Sarah Henderson, Author at Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology

Lacher retires from dual roles at Texas A&M

Thomas Lacher, Ph.D., director of Texas A&M’s Center for Coffee Research and Education, CCRE, and professor for over 20 years in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, retires at the end of June. He has been a global leader in both roles.

Lacher, serving as director of the CCRE of the Norman Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture’s coffee center for the last year, has worked to incorporate innovations to coffee production practices.

“Dr. Lacher has brought awareness of the value and environmental sustainability of agroforestry as applied to coffee,” said Elsa Murano, Ph.D., director of the Borlaug Institute.

Coffee agroforestry consists of producing coffee under a canopy of native trees. This creates habitat for biodiversity to thrive and serve as natural control agents against pests, such as the coffee borer beetle. Such innovative practices are essential for small-holder coffee producers in developing countries to be able to thrive in a competitive market, enhancing their livelihoods and elevating them out of poverty.

In his professor role, Kirk Winemiller, Ph.D., interim department head of the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, described Lacher as a leader in biodiversity conservation.

Faculty In the News Research Uncategorized

Winemiller and Winemiller summarize peacock bass in recently published book

Kirk O. Winemiller, PhD, University Distinguished Professor and Interim Department Dead in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Leslie C. Kelso Winemiller, PhD, Instructional Associate Professor in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology and Carmen Montaña, PhD, assistant professor at Stephen F. Austin State University and former Texas A&M University doctoral student coauthored and published “Peacock Bass: Diversity, Ecology and Conservation.”

A fire peacock bass being released unharmed back into the clear waters of the Sáo Benedito River, Brazil. (photo K. Winemiller)

The book describes the diversity and natural history of the various peacock bass species, including their geographic distributions, evolutionary relationships, ecology, and economic importance.

According to Kirk Winemiller, PhD, peacock bass are the most popular sportfish pursued by anglers in tropical freshwaters, and they support important subsistence and commercial fisheries in rivers and lakes in their native South America. However, peacock bass are more than just sportfish. Like other species of the Cichlidae, a large and diverse family of tropical freshwater fishes, peacock bass (species of the genus Cichla) have fascinating reproductive biology that includes aggressive defense of eggs and fry by both parents.

“Research has revealed that peacock bass in rivers and lakes can exert strong control over prey-fish stocks and thereby have the potential to function as keystone predators affecting aquatic community dynamics,” Kirk Winemiller, PhD, said. “When people introduce peacock bass into waters outside their natural range, they can have a negative impact on fish diversity and ecological processes.”

Peacock bass are also of high value in fish markets, which oftentimes results in overfishing. Ecotourism for peacock bass fishing has emerged as a significant economic component in South America.

This book summarizes all that is currently known about the peacock bass and is essential reading for biologists, fisheries managers, anglers, naturalists, and aquarists interested in these remarkable fish and the diverse tropical rivers they inhabit.

The book can be purchased at most online bookstores, including Amazon, for $106.

Faculty In the News Uncategorized

Light receives 2021 Accountability, Climate and Equity Award

Jessica Light, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Curator of Mammals in the Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology received the 2021 Accountability, Climate and Equity, ACE, Diversity Service Faculty Award.

Light Earned this award for demonstrating outstanding commitment to the value of diversity at Texas A&M. She was recognized at the 2021 ACE Awards Ceremony on April 14.

“I am ecstatic to be recognized for my service working to create and sustain a diverse and equitable climate at Texas A&M University,” said Light. “Receiving an Accountability, Climate, and Equity Award is an honor and really means a lot to me; I’m excited to continue this important work.”

The ACE Awards recognize the appreciation of diversity at Texas A&M and center around the three overarching goals of the Texas A&M University Diversity Plan: Accountability, Climate and Equity.

ACE Awards acknowledge students, faculty, and staff in honor of their commitment to the Texas A&M core value of respect promoting respectful treatment of others, affirming, and encouraging individuals to take pride in their social and cultural identities, and including all in their definition of the “Aggie Family.” The ACE Awards are sponsored by the Division of Student Affairs, Office for Diversity, Department of Multicultural Services, Disability Resources, Women’s Resource Center, Aggie Allies, LGBTQ+ Pride Center, Health Promotion, and Student Government Association Diversity Commission.

2021 ACE Award Recipients

In the News Uncategorized Undergraduate Student

Legacy degree students receive Senior Merit Award

The Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences congratulates the outstanding students receiving 2021 Senior Merit Awards. Presented by the College for over 50 years, these awards recognize the best of the best graduating seniors.

These students are pursuing legacy degrees in the former Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences and Ecosystem Science and Management departments.

Tristan Winslett-Owen

Tristan Winslett-Owen is a first-generation college student. Growing up, he loved all things outdoors including traveling to national parks and seeing the amazing landscapes and wildlife. After receiving his A.S. in Environmental Studies, the mentors in his geology lab internship pushed Tristan to continue his education. He transferred to Texas A&M University to pursue a Bachelor’s in Ecological Restoration. Tristan is striving to put his skills towards a career in restoring degraded ecosystems and preserving nature for future generations.

Katherine Mason

Katherine Mason is a senior who majors in Ecological Restoration and Renewable Natural Resources with a minor in Rangeland Ecology and Management and a Watershed certification. Outside of class, she remains active on campus as a member of the TAMU

women’s club lacrosse team and the TAMU club sailing team. Katherine will be continuing her studies in the medical field post her spring graduation.

Joseph Richards

Joseph is a senior undergraduate at Texas A&M University, pursuing a double major in Wildlife & Fisheries Sciences and Entomology. He serves as the President of the Texas A&M University Student Chapter of The Wildlife Society, has led students on deer captures with the East Foundation, volunteered with CWD checkpoints for Texas Parks & Wildlife, and assisted with prescribed burns on public and private lands. Joseph currently works as a student employee for the Feral Hog Project with the Natural Resource Institute. He creates educational presentations and resources through a variety of online and social media outlets. Joseph is an avid wildlife photographer and helps manage his family’s outdoor photography business, Richards Outdoor Photography LLC. In his free time, he also enjoys hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping.

Grace Vielleux

Grace Vielleux is a Wildlife and Fisheries Science major. She decided to pursue a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries due to her love of working in nature and passion for conservation advocacy. During the summer, Grace will be gaining field experience at the Forest Service in California, doing Goshawk and Spotted owl surveys. In her free time, she enjoys camping, rollerblading, and embroidery.

Harrison Coker

Faculty In the News Research Uncategorized

Conway lab research yields new insight on Danionella, an emerging model in the neurosciences

Research model featured on Developmental Dynamics cover

A recently published paper by Kevin Conway, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Curator of Ichthyology, highlights the Danionella vertebrate model as an important resource for brain and nervous system research.

Species of Danionella, small freshwater fish, are among the smallest vertebrates in the world. The miniature size of Danionella is in part due to extreme cases of progenesis, a term used to describe development being cut short by early onset maturity.

Over time, progenesis has affected the skeleton of Danionella, resulting in the absence of 60 skeletal elements, including some of the roofing bones of the skull. The lack of a skull roof in Danionella combined with presence of a fully formed hearing and sound producing apparatus makes these organisms a useful model in neurophysiological studies.

Developmental Dynamics, a peer-reviewed scientific journal of developmental biology and one of three official journals of the American Association of Anatomists, featured Conway’s emerging vertebrate model of Danionella on the April 2021 cover.

Graduate Student In the News Research Uncategorized

McCloy receives 2021 Ecological Society of America Graduate Student Policy Award

Texas A&M Ph.D. student joins 2021 GSPA cohort

Michael McCloy, a third-year Ph.D. student in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Interdisciplinary Program at Texas A&M University and a Graduate Research Fellow with the Welder Wildlife Foundation, was one of 22 students to receive the 2021 Katherine S. McCarter Graduate Student Policy Award.

This award allows graduate students to receive training in policy and communication prior to meeting with lawmakers. During the month of April, recipients will meet virtually to gain knowledge about the federal legislative process and science funding, to hear from ecologists working in federal agencies, and to meet with Members of Congress on Capitol Hill. The Congressional Visit Day provides GSPA recipients the opportunity to connect with policymakers and discuss the importance of federal funding and the need for research relief for biological and ecological sciences.

McCloy works in the avian ecology lab of Dr. Jacquelyn Grace and studies how bird communities respond to environmental disturbance. Specifically, his research investigates the resiliency of songbird communities following hurricanes along the Gulf Coast of the United States. His interest in science policy is motivated by a deep desire to develop sustainable, science-based policy and management initiatives that improve biodiversity conservation efforts and engage local communities. McCloy has a B.S. in Natural Resource Conservation and Management from Western Carolina University.

To learn more about the Ecological Society of America Graduate Student Policy Award and its 2021 recipients, read the press release announcement.

Faculty In the News Research Uncategorized

Boutton, Wilcox named 2021 Ecology Society of America Fellows

Texas A&M Professors recognized for research contributions

Thomas Boutton, Ph.D., and Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., were both recognized as 2021 Ecology Society of America (ESA) Fellows.

ESA Fellows are honored for their outstanding contributions to research in fields that advance or apply ecological knowledge in academics, government, non-profit organizations, and society.

Thomas Boutton, Ph.D., Regents Professor and Sid Kyle Endowed Chair in Biogeochemistry, was elected for outstanding scholarly contributions that have advanced understanding of the structure and function of grassland and savanna ecosystems, and for revealing how land cover and land-use changes in those systems have modified key biogeochemical processes in the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycles at multiple scales.

Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., Sid Kyle Endowed Professor in Arid and Semi-Arid Land Ecohydrology, was elected for his research elucidating causes and consequences of vegetation change on the ecohydrology of savannas and woodlands, including field studies conducted in North, Central and South America that have provided a deeper understanding of hydrological and other ecosystem changes during woody plant encroachment in semiarid regions.

To learn more about the ESA and its Fellows program, read the 2021 press release announcement.