2007 summer commencement Saturday, Aug. 4, from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the American Bank Center Arena, 1901 N. Shoreline Blvd. More than 400 students have applied for graduation. The ceremony will include graduates from the College of Business, College of Education, College of Liberal Arts, College of Nursing and Health Sciences and the College of Science and Technology. Speakers will be U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz (top left) and Dr. Wes Tunnell, associate director of the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies. The ceremony will be broadcast live beginning at 10:30 a.m. on KTOV channel 21 and by Time-Warner, Grande and Charter Communications on cable channel 15.
|
Three University faculty members testified at the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee’s Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans hearing on the impact of erosion on coastal communities held on South Padre Island. Dr. Jennifer Smith-Engle, a professor in the College of Science and Technology, Dr. Gary Jeffress, director of the Conrad Blucher Institute, and Dr. Stacy Lyle, an assistant professor with the Blucher Institute, provided critical background for remarks on coastal erosion made by Precinct 4 County Commissioner Chuck Cazalas and assisted with his presentation. Dr. Jim Gibeaut with the University’s Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies made a separate presentation on the impact of development on North Padre and Mustang Islands which are among the last barrier islands in the world to be developed. Gibeaut told the subcommittee that the Texas coast is eroding in large part due to the fact that sand which was once carried to the ocean by rivers is now being deposited behind dams or in coastal bays and estuaries instead of being carried to the open coast. |
|
University President Flavius Killebrew, who played multiple instruments as a member of his high school band, talked with young trumpeters about his experiences attending a band camp taught by legendary band leader Doc Severinsen during the Islander Band Camp for middle, junior high and high school students. Students participated in group lessons, sectionals, full ensemble rehearsals; and rudimental music theory, afternoon activities and recitals.
Whether they wanted to learn how to program a robot or create art from molten aluminum, there was something for everyone during the three-week Summer Connections Youth Camp for elementary and middle school students presented by Community Outreach. The camp was designed to introduce students to potential careers and inspire them to success through hands-on experience. Activities were led by University faculty and staff with the assistance of student volunteers.
College of Nursing and Health Sciences students held a free Health and Wellness Fair Saturday, July 14 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. Services offered included blood sugar and blood pressure screenings and body fat and body mass index exams. Information was also provided on diabetes awareness, nutrition, exercise, area children’s programs and breast feeding. Local participating organizations included Driscoll Children’s Hospital, the Food Bank of Corpus Christi, Head Start, the Latino Education Project and the WIC Program.
Aspiring high school shutterbugs captured the natural beauty of the Coastal Bend with their cameras during the “Corpus Christi Islander Adventure” photography camp sponsored by the University’s 2007 Youth Adventure Program. The one-week course included a visit to the South Texas Botanical Gardens, and photo shoots in the tropical island setting of the University, the city and the surrounding coastal landscape. Inside the classroom, participants studied the history of photography and a variety of camera techniques including how to measure light and exposure, photo composition, black and white film processing, and darkroom printing.
|
