Feb. 25 Research Bulletin (Texas A&M University)

How to Submit an Item to Research Bulletin

Send: Research-related news about Texas A&M faculty, staff or students at our colleges, schools or member agencies, including honors, publications, presentations and appearances in news media.
Note: The Research Bulletin does not publish links to scholarly or peer-reviewed journal articles. If your work appears in a journal, please first work with your college or school communications team to develop a news story, then submit the link to that story for inclusion.
Include: A URL that links directly to your news coverage, research story or professional achievement.
Email: rcomm@tamu.edu

News-Media Coverage

Bioengineer, Guillermo Aguilar, Minghui Zheng and Xiao Liang (Engineering) and Jeffrey Tomblin (Agriculture and Life Sciences), about an autonomous, artificial intelligence-driven bioremediation system that combines black soldier fly larvae, robotics and advanced sensors to detoxify contaminated soils and restore extreme environments for sustainable use.
Houston Chronicle, Andrew Juan and Sam Brody (Institute for a Disaster Resilient Texas), about the disproportionate impact of updated FEMA flood maps on low-income communities and the role of flood control projects in mitigating some areas' vulnerabilities. (Paywall)
Interesting Engineering, Elaine Oran (Engineering), about the first large-scale experiments showing that controlled fire whirls can burn offshore oil spills nearly twice as fast as conventional methods, while consuming up to 95% of the fuel and producing significantly less soot and pollution.
KVUE, Christopher Dostal (Arts and Sciences), about the restoration of a recently discovered cannon believed to have been used in the Battle of the Alamo.
La Nouvelle Tribune, Shuo Feng (Public Health), about how daily consumption of sodas and sports drinks among U.S. high school students is linked to poorer sleep and significantly worse concentration, memory and decision-making, with especially strong cognitive effects observed in adolescent girls. (French)
Mercola, Richard Kreider (Education and Human Development), about a clinical trial showing that post-workout meals based on animal proteins improve recovery, reduce muscle soreness and inflammation, and create a more favorable anabolic environment than plant-based meals with equal protein content. (French)
Quantum Zeitgeist, Zhenghao Zhang, Qingtian Miao and Girish Agarwal (Arts and Sciences), about a new theoretical approach using the Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction to control nonreciprocal light propagation and quantum entanglement in waveguide systems.
Smithsonian Magazine, Jo Osborn (Arts and Sciences), about study findings suggesting that the pre-Inca Chincha Kingdom used seabird guano as fertilizer for maize, fueling its rise in South America.
The New York Times, Jonathan Brunstedt (Arts and Sciences), about how the Russian government draws on World War II symbolism, including “military valor” titles, to frame contemporary conflicts such as the war in Ukraine. (Paywall)
The Wall Street Journal, Matthew Call (Business), about how the real threat of workplace artificial intelligence (AI) isn’t job replacement, but that enterprise AI systems capture and institute workers’ knowledge, making employees more replaceable.
TheStreet, David Anderson (Agriculture and Life Sciences), about how high beef prices are driven by lower production and shrinking cattle herds, but consumer demand for higher-quality beef remains strong.
United Nations WebTV, Christopher Odinet (Law), about a presentation on digital platforms and insolvency risk at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

Articles From Colleges and Schools

Alexander Obeng (Public Health) found that proper ventilation in kitchens and bathrooms, using air purifiers, and avoiding smoking indoors are essential for reducing an adult’s asthma in their home. Study Finds Indoor Home Environment Key To Managing Adult Asthma

Arianna Pikus (Education and Human Development) shared that nature-based learning supports children’s literacy development, physical health and social skills, while also providing emotional benefits for teachers. Outdoor Learning Linked to Gains in Literacy, Well-Being for Children and Teachers, Texas A&M Study Finds

Chander Negi and Ivan Rusyn (Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) developed a “liver-on-a-chip” platform that more accurately models human liver function to improve drug safety testing and reduce reliance on animal studies. New “Liver-On-A-Chip" Device Could Make Drug Safety Testing More Reliable

Elaine Oran and Qingsheng Wang (Engineering) determined that fire whirls clean up oil spills faster than traditionally used pool fires and produce less smoke in the process. The Giant Fire Tornado That Could Save Our Oceans

Hatice Ceylan Koydemir (Engineering) developed a wearable catheter sensor that detects UTIs at their earliest stages, sending all necessary information directly to a compatible smartphone app. New Sensor Could Diagnose UTIs Right From Your Phone

Rafael Lara-Alecio, Roya Pashmforoosh, Beverly J. Irby, Fuhui Tong, Marcia Montague, Ramona Pittman and Kara Sutton-Jones (Education and Human Development) collaborated to create Project ROOTS — Rural Opportunities Through Literacy, Observation, Tutoring and STEM — to reach 100 rural schools across Texas and Mississippi and improve their reading and science instruction. New Literacy Initiative Aims To Level the Playing Field for Rural Schools

Renyi Zhang, Bianca Aridjis-Olivos, Sarah Brooks and Yixin Li (Arts and Sciences) and Natalie Johnson (Public Health) discovered that ultrafine atmospheric particles can form at high temperatures through the self-assembly of organic acids, raising concerns about peoples’ health during heat waves. Inside the Air: What Texas Heat Waves Reveal About the World Around Us

Scott Dindot (Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) created GTX-102, a compound that addresses the genetic cause of Angelman syndrome. Texas A&M Researcher Devotes Career To Curing Genetic Disorder in Children

Texas A&M researchers developed the TAMU-SPIRIT, a research platform that will deploy on the International Space Station. Texas A&M Develops TAMU-SPIRIT, a Dedicated Research Platform on the International Space Station

Texas A&M University’s Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation partnered with other organizations to recover and preserve a World War II torpedo bomber from the Pacific Ocean. Texas A&M Joins Effort To Recover Historic World War II Aircraft

Accomplishments

Jason Smith (Agriculture and Life Sciences) received the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS) Extension Award and Dallas Soffa (Agriculture and Life Sciences) earned the ASAS Emerging Scholar Award during the organization’s Southern Section meeting.

Jonathan Siegel (Arts and Sciences) received the Joseph F. Traub Information-Based Complexity Young Researcher Award for 2025 for his research on the expressive power of neural networks.

Shelby Gunnells (Arts and Sciences) was selected as a finalist for the Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship in Washington, D.C., where she will focus on oceanographic policy and critical minerals.

Tyler Prochnow (Public Health) was named the recipient of the 2026 Judy K. Black Early Career Research Award from the American Academy of Health Behavior for his work on the health impacts of social connectedness.

Funding

Jianrong Li (Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences) received a $2.17 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to study early brain changes linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Professional Development

Research Development Services offers faculty development programs and research funding workshops to assist in the process of applying for grants.   

Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) offers virtual workshops that meet the face-to-face requirements of University SAP 15.99.99.M0.04. Please note that it is the responsibility of each college or school (with support or information from individual principal investigators) to ensure that all student and postdoctoral researchers associated with them are compliant with the RCR training requirements.   

High Performance Research Computing offers an ongoing series of short training courses for beginning, intermediate and advanced researchers.   

University Libraries presents a series of online workshops in research-related subjects, such as managing citations, managing research data, searching databases and publishing and copyrighting.

Events

The College of Education and Human Development will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Voices of Impact (VOI) on Thursday, Feb. 26, at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Student Center’s Bethancourt Ballroom. The speaker series will feature 12 researchers sharing their expertise on issues impacting society today. This year’s topics include how to prepare future teachers to use AI, a solution to address the adult literacy crisis in Texas, a breakthrough in stem-cell therapeutics that could help with life-saving treatments, and more research from the College of Education and Human Development.

The College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) will host Matthew Kraft, professor of education and economics at Brown University, March 5 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the Memorial Student Center, Room 2406, as part of the CEHD Speaker Series. His lecture, “Is Teacher Effectiveness Fully Portable? Evidence from the Random Assignment of Transfer Incentives,” will explore how transfer incentive programs affect student achievement and whether teacher effectiveness remains consistent across school contexts.

The Texas A&M Health Institute for Healthcare Access is hosting the “All of Us and More: Hidden Health Patterns in Data Conference” March 19-20 at the Texas A&M Hotel and Conference Center. Registration can be completed here. The conference, which highlights Hagler Institute for Advanced Study Fellow José Pagán as a featured commenter on day one, will unite leaders in data science, public health, clinical research and social policy to explore how linking diverse data — clinical, genomic and social — can deepen our understanding of health.