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When they are not in the classroom, University of Wisconsin Oshkosh faculty often are pursuing scholarly research and creative activities in their diverse fields of expertise. Recent published works include studies in accounting and paleontology. Have a recent peer-reviewed publication that we might feature? Let us know.

Joseph Frederickson

▶︎ A new study led by Joseph Frederickson, Weis Earth Science Museum director at UWO’s Fox Cities campus, looked at how mammals adapted to grasslands in the southern U.S. Analysis of fossils from 6.6 million years ago uncovered a highly diverse mammalian ecosystem during the expansion of grasslands in what is now known as the Oklahoma Panhandle. The research was published in the March issue of Acta Palaeontologica Polonica.

During the past 10 million years, the Great Plains became more arid, and grasses took over as the main vegetation on the landscape.

“Grass contains abundant silica-rich particles and is covered with grit—sand and dust—both of which can wear teeth quickly,” Frederickson said. “This is one of the reasons why horses have tall teeth and such deep jaws. Without these traits their teeth would wear away too quickly, drastically shortening their lifespan.”

Kazeem Akinyele

▶︎ Kazeem Akinyele, an assistant professor of accounting in the College of Business, recently published the paper Motivating unrewarded task performance: The dual effects on incentives and an organizational value statement in a discretionary task setting in Accounting & Finance.

The research explored how incentives and value statements reinforcing the importance of an employee’s work to organizational success motivates them to exert effort on an important but unrewarded task.

“The contribution of this study is particularly relevant to organizations paying fixed salaries, showing that management can implement a value statement that enhances social belongingness to motivate employees and improve productivity,” he said. “Also, providing additional economic incentives is not the only way, nor necessarily the best way, to motivate employees’ overall performance.”

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