TAMIU Annual Report 2022

UNIVERSITY DONORS WHAT HAPPENED TO THOSE DINOSAURS? FASCINATING LECTURE OFFERS ANSWER Just what caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? That fascinating question was at the center of a lecture dedicated to the effects of the Chicxulub Asteroid’s impact on México’s Yucatan Peninsula. The free lecture, “Asteroid Impact: The Chicxulub Asteroid and the Death of the Dinosaurs,” by Dr. Sean Gulick , co-chair of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas at Austin, proved popular with students and community members. It was offered through the generous support of longtime University partner Guillermo “Memo” Benavides. Dr. Gulick shared research completed during a sea expedition in 2016, where his team drilled and collected various core samples found on the rim of the Chicxulub Crater. The collected samples revealed previously unknown details of what occurred 66 million years ago during the asteroid’s impact …including drastic changes to the Earth’s climate that ultimately led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The lecture was organized through the combined efforts of TAMIU’s College of Arts and Sciences , in conjunction with the Lamar Bruni Vergara Planetarium. Visit the Planetarium online at: https://www.tamiu. edu/planetarium/index.shtml Dr. Gulick’s fascinating lecture drew from his decades of research on the role of catastrophism in the geologic record. In fascinating detail, he revisited an asteroid’s impact on Earth that occurred 66 million years ago…and led to climate changes that heralded the extinction of dinosaurs. L to R, University partner Guillermo “Memo” Benavides, joins Dr. Gulick, TAMIU Planetarium director Peter Davis and TAMIU president Dr. Pablo Arenaz. 13