Recognition & Honors
Accolades & Acknowledgements
Peter Copeland (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences), professor, co-authored the textbook Earth History: Stories of Our Geological Past, which received the 2026 PROSE Award Category Winner in Earth Science from the Association of American Publishers. Published by Cambridge University Press, the undergraduate text uses a story-driven approach to geology, highlighting events such as mass extinctions and mountain formation to illustrate how scientists reconstruct Earth’s deep past.
Preethi Gunaratne (Biology and Biochemistry), Jakoah Brgoch (Chemistry) and Yingcai Zheng (Earth and Atmospheric Sciences) have been named 2026 Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors. The national recognition honors academic inventors who have demonstrated success in patents, licensing and commercialization, and whose innovations have made or aspire to make meaningful societal impact. Their selection reflects the strength of NSM’s innovation ecosystem and its growing culture of research translation and technology development.
Paige Evans (Mathematics, teachHOUSTON), co-director and clinical professor, and Karen Graham (Mathematics, teachHOUSTON), instructional assistant professor, are leading a National Science Foundation-funded project aimed at improving the retention and effectiveness of early-career STEM teachers in high-need school districts. The $330,387 grant supports the multi-institutional project Improving Teacher Retention and Effectiveness through Knowledge Sharing (iTREKS), which brings universities together to examine how STEM teachers are prepared, supported, and retained during their first five years in the classroom. The collaboration will develop a national community of practice to share research, data and strategies that strengthen teacher persistence and student outcomes in high-need schools.
P. Shiv Halasyamani (Chemistry), professor, graduate chair and Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Chair, was named the Distinguished Karcher-Barton Awardee Lecturer at the University of Oklahoma. The lectureship recognizes global leaders in chemical and biochemical research and technology, and Halasyamani recently delivered the invited lecture associated with the honor.
Halasyamani was also awarded a DARPA grant as a subrecipient for the project “Semiconductor Radiovoltaic Battery with Integrated Emitters” (Proposal 000192618), supporting research on advanced semiconductor-based energy technologies.
Shaun Zhang (Biology and Biochemistry), professor, has been selected as an associate editor for the journal Molecular Therapy Oncology. The appointment recognizes his expertise in cancer biology and gene therapy and his leadership in advancing research at the intersection of molecular medicine and oncology.
Karen Le (NSM IT) and Lawrencene Dourseau (Mathematics) were recognized with Cougar Cudos, a University of Houston peer-nominated program that celebrates staff members who demonstrate exceptional service and contributions to the campus community.
In the News
Jokūbas Žiburkus (Biology and Biochemistry), associate professor, is featured in the University of Houston photo story “Hope on the Horizon,” highlighting the university’s expanding research efforts in brain health and dementia. His work explores how sensory stimulation may enhance brain function and support new approaches to treatment and prevention. The story also highlights UH’s broader brain health portfolio, which spans more than 100 faculty across 12 colleges and is supported by $62.5 million in active research funding.
Publications
Paul Ching-Wu Chu and Liangzi Deng (Physics) led a research team at the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston that set a new record for superconductivity at ambient pressure, achieving a transition temperature of 151 Kelvin. Published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the breakthrough demonstrates a pressure-quenching technique that stabilizes high-temperature superconducting properties under normal conditions, advancing efforts toward more efficient power transmission and future superconducting technologies.
Madhan Tirumalai (Biology and Biochemistry), research professor, is part of an international team of scientists reexamining the role of biofilms in human space exploration. Their study, published in npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, highlights how biofilms influence astronaut health, antibiotic resistance, drug delivery, and space agriculture, while using data from NASA’s Open Science Data Repository to better understand how spaceflight conditions shape microbial communities and long-duration missions.
Paige Evans (Mathematics, teachHOUSTON), co-director and clinical professor; Donna Stokes (NSM), associate dean for Undergraduate Affairs and Student Success; and Mariam Manuel (Mathematics, teachHOUSTON), clinical assistant professor and science master teacher, published a new open-access study titled “Chain mentoring among STEM lead teachers in urban secondary schools in the mid-southern United States.” The research examines STEM mentoring across six urban school districts in Greater Houston and highlights how chain mentoring models strengthen professional learning communities and support long-term STEM teacher retention in high-need schools.