Stories

One in eight women in the United States will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime. It is the most common cancer among women globally, with more than 2 million new cases each year according to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. TCU biology professor Mikaela Stewart is innovating the way we research breast cancer in efforts to transform these harrowing statistics into stories of victory.

A few months ago, residents of Starr County reported a loud blast accompanied by a streak of fire falling from the sky. A meteor traveling nearly 30,000 mph with energy equal to eight tons of TNT landed on a remote ranch near El Sauz, Texas. It was reported that the entire Rio Grande Valley, all the way into Mexico, heard and felt the shock from sonic booms.

TCU’s organic laboratory course “Organic Qualitative Analysis,” a department capstone lab, might very well be renamed “Chemistry Detectives.” This is a fun twist on discovering and identifying unknown chemical compounds using deduction and reasoning.

Lauren Trotter, a senior Environmental & Sustainability Sciences student at TCU, has raised money to plant more trees on TCU campus and organized a donation drive during move out to donate items. Trotter has worked as representative of sustainability related initiatives for the College of Science & Engineering in the Student Government Associated (SGA) since the fall of 2021. The last two years of her undergrad, Trotter advocated for improvement of sustainability at TCU.

To celebrate Earth Week, TCU’s Department of Geological Sciences has planned a fun event and open house in the Sid Richardson Atrium on April 20 from 2 – 5 p.m. featuring giveaways, interactive demonstrations, and food trucks.

The CSE Honors Research Forum took place last Friday, April 14 and featured 38 presentations from students taking departmental honors. As part of the Symposium, CSE was tasked with selecting four student presenters to compete in the university-wide Boller Award Competition for Best Honors Presentation.

Morgan Kiani, TCU engineering professor, was invited to participate in a Fulbright Specialist grant at University Politehnica Timisoara in Romania this summer. Being awarded this grant is a reflection of Kiani’s leadership and contributions to global communities.

TCU geology professor John Holbrook was published in the latest issue of Sedimentology for his groundbreaking research in the analysis of the origins of the Dockum Group strata, which make up the rocks of Texas’s Palo Duro Canyon. The paper, worked on in collaboration with his master’s student Sam Walker, highlights the role mega monsoonal flash floods play in creating this strata and why these rocks are vast sources to find early Mesozoic vertebrates.

The senior design program in the College of Science & Engineering’s Department of Engineering is a year-long opportunity for senior engineering majors to work directly with industry sponsors to produce a solution to a relevant issue. The project begins in the fall of students’ senior year, and project completion is expected the following spring.