NRF A2 rating for Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan

Professor Anusuya Chinsamy-Turan, a palaeobiologist and head of UCT’s Department of Biological Sciences, has been awarded a prestigious A2 rating by the National Research Foundation.

One aspect of her research involves the close study of the micro structure of dinosaur bones. She does this by embedding the fossils in resin and slicing off sections half the thickness of a human hair before examining the samples under a microscope.

What she found was that rather like trees, dinosaur bones contain ‘growth rings’ that can be used to assess the animal’s age. Using this methodology, Chinsamy-Turan was the first person to deduce growth curves for dinosaurs.

Listen to Professor Chinsamy-Turan describe her research into dinosaur fossils on the US public radio daily programme The Academic Minute, as part of their Women in STEM week Podcast.

Read more about her research...

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