Biology Club Visits 20 Million Bats

The Biology Club visited Bracken Bat Cave, owned and managed by Bat Conservation International (BCI), to witness the emergence of 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats. This is truly one of the natural wonders of the world! Thanks go to our own David DeLuna, Trinity Safety and Security officer, for arranging our trip through BCI and the Bexar Grotto Society. Fran Hutchins, of BCI, provided an informative tour on the Mexican Free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis), as well as information on the restoration efforts of BCI.

Kevin Livingstone Awarded Tenure

The Biology Department was delighted that Kevin Livingstone recently received news that he was granted tenure and promoted to Associate Professor.

Nice going Kevin!

Biologists Featured in Trinity Magazine

Several biology faculty were featured in the most recent Trinity Magazine that was just released.

• Jonathan King was featured on the front cover as part of a nice story on multidisciplinary activities in the sciences (No Boundaries - Science Education Expands in New Directions). Mark Brodl was also featured in text and photos.


• James (Jimmy) Roberts was featured in a story about his coming to Trinity (see news release).


• And finally, Kelly Lyons Biodiversity of Mexico course and her class field trip to El Cielo Bioreserve in Mexico was featured in the magazine (unfortunately there is no web link, so you will just have to get a copy to see!).

Biology Club Participates in Mitchell Lake Fall Festival

Mitchell Lake Audubon Center is located on a 1200-acre natural area just outside San Antonio’s loop 410. It is an excellent spot for birding and enjoying nature, especially because of the extensive wetland habitat on the property. For the past four years the Center has put on a Fall Festival to give families an opportunity to interact with local outdoor-minded organizations and explore nature in a more interactive way.

The Biology Club had a booth at the festival where we made plaster of paris mammal tracks with kids and talked to people about the different mammals in the area. We were loaned a beautiful collection of skins and scat by Texas Parks and Wildlife so there were lots of fun things to touch and see. Kids especially liked the scat. We went through two 25 lb bags of plaster which made a lot of tracks, so the event was quite a success!

Prof. Ribble Receives Z.T. Scott Faculty Fellowship

Our own David Ribble received the Z. T. Scott Faculty Fellowship at the May graduation ceremony. Prof. Ribble is the second Biology faculty member to receive this award – Prof. Blystone received this award in 1991.

Official Press Release

Biology Welcomes Dr. Roberts and Dr. Rennebeck

On 12 September, the Department hosted a party to welcome our newest faculty, Dr. James Roberts and Dr. Gabriela Rennebeck.

Dr. Roberts will fill the Cowles Endowed Professor position. Dr. Roberts is an internationally acclaimed neuroscientist who studies the roles of estrogens and androgens in protecting or recovering from damage in the brain due to oxidative stress. He has held positions at prestigious medical schools, including Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and most recently the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He will be teaching neurobiology class and leading the newly developed Neuroscience Major. Welcome to the Biology Department, Jimmy!

We are also please to have hired Dr. Gabriela Rennebeck in a new position, Instructor of Biology. Dr. Rennebeck received her Ph.D. from the University of Texas, and completed postdoctoral work at the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine and the University of Kentucky. Dr. Rennebeck will be directing and coordinating faculty and students in our introductory laboratory classes, which includes over 200 students this fall! We are delighted to have Dr. Rennebeck on board.

Professor Espey Retires

After more than 40 years of service to the University, Professor Espey retired at the end of the 2007-08 academic year. Although he refused to allow us to throw him a party, we surprised him on the last day of classes with a lunch which was attended by some his favorite students from years past. Fortunately for us, Professor Espey will maintain an office for sometime, and he and Doina will be staying in central Texas.

Congratulations Larry on a long and impressive career here at Trinity. We will miss you.

(SURPRISE!)















Dennis Kelly presented Dr. Espey with a some of his publications and letters from former colleagues in a bound volume. CHEERS!