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Research

Scientists Identify Genes that Help Protect Plant Genomes

The discovery holds important implications for our understanding of age-related disorders and cancers in humans.

Illustration of a green, x-shaped chromosome with pink tips

Features

Melissa Kemp Combines Art and Science in Study of Lizards

Melissa Kemp, an assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Biology, studies how extinction, biological diversification and colonization are shaped by environmental upheavals.

Profile pic of Melissa Kemp

Features

Campus Biodiversity: Pigeons

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UT News

Gift to UT Austin Will Advance Programs in Biodiversity and Ecology

A generous estate gift to The University of Texas at Austin from alumna and former physician Lorraine “Casey” Stengl will have a dramatic impact on educational efforts and scientific research examining plants, animals and their interactions with the natural world.

Casey Stengl holds a framed montage of plants and outdoor areas

UT News

Central Texas Salamanders, Including Newly Identified Species, At Risk of Extinction

More severe droughts caused by climate change and increasing water use in Central Texas have left groundwater salamanders “highly vulnerable to extinction.”

This newly identified, unnamed salamander lives near the Pedernales river west of Austin, Texas.

UT News

Evolution Used Same Genetic Formula to Turn Animals Monogamous

In five cases where vertebrates evolved monogamy, the same changes in gene expression occurred each time.

The non-monogamous strawberry poison frog is pictured on the left and the monogamous mimic poison frog is pictured on the right.

UT News

Females Prefer City Frogs’ Tunes

Urban sophistication has real sex appeal — at least if you’re a Central American amphibian. Male frogs in cities are more attractive to females than their forest-frog counterparts, according to a new study from Mike Ryan and others published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Two chirping frogs on soil face opposite directions

Features

Visualizing Science 2018: Beauty and Inspiration in College Research

Winners of the 2018 Visualizing Science contest include images of nanomaterials, the connection between chaos and electronics and a glimpse into the aural lives of the elderly.

A pseudocolored transmission electron micrograph of nanodroplets filled with paramagnetic metals and perfluorocarbon materials.

Features

The Robb Butterfly Collection

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UT News

Common Weed Killer Linked to Bee Deaths

The world’s most widely used weed killer, Roundup, causes honey bees to lose some of their beneficial bacteria and are more susceptible to infection and death from harmful bacteria.

Honey bee.