Biodiversity Blog
Biotechnologies for Conservation & Their Intended Consequences
The Stengl-Wyer Endowment is proud to share this public seminar with Ben Novak, Lead Scientist of Revive & Restore, hosted by Stengl-Wyer Fellow Erik Iverson. Friday, December 9th, 10:00 am - 11:00 am, UT Campus, NHB 1.720 Revive & Restore is a nonprofit conservation organization leading the effort to responsibly integrate bio...
History of Herpetology, Part 4: expanding research and collections
Texas Memorial Museum, shortly after its construction. In this next blog in our UT herpetology history blog series, we’ll be looking at the growth of herpetology research faculty in the 1980s and 1990s, as well expansion of the Herpetology Collection curatorial staff. Let’s start with a curatorial perspective and the Texas Memorial Museum...
Meet Stengl-Wyer Fellow: Kathryn Appler
Presenting research at the 18th International Symposium on Microbial Ecology (ISME18) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Kathryn Appler is one of our 2022 Stengl-Wyer Fellows. She is a Marine Science Ph.D. candidate in Dr. Brett Baker's Lab where she studies the diversity and ecological role of Asgard Archaea. Kathryn took time from her busy re...
The Power of the Unseen Majority – How Soil Microbes Shape the Nature We See
Indeterminate nodules growing on the roots of Medicago italica (Photo: Ningatacoshell) Do you like mushrooms or beans? Have you heard of companion planting or intercropping? The common theme uniting these two seemingly unrelated questions is soil microbes. You have (likely) not seen them, but they are everywhere and play a crucial role in ...
Get involved! Outreach opportunities in biodiversity
Undergrad Abby Jones at the Capital Area Junior Master Naturalists October event. Field stations like Brackenridge Field Lab and natural history collections like the Biodiversity Collections fulfill many roles in the service of biodiversity. One such role is to engage in outreach to the general public to raise awareness, and to reach students wh...
Pets as Invasive Species: Birds, Feathered Friend or Foe?
Monk Parakeet (Photo: Bernard Dupont-Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license) Birds are another beloved pet, adored for their plumage, their song, and for their interesting behavior. My own parakeets, Ernesto and Clyde, never fail to amuse with their head bobbing and love of stick-chewing. But like many pets that end u...
Stengl-Wyer Graduate Fellowships Now Open
If you're a UT graduate student studying the diversity of life and organisms in their natural environments, then check out this fellowship program! The Stengl-Wyer Graduate Fellowship program is now open for applications, closing on December 12, at 5 p.m. Central Time. This fellowship includes a 12-month stipend of $36,000 beginning September 1, 20...
"I Like Big BATS and I Cannot Lie!"
This month's Science Under the Stars event is "I Like Big BATS and I Cannot Lie!," presented by Brandi Christiano. Have you ever seen a bat flying around? Probably (especially in Austin)! With more than 1,400 species worldwide, bats live in almost every environment. As the only flying mammal, they can be found in caves, trees, and under bridges. So...
Meet Stengl-Wyer Fellow: Philip Souza
SCUBA diving to conduct lobster, grouper, and conch surveys in The Bahamas Philip Souza is one of our 2022 Stengl-Wyer Fellows. He is a Ph.D. candidate in the Simon Brandl - Fish and Functions Lab where he studies estuarine soundscapes. Philip's path into his research focus is fascinating, and he shares his story below. Tell us where you came fr...
The Return of the Snouts
Photo: Larry Gilbert The period of rain here in Texas a few weeks ago was intense but welcome. The moisture brought a revival of plant life, and the return in Austin for some insects that depend on these plants. This was largely due to heavy rains that broke the drought 150-200 miles south of us. One such insect that has been seen in great...
Dr. Eric Pianka (1939-2022)
Photo: Larry Gilbert Dr. Eric Rodger Pianka was an evolutionary ecologist of enormous influence who spent his life studying lizards. Nicknamed “The Lizard Man,” his research covered a broad range of topics pertaining to the ecology, biology, and evolution of lizards, including rarity and responses to fire. His work contributed to the under...
Lichens we consume, lichens we admire
Cladonia parasitica, a lichen found at Stengl Lost Pines (Photo: Liz Bowman) Lichens are beautiful, sometimes otherworldly, in ways that aren’t overlooked by arts and culture. They also have had medicinal and culinary uses for millenia. As explored in What the Heck is a Lichen, our introductory blog, lichens are complex organisms created b...Entomological Poetics: Reading for Insects in Japanese Literature and Culture
"The Divine Insect" (12th century). Nara National Museum.
We're happy to share info for this fascinating talk: "Entomological Poetics: Reading for Insects in Japanese Literature and Culture" by Professor Mary A. Knighton. It is hosted by the Center for East Asian Studies in the Department of Asian Studies (College of Liberal Ar... 
Careers in Conservation with Dr. Nikhil Advani
Join us for a talk exploring careers in conservation. Graduate and Undergraduate students are both welcome. We will hear from UT alum (BS 2004, PhD 2012) Dr. Nikhil Advani, who is currently the Director for Climate, Communities and Wildlife at World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Washington DC. Dr. Advani will talk about how his time at UT prepared ...
Meet Lauren Hoff!
(Photo: George Yatskievych) Lauren is our new Assistant Curator in the Billie L. Turner Plant Resources Center. Lauren took some time out of her busy day to tell us a little about herself and how she got her start. Tell us where you came from before UT, and what you studied. I recently graduated from California Polytechnic State Univ...
A Proper Home?
Cavity-nesting bee house showing bamboo reed that was stripped open. Common images of bees often show them living in a hive or colony. These are European honeybees and they are considered “social” bees. While some native bees, such as bumble bees, are social, most are solitary. This means that one solitary female bee makes and provisions her sma...
Announcing the 2022 Stengl-Wyer Scholars, Fellows and Grant Awardees
Funded by the Stengl-Wyer Endowment, the Stengl-Wyer Scholars Program provides up to three years of independent support for talented postdoctoral researchers in the broad area of the diversity of life and/or organisms in their natural environments. The endowment also supports the Stengl-Wyer Fellowship Program, year-long fellowships for doctoral ca...
A Chat with Botanist Domingos Cardoso
Domingos holding an inflorescence of Parkia discolor, a legume species ecologically dominant in Amazonian periodically-flooded forests locally known as "igapós" Domingos Cardoso is an esteemed Brazilian botanist very active in biodiversity and conservation in Brazil. His main research interests are how evolutionary processes have shape...
March of the Central Texas Butterflies
Butterflies never fail to fascinate young and old alike. They are the subject of countless paintings, poems, and for Professor James Glavan's (Head of the Costume Technology program in the Department of Theatre and Dance) class, Fabric Dyeing and Painting, they were the focus of an ambitious costume building project this spring semester. ...
