Philanthropic Gift Establishes Historic UT Commitment to Monitoring Texas’ Natural Resources

August 28, 2023 • by Christine Sinatra

A transformative donation allows for the expansion of a Texas Field Station Network to study biodiversity and sustainability.

A young man in a hat and sunglasses leads a group of students down a creek with equipment in hand at a field staton

Students and scientists explore conserved natural areas like this one in the Hill Country at University of Texas at Austin field stations.


An artist's rendering of a potential field station and pollinator garden shows trees, hills, cloudy skies, scientists in gardens and people participating in outreach.

A rendering of the planned Hill Country Field Station in Dripping Springs, which will offer opportunities for research, learning and outreach.

A woman in a hat conducts scientific research in a marshy area under a blue sky

Ecologist Katie Swanson, flags plant communities next to a long measuring tape on Mud Island in Aransas Bay, to track how the plants are changing over time as part of a long-term monitoring project at a UT Austin field station.

A researcher in a hat uses a large butterfly net to capture something near a wall in a wooded area

Jo Anne C. Holley, an associate professor of practice in the Freshman Research Initiative, led students in capturing specimens at a UT Austin field station.

Scientists work with a drone-like machine outside while squatting next to equipment outdoors in the Texas Hill Country

An uncrewed aerial vehicle is prepped for use at a UT Austin field station by Mariel Nelson and Tim Goudge of the Jackson School of Geosciences as part of a mapping project.

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