News: Biodiversity and Sustainability

Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin

UT News

Long-Living Tropical Trees Play Outsized Role in Carbon Storage

A group of trees that grow fast, live long lives and reproduce slowly account for the bulk of the biomass.

Irene del Carmen Torres Dominguez measures the diameter of a tree on Barro Colorado Island in Panama.

Department of Molecular Biosciences

Bacteria Engineered to Protect Bees from Pests and Pathogens

Genetically engineered strains of bacteria protect bees from mites and viruses that can lead to colony collapse.

A Varroa mite, a common pest that can weaken bees and make them more susceptible to pathogens, feeds on a honey bee.

Podcast

The Next 50 Years: A Global Census of Life

Biologist David Hillis aims to discover the 80 percent of species on Earth that scientists know nothing about in the next few decades.

A montage of beetles, leaves, butterflies and DNA

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

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...

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...

Two chirping frogs on soil face opposite directions