Facilities

The Biodiversity Center, together with its field stations and collections, is housed at multiple locations.

Three affiliated field laboratories are within an hour of campus: the Brackenridge Field Laboratory on Lake Austin Boulevard in Austin, the Stengl Lost Pines Biological Field Station in Smithville and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in South Austin.
Ichthyology and Herpetology collections are at the University's J.J. Pickle Research Campus about eight miles north of the main UT campus.
Entomology and Cave Arthropod collections are at the Lake Austin Center Building, adjacent to Brackenridge Field Lab, about 3 miles west of the main UT campus.
The Plant Resources Center is in the Main Tower of the UT Campus.
Most faculty and research labs associated with the Center are located in Patterson Labs, BIO labs, and the NMS building on the main campus.
The Teaching Collections are housed in the BIO labs building on the main campus.

We've provided a Google map to various facilities.

Pickle Research Campus

The Ichthyology and Herpetology collections are housed at the Pickle Research Campus in North Austin.

At: 30.38304, -97.72701

Here is a link to our building on Google Maps

Here is a link to our building on the University's campus map

The mailing address for all correspondence and specimen shipping is:

Biodiversity Collections (Texas Natural History Collections)

10100 Burnet Rd., PRC176/R4000

Austin, Texas 78758-4445 U.S.A.

Do not use our Innovation Blvd. address at this time.

TNHC Building, PRC 176

Directions to the Ichthyology and Herpetology Collections at PRC:

NORTHBOUND METRO RAPID 803

Shuttles from main campus run every 15 minutes, and are free for UT students, staff and faculty (with valid UT photo ID). Travel time is normally about 25 minutes. See the weekday PRC shuttle schedule for details. The collections building (noted as Bldg 176, or LSF on some campus maps) is located in the southeast corner of the PRC, near the intersection of Innovation Boulevard and Harry Ransom Trail. The shuttle stop is at the Pickle Research Commons, about 1500ft NW of PRC 176 (see map).

DRIVING FROM THE MAIN UT CAMPUS TO PICKLE RESEARCH CAMPUS

Take I-35 North to 183 North. From 183, take the Burnet Rd. exit, (2.0 road miles after junction with I-35). Turn right at the light, heading North onto Burnet Rd. The Pickle Research Campus (PRC) is on the left hand side, after the 3rd light (less than 1 mile). After you pass the guard stand you will be on Read Granberry.

DRIVING FROM AUSTIN BERGSTROM INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (ABIA)

Head on SH 71 West and merge onto 183 North (about 1.6 miles). Take 183 N and stay on for ~12.5 miles until you reach the Burnet Rd. (FM 1325) exit. Turn right on Burnet Rd., heading N. After the third light, turn left into the Pickle Research Campus. After you pass the guard stand you will be on Read Granberry.

FROM ABIA TAKING CAPITAL METRO BUS

The MetroAirport leaves on the hour and half hour from the far right end of the terminal sidewalk as you leave baggage claim. Get off at 21st St, across from the stadium, and walk away from the stadium on 21st St to Guadalupe. Turn right on Guadalupe to catch the NORTHBOUND METRO RAPID 803 (more info above) at its West Mall stop just N of 22nd Street.

DRIVING TO THE BIODIVERSITY COLLECTIONS, BUILDING 176

From Read Granberry, continue west through the open chainlink fence/gate and take the first left onto Harry Ransom Trail. Follow on Harry Ransom Trail until it dead ends at the intersection with Innovation Boulevard. Take a left (east). Biodiversity Collections (PRC 176) will be the second building on your right, after the Library Storage Facility (if navigating, the University map says our building's physical address is 2900 INNOVATION BLVD, AUSTIN, TX 78758). The Biodiversity Collections entrance and parking lot are on the east side of the building. If you do not have a proper UT parking permit, see staff for a temporary use permit.

View from Road D. The TNHC building (PRC 176) is the second building on the right (triangular rooftop)

Front entrance to TNHC Building, PRC 176

We also maintain a facility for preparing skeletons for research and teaching using dermestid beetles, in collaboration with the Vertebrate Paleontology Lab.

Lake Austin Center

Our Entomology and Cave Arthropods collections reside at the Lake Austin Centre Building (LAC). The physical address for LAC is:

3001 Lake Austin Blvd.
Austin, TX 78703

Brackenridge Field Lab

The physical address for BFL is:

2907 Lake Austin Boulevard
Austin, TX 78703

For further information regarding visiting Brackenridge Field Laboratory, see its Visitor & User Guidelines

Stengl Lost Pines Research Station

The physical address for Stengl Lost Pines is:

403 Old Antioch Road
Smithville, TX 78957

For further information regarding visiting Stengl see its Visitor & User Guidelines

BIO Labs, Patterson, and NMS on UT Main Campus

The Biodiversity Center faculty, several Biodiversity Collections and Curators, and the Plant Resource Center all are located on UT's main campus.

Many collections are used for teaching in the Department of Integrative Biology for instruction in Entomology, Vertebrate Natural History, Comparative Anatomy, Herpetolology, Ichthyology, and other courses. These collections are housed in BIO labs on the main UT campus.

Patterson Hall, located on the east side of Speedway just north of 24th Street, is home to many faculty members in the Biodiversity Center, as well as the administrative offices of the Department of Integrative Biology. Faculty also have offices and labs in the Neural and Molecular Science Building (NMS) across Speedway on the west side.

Plant Resources Center on UT Main Campus

The Plant Resources Center is located in the Main Building building on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin. Our main entrance is Room 127 located on the east hallway on the first floor (one up from ground). The collections are housed on six floors within the Main building and tower and are arranged in a modified Engler and Prantl system.

The Plant Resources Center is open for general use 8:00-11:30 A.M. and 12:30-5:00 P.M., Monday through Friday. Visitors wishing to use the collection for research or identification are welcome, but should first contact the curator for an appointment (see visitor policy). Use of the herbarium for teaching is limited to demonstration purposes. Scientists wishing to consult the collections for extended periods may be furnished research space upon formal request to the Director or the Curator outlining their research objectives and funding sources. Scientists wishing to use material for studies that include sampling of specimens should consult our policy on the use of our collection for such studies.