{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/in-the-news/albuquerque-journal-graduate-presents-research", "Albuquerque Journal: Graduate presents research", "2014-12-16", "2014", "2014-12", "Democrat", "House", "NM", "Martin Heinrich", "H001046", "www.heinrich.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Albuquerque Journal: Graduate presents research\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                    By:\u00a0\r\n                    Journal Staff\r\n                \r\n            \r\n            \r\n                \r\n                \r\n                \r\n            Tuesday, December 16, 2014\r\n            \n\t\n\r\n            \r\n            Mesalands Community College graduate Donald Price this fall presented his undergraduate research on fossils collected in Quay County at the Community College Undergraduate Research Initiative (CCURI) National Poster Session at the Hart Senate Building in Washington, D.C. Only 43 students across the country were invited to present research at the event, and Price was the only one from New Mexico.\r\nPrice graduated from Mesalands in 2010 with an Associate of Arts Degree in Natural Sciences with a Paleontology Option. He recently completed a 6-month internship at the Mesalands Community College\u2019s Dinosaur Museum and Natural Sciences Laboratory. He now is pursuing a bachelor\u2019s degree in geology from the University of Colorado-Boulder.\r\n\u201cI am grateful to the many people who have guided and supported my interests,\u201d Price said in a news release. \u201cI may not know what my future holds, but I can safely say that what I learned at the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum and Natural Sciences Laboratory, has laid the ground work for my future success.\u201d\r\nAt the CCURI National Poster Session, Price presented his research, called \u201cOsteoderms of Machaeroprosopus gregorii Described and Compared to Modern Analogues.\u201d Osteoderms are the armor plates of phytosaurs, Mesalands said in a news release.\r\nPhytosaurs were animals closely related to the common ancestor of birds and visually resembled the modern crocodile. Phytosaurs lived in the Late Triassic Period, approximately 206 million years ago. Many of the specimens Price used in his research were collected in Quay County by students participating in the paleontology field research classes.\r\nGretchen Gurtler, Director of the Mesalands Dinosaur Museum and Natural Sciences Laboratory, attended the CCURI National Poster Session with Price. She said she was very grateful that U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico met with Price in Washington, D.C. She said very few students were given this opportunity.\r\n\u201cTo me, it was real honor when U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich walked in and said \u2018tell me about your Osteoderms.\u2019 That meant that he had read the abstract and was familiar with Donald\u2019s research project,\u201d Gurtler said.\r\nFor the college and for the country as a whole, \u201cwe are very grateful that the Senate supports undergraduate research and Sen. Heinrich has consistently voted in favor of funding research on the collegiate level,\u201d she said.\r\n\u201cWhen we were in the Hart Building, Donald suddenly realized that he\u2019s not just a student representing Mesalands Community College. He is actually representing undergraduate researchers throughout the country and is an advocate for undergraduate research.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.heinrich.senate.gov/in-the-news/albuquerque-journal-graduate-presents-research"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.6233371570706367, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}