Christina L. Belanger
· Associate ProfessorVerifiedTexas A&M University · Geology & Geophysics
Active 2006–2025
About
Christina L. Belanger is an Associate Professor at Texas A&M University in the Department of Geology & Geophysics. Her research focuses on marine paleoecology, paleoenvironments, and climate change, with particular interest in how organisms respond to environmental factors. She investigates the responses of shelled organisms such as molluscs and foraminifera, which are abundant and well-preserved in the fossil record, to understand long-term biotic responses to climate change over millennia to millions of years. Her laboratory group works on reconstructing paleoenvironments using geochemical and faunal proxies, studying ecological and physiological responses to environmental change in the fossil record, and understanding the influence of oceanographic factors on marine biogeography. Belanger's recent work includes studying low-oxygen events in the Gulf of Alaska over the past 60,000 years, Arctic ecosystem responses to Cenozoic climate changes, and ecological changes in Matagorda Bay, Texas, over the last few hundred years. She holds a PhD from the University of Chicago and a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her contributions to the field have been recognized through awards such as the College of Arts and Sciences Research Impact Award and the Montague-Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar. She has also been involved in NSF-funded projects aimed at leveraging benthic foraminiferal biogeography to recognize ecosystem responses to climate change and developing educational software for micropaleontology.
Research topics
- Geology
- Paleontology
- Ecology
- Oceanography
- Biology
- Environmental science
Selected publications
Using Ammonia parkinsonia Morphology as a Bioindicator for Environmental Stress in Matagorda Bay
Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01
articleHigh School Students' Sentiments and Outcomes in FossilSketch Learning Activities
2025-08-21 · 1 citations
articleAbstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01
article1st authorCorrespondingAbstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01
article2025-03-15
preprintOpen accessMicropaleontology focuses on studying microscopic fossilized remains of organisms, typically smaller than two millimeters, such as Foraminifera and Ostracoda. Micropaleontology is vital for dating geologic records, reconstructing ancient environments, and monitoring modern ecosystems. Micropaleontological skills are also highly valued in industry, yet they are often omitted in undergraduate geology programs.FossilSketch is an online educational software designed to facilitate learning of micropaleontology. It enhances the traditional lab-based micropaleontology classes and allows for active learning of microfossil identification through a combination of informational videos, exercises, and interactive mini-games. The student centered learning approach in FossilSketch is driven by providing scaffolding and immediate feedback to users. Analysis of classroom assessments showed that junior and senior geology majors who used FossilSketch were better able to understand the process of microfossil identification and achieve a correct identification than those who did not use FossilSketch (Stepanova et al., 2024).Gamification in geosciences enhances learning by incorporating game-based elements, such as challenges, rewards, and interactive simulations, to engage students and improve their understanding of complex geological concepts. In FossilSketch, students interactively practice and  learn to recognize morphological features through mini-games that divide the identification process into smaller tasks before combining their skills to identify common genera or morphotypes. After learning to identify microfossils, students apply this knowledge to interpret microfossil assemblages and gain insight into various micropaleontology applications in research and industry. FossilSketch offers six engaging mini-games of varying difficulty, each designed to teach key morphological features of microfossils:1. What microfossil is this?:Level 1: Sort specimens into three categories—Foraminifera, Ostracoda, and "Other." Level 2: Classify Foraminifera as planktonic or benthic. 2. Identify microfossil features:A game designed to help players identify key microfossil features by analyzing highlighted details in the images. 3. Foraminifera Chamber Arrangement Matching:For each of the three game rounds, students match four randomly selected Foraminifera images to the correct chamber arrangement card. 4. Foraminifera Morphotype Matching:A simplified classification game where students drag and drop Foraminifera images to match them with their overall test shape in three rounds of the game. 5. Ostracoda Valve Outline:Match images of ostracod valves with their corresponding outline cards by dragging and dropping in three rounds of the game. 6. Ostracoda Valve Orientation:Learn proper orientation of ostracod valves by rotating incorrectly oriented valves to align the dorsal side upwards in four rounds of the game. Each game incorporates interactive elements to enhance learning and retention of microfossil morphology. For all games, students receive star ratings from zero to three based on how many rounds they completed correctly on the first attempt. In all the mini-games, students could advance to the next round only by submitting a correct answer. References:Stepanova, A., Belanger, C., Anwar, S., Stanley, C., Nath, A., Cherian, J., & Hammond, T. (2024). Using the interactive software FossilSketch to teach micropaleontology to undergraduate students. Journal of Geoscience Education, 1-21.
Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01
articleAbstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01
articleAbstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01
article1st authorCorrespondingAbstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2025-01-01
articleUnderstanding the Impact of the FossilSketch Application using Students' Perceptions
2025-11-02
articleBackground: In this full research paper, we describe students' perceptions about learning micropaleontology before and after the introduction of the FossilSketch application in the undergraduate geology course. Learning about microfossils can be challenging due to the need for specialized equipment and personalized instructor feedback, and fossil material availability. The FossilSketch application, actively engages students, and provides them access to an interactive learning environment where they learn to identify microfossils independently. Specifically, the application engages students in activities that help in taxonomic identification of the two groups of microfossils, Ostracoda and Foraminifera. Such taxonomic identification is a way to place a specimen within its ecological context and collect fundamental data to enable its application to various fields, such as biology, paleontology, and zoology. Research Question: What are students' perceptions before and after the introduction of the FossilSketch application in the undergraduate micropaleontology course? Methods: In this study we used a multi-method approach (qualitative and quantitative) to analyze students' perceptions. The data were collected from 112 students across three years (2020,2021, and 2022), and control and test group conditions (when students learned micropaleontology without the use of FossilSketch application, and with it). We collected the data on three open-ended questions targeting their perceptions on learning micropaleontology. To understand these perceptions, we first analyzed the data using qualitative content analysis, and identified students' key experiences across the control and test conditions. Later we coded students' responses into categories of positive, negative, and neutral. We analyzed the coded data using Chi-square test to evaluate the independence of the frequency of negative and positive perceptions on the use of the FossilSketch application. Also, we conducted nonparametric comparisons using Kruskal Wallis one-way analysis of variance (H test) between the three-year groups. Findings: The results indicate a significant difference in students' perceptions towards learning micropaleontology between the control year 2020 and test years 2021-2022 for all three questions. Students also showed significantly more positive perceptions in 2021-2022 (test group) than in 2020 (control group). Implications: Overall the results indicate that actively engaging students using FossilSketch application resulted in improved students' perceptions. Students also felt more positive when learning in a hybrid learning environment than when restricted to learning in person, and the FossilSketch application helped in creating a flexible environment preferred by the students.
Recent grants
NSF · $96k · 2017–2019
NSF · $179k · 2015–2017
Frequent coauthors
- 24 shared
Alan C Mix
Oregon State University
- 17 shared
Sharon Sharon
- 16 shared
Hirofumi Asahi
- 15 shared
Joseph S. Stoner
Oregon State University
- 14 shared
Jianghui Du
- 14 shared
Matthias Forwick
UiT The Arctic University of Norway
- 14 shared
Guillaume St‐Onge
Université du Québec à Rimouski
- 13 shared
Ellen A. Cowan
Awards & honors
- College of Arts and Sciences Research Impact Award (2023)
- Montague-Center for Teaching Excellence Scholar (AY 2021-202…
- Association of Former Students College-Level Distinguished A…
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