News: Integrative Biology
Read the latest news from the College of Natural Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin
Turtle Pond Offers Research Site for Undergraduates
A new long-running project allows undergraduate students to gain hands-on experience with ecological research in the heart of the UT Austin campus.
![Professor Havird and his students take samples from the turtles to learn more about their ecology and health.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/turtle_pond_teaser_image.jpg)
CDC Taps UT for National Disease Outbreak Response Network
Lauren Ancel Meyers and colleagues will help scale up decision-support tools that were successful in earlier outbreaks for use across jurisdictions.
![A scientist points to a pandemic model visualization in front of a standing audience](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/war-room_1200x800.jpg)
AI Tech Accurately Diagnoses Knee Arthritis from Medical Images
Vagheesh Narasimhan and Prakash Jayakumar trained an AI on x-ray images from tens of thousands of people in the UK Biobank.
![Two x-rays of knees](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/fig1-edited-2400x1600.png)
Biodiversity Center
Meet the 2023 Stengl-Wyer Scholars, Fellows and Grant Awardees
Three postdoctoral fellows, four graduate students and numerous labs at UT and the Wildflower Center received awards this year.
![A scientist kneels in a tree-lined area with marked gardens near equipment as he measures the rate of calcium carbonate precipitation in the soil.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/3x2-cns-field-station-network_5.jpg)
Philanthropic Gift Establishes Historic UT Commitment to Monitoring Texas’ Natural Resources
A transformative donation allows for the expansion of a Texas Field Station Network to study biodiversity and sustainability.
![A young man in a hat holding equipment leads a group of students down a creek at a Hill Country-based field station](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/3x2-cns-field-station-network_3.jpg)
Five Lessons from UT Austin Science about Planning for Living with Heat
In our endless summer, research on heat impacts offers insights on how best to adapt.
![CNS Scientists have been applying their research in ways that will help communities respond to heat.](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/heat-thumbnail.jpg)
Female Butterflies See UV Light Thanks to a Gene Hiding in an Unusual Place
In some species, female and male butterflies apparently perceive colors differently.
![A butterfly with black and white striped wings](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/heliconius-1200x800.jpg)
Tropical Trees Use Social Distancing to Maintain Biodiversity
Researchers discovered that adult trees in a Panamanian forest are three times as distant from trees of their species as would be predicted.
![An aerial shot of a forest shows species of trees clustered together near a river](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/3-2_-_dipteryx_oleifera_-_christian_ziegler70.jpeg)
Some Frogs Use Toxins to Deter Predators, but Evolution Doesn’t Supply Free Lunch
Poison frogs are able to withstand a toxin which they use to deter predators, but not without a cost.
![Anthony’s poison frog (Epipedobates anthonyi). CREDIT: David Cannatella](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/poison_frog_teaser_image.jpeg)
Genes That Shape Bones Identified, Offering Clues About Our Past and Future
An application of AI to medical imaging datasets has revealed genetics of the skeletal form for the first time.
![Image of human skeleton imposed over DNA double helix](/sites/default/files/uploads/images/default/skeletalai-thumbnail.jpg)