To Study Blinking, a Scientist Needed a Literal Bird’s Eye View

It took a customized headpiece to monitor when and how much a grackle blinked in flight.

Source: To Study Blinking, a Scientist Needed a Literal Bird’s Eye View

When Jessica Yorzinski chased great-tailed grackles across a field, it wasn’t a contest to see who blinked first. But she did want the birds to blink.

Dr. Yorzinski had outfitted the grackles, which look a bit like crows but are in another family of birds, with head-mounted cameras pointing back at their faces. Like other birds, grackles blink sideways, flicking a semitransparent membrane across the eye. Recordings showed that the birds spent less time blinking during the riskiest parts of a flight. The finding was published Wednesday in Biology Letters.

Dr. Yorzinski, a sensory ecologist in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at Texas A&M University, had been wondering how animals balance their need to blink with their need to get visual information about their environments.

Graduate Student Research Uncategorized

Texas A&M researchers investigate effects of hydrology and climate on tree growth

A team of researchers from the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology and the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University recently published research on tree growth in Biogeosciences.

Study contributors included Ajinkya Desphande, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Thomas W. Boutton, Ph.D., Regents Professor and Sid Kyle Endowed Chair in Biogeochemistry; Ayumi Hyodo, Ph.D., research assistant professor; and Georgianne W. Moore, Ph.D., professor in Ecology and Conservation Biology and Charles W. Lafon, Ph.D. professor and assistant department head in the Department of Geography at Texas A&M University.

Deshpande and team used tree ring chronologies and stable isotopes of carbon in wood to understand how hydrology and climate affect the growth of trees in a bottomland hardwood forest.

“Bottomland hardwood forests, which are interspersed along the gulf coast, support unique floral biodiversity and have the potential to store floodwaters during major storm events and alleviate flooding risk in urban areas such as the Houston metropolis,” Deshpande said. “However, if optimum forest productivity and health is damaged during extreme droughts and floods, these important ecosystem services may be lost.”

Results indicated more favorable growing conditions and lower stress in trees growing under wetter hydrological conditions. Deshpande and colleagues concluded that management and conservation strategies dependent on site-specific conditions are critical for the health of these wetland forests under a rapidly changing hydroclimate.

“This study provides the first dendrochronological baseline for this region and a better understanding of favorable conditions for the growth and health of these forests, which can assist in management decisions such as streamflow regulation and conservation plans,” the article states.

Deshpande recently defended his thesis and will graduate from the doctoral program in Ecosystem Science and Management in December.

Read the full paper

Faculty Uncategorized

Feagin receives the 2020 Robert G. Dean Coastal Academic Award

Written by Justin Agan ’18

Rusty Feagin, Ph.D. recently received the Robert G. Dean Coastal Academic Award from the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA).

Feagin, a professor in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology (ECCB) and the Department of Ocean Engineering at Texas A&M University, was recently awarded the Robert G. Dean Coastal Academic Award from the American Shore & Beach Preservation Association, ASBPA. Feagin received this honor for his significant contributions to coastal science and his mentorship of the next generation of coastal scientists and engineers.

Feagin’s research centers on how living material, like plants and microflora, affect the processes of coastal erosion. He teaches classes like Coastal Processes and Ecosystem Management, Wetlands and Riverine Restoration, among others, that are attended by students from multiple different majors.

“I enjoy mentoring grad students because its more one-on-one and it’s a bigger time investment,” Feagin said. “Over several years, you really get to know someone and what makes them tick and it gives you enough time to learn where they are strong in science and how to help them best apply themselves.”

One of Feagin’s current projects involves the building of a living shoreline by building several miles of an oyster reef in Carancahua Bay, a northern extension of Matagorda Bay on the Texas Coast, to reduce waves and decrease erosion while also increasing habitat for fish and other species in the environment.

“We’re trying to figure out ways that we can stop the erosion, but also increase the number of fish and the overall environment for fishing and hunting so that we can help the local economy,” Feagin said.

The ASBPA, founded in 1926 to combat the effects of coastal erosion with science and lobbying for government policy change, bestows multiple special awards each year to individuals and coastal projects for their contributions to their mission. The Robert G. Dean award recognizes individuals in academia that have made significant contributions to coastal science or engineering and fostered the education of new coastal scientists or engineers.

Feagin was nominated for this award by one of his colleagues, Cris Weber, a Senior Managing Coastal Engineer at Anchor QEA, a science and engineering firm. He also received multiple letters of support from students, former students, and other colleagues for the honor

Faculty Uncategorized

West named ECCB Associate Department Head

Jason West, Ph.D. was named the Associate Department Head for the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology. West assumed his role in October and now provides the department with leadership in administration of our academic programs and assist the Department Head and staff with other administrative duties. West will also work closely with the Undergraduate and Graduate Program committees to prepare for the initial cohort of students under the new department.

“I am very excited and grateful to have Jason assume this important role for our department” Kirk Winemiller, Interim Department Head, said of West’s appointment. “He is already doing a great job for us.

West is an associate professor in Ecology and Conservation Biology, with expertise in plant physiological ecology and ecosystem ecology. He obtained a B.S. degree in Range Science from Utah State University and a Ph.D. in Botany from the University of Georgia and was previously a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior at the University of Minnesota. He served as research faculty at the University of Utah in the Department of Biology, before coming to Texas A&M University.

West oversees research in the West Lab Group, which generally falls in the broad domain of terrestrial ecology, with an emphasis on how the physiology and growth of plants interact with other components of ecological systems.

Learn more.

For more information on Dr. Jason West, visit his personal page or lab website.

Graduate Student In the News Uncategorized

Parker, Rogan awarded U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Fellowship

The Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology is pleased to announce that Mickey Parker and Jordan Rogan were among seven doctoral students who received a 2020 U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Doctoral Fellowship.

Texas A&M University and the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies awards this fellowship to “current doctoral students whose excellence in both research and teaching exemplifies the meaning of scholar/mentor in the highest sense,” the announcement reads.

As 2020 U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Fellows, Parker and Rogan will receive a personalized award certificate and a $5,000 fellowship.

Mickey Parker

“Receiving the U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Doctoral Fellowship is particularly meaningful for me because it recognizes both scholarly research and mentorship. Appreciation for the mentorship I’ve received throughout my career has driven my desire to guide students in achieving their goals. However, I never anticipated how large of a role that mentoring students would play in my development as a scientist. Working closely with students in the field and the classroom has undoubtedly made me a better communicator and ecologist. For me, scholarship and mentorship are tightly linked, with each informing the other. I am humbled to be recognized alongside such an accomplished group of doctoral students who have proven themselves to be consummate scholars and mentors. “

Parker is a Ph.D. candidate in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) Doctoral Program and an active member of the Applied Biodiversity Science (ABS) multi-disciplinary doctoral program. Parker’s dissertation research focuses on restoring populations of declining species—specifically, the dunes sagebrush lizard—through conservation translocations. He has presented research at 17 local, national and international conferences and has co-authored seven peer-reviewed journal articles, technical notes and book chapters. Over the course of his career, Parker has mentored at least 20 undergraduate students. He brings his passion for teaching aspiring biologists to the classroom, where he has been a lab instructor for three courses.

Jordan Rogan

“I am thrilled and humbled to be named one of the 2020 recipients of the U.S. Senator Phil Gramm Doctoral fellowship. Teaching and mentoring have played a large role in my graduate career thus far. Both outlets have provided unique opportunities to engage with and provide learning opportunities and guidance to a wide variety of students, the majority of whom are very passionate about science, research and learning. I have greatly enjoyed getting to know the students I have worked with, and in several cases, watching them advance into their own graduate careers or professions in the sciences and research. It has been a deeply fulfilling and impactful experience to teach and mentor students throughout my doctoral program in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology at Texas A&M, and I look forward to continuing my work in teaching and mentorship.”

Rogan is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology (ECCB) and a member of the Applied Biodiversity Science (ABS) multi-disciplinary doctoral program. Her dissertation research takes a multi-disciplinary approach to assess the impact of anthropogenic land-use change on mammal biodiversity in Monteverde, Costa Rica. She has taught two different undergraduate lab courses in her department for multiple semesters, and has been a featured guest lecturer in several courses. Rogan has also served as a mentor for Texas A&M undergraduate students in ECCB and in the ABS Conservation Scholars Program funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, as well as two international students (from Costa Rica and Peru) in research analysis and as field assistants for her doctoral research in Costa Rica. She has received several awards during her time at A&M, including a Fulbright Fellowship. Rogan has actively engaged in STEM outreach in the community, and in various leadership and service roles through multiple student organizations and university committees including the entirely student-led science and research exhibition, The Ecological Integration Symposium. She will present her final thesis to the community to aid in on-the-ground, collaborative conservation initiatives.

Can improving land management save rare West Texas lizards?

Shinnery Oak Dunes

Dunes sagebrush lizards tend to live in small areas often disturbed by mining and development

Featured by Research@Texas A&M. Source: Can improving land management save rare West Texas lizards?

New genetic studies reveal important information about populations of the dunes sagebrush lizard, which researchers say may warrant land conservation in areas where unique populations of the species are threatened by habitat interference.

Research Uncategorized

Texas A&M researchers advocate for STEM access equity

Texas and Colorado researchers identify areas and communities of people that lack equitable access to informal STEM learning opportunities.

Source: Texas A&M researchers advocate for STEM access equity| AgriLife Today

A team of researchers at Texas A&M University and Colorado State University found that micropolitan and high-poverty counties and certain communities of people—specifically Indigenous populations—lack equitable access to informal learning opportunities in STEM.

The researchers studied the locations of informal learning institutions, ILIs, that provide access to science, technology, engineering and math learning opportunities.

Faculty Research Uncategorized

Texas A&M AgriLife announces 2020 Fulbright award winner

Srinivasan, resident director of the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Temple, honored with Fulbright U.S. Scholar award.

Source: AgriLife announces Fulbright awards for 2020-2021

Srinivasan named awardee for environmental sciences

Texas A&M University and Texas A&M AgriLife are pleased to announce that Raghavan Srinivasan, Ph.D., who wears many hats in Texas A&M’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was honored with a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award.

Srinivasan’s award is in Environmental Sciences, Effects of Climate and Land Use Change on Hydrology and Water Quality of Canadian River Basins, for the 2020-2021 academic year from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.

Uncategorized

Unique dunes sagebrush lizard populations identified

Land conservation may be needed in areas where unique populations of the dunes sagebrush lizard are threatened by habitat interference.

Source: Unique dunes sagebrush lizard populations identified | AgriLife Today

Study raises concern of land fragmentation, population vulnerability of endemic lizard

Study collaborators include Texas A&M AgriLife Research‘s Lee Fitzgerald, Ph.D., a professor in the Texas A&M University Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology and curator in Texas A&M Biodiversity Research and Teaching Collections, BRTC. Also with Texas A&M are Wade Ryberg, Ph.D., research scientist at Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, NRI; Toby Hibbitts, Ph.D., curator of herpetology at the BRTC and research scientist at NRI; and Danielle Walkup, Ph.D., research associate with NRI.

Research Uncategorized

Texas A&M researcher investigates mammal biodiversity

National Science Foundation selects Texas A&M’s Rachel Short to receive a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship and further her mammal research.

Source: Texas A&M researcher investigates mammal biodiversity| AgriLife Today

Short’s Fellowship project hinges on crucial findings from her dissertation, which was focused on the methodology used in assessing changes in functional traits of mammals over time.

“For my dissertation, I developed a new method using the ankle bones to study this community change,” she explained. “This NSF project is the application of that new technique and looking at the processes that caused these changes.”