Victor Perez, visiting assistant professor of environmental studies, was co-author on two scholarly articles published in March. The first one provides new insights on the biology of the prehistoric megatooth shark; the second was about the role of artificial intelligence in middle school science education.
Perez was one of 29 authors from nine countries on the biology of megalodon published in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica titled, "Reassessment of the possible size, form, weight, cruising speed, and growth parameters of the extinct megatooth shark, Otodus megalodon (Lamniformes: Otodontidae), and new evolutionary insights into its gigantism, life history strategies, ecology, and extinction." Kenshu Shimada, paleobiology professor at DePaul University, was lead author.
Perez is co-principal investigator on a research project funded by the National Science Foundation. An outcome of that research was a paper published in the Journal of Technology and Teacher Education titled, "Supporting Teachers in Integrating Machine Learning into Science Instruction." The lead author was Christine Wusylko, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Florida and recent graduate from the University of Florida's Educational Technology program. The paper is one of many outcomes from the NSF grant. Perez presented on the project at the Geological Society of America conference in September 2024 and is co-author on nine other national conference presentations related to this project, including the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), American Educational Research Association (AERA) and American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).
"As artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly common in modern society, it is crucial that teachers and students are well-versed in how this technology works and may impact them,” says Perez. His research team is developing a middle school curriculum that integrates AI and paleontology to teach students and teachers how to design and evaluate computer vision models that can identify images of fossil shark teeth.
Perez also teaches an undergraduate course, ENST 395 / COSC 490: AI and Natural History, at St. Mary's College of Maryland, in which students learn how to build their own computer vision models.
