UTEP-BC in the News
Art and Science Exhibition opens at the Centennial Museum, Chihuahuan Desert Gardens
On Thursday, September 9th, the Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens at the University of Texas at El Paso will bring student art and historical plant collections to life in the exhibition, “Where We Will Grow: Elsie Slater, Plants and Art”.
The plant collections were made by Elsie Slater, a local self-taught biologist, teacher, artist, and writer who documented the natural history of El Paso in the early 1900s. Slater shared her findings and love for plants through both scientific and artistic approaches.
Her work included newspaper articles for the El Paso Herald-Post, three books, over 200 pressed plants, and various art pieces...Read more
UTEP Research identifies Earth’s Extreme Environments as best places for life to grow
A faculty member from The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is at the forefront of research that is shaping new realities about the potential for new organisms to thrive in seemingly harsh, desolate areas of the planet.
A report published Dec. 11, 2020, in the research journal Science dispels the premise that areas such as the Amazon rainforest are biodiversity hotspots because new species tend to evolve there.
"New UTEP Exhibit Shows How Ants Contribute to World Ecosystems"
Unbelievably, fewer than 1% of ants are pests. The rest are valuable members of the Earth’s environment. Those 99 percenters are the basis of “Tiny Tunnels, Big Connections: Ant Relationships Shape the World,” that opens Thursday, Feb. 13, 2020, in The University of Texas at El Paso’s Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens.
One of the exhibit’s goals is to raise awareness of the wide variety of ant species and the role they play in the circle of life, said Vicky Zhuang, Ph.D., exhibit curator and collections manager at UTEP’s Biodiversity Collections. Ants aerate soil and distribute plant seeds. They also are a food source for birds, lizards and even humans. For example, honey pot ants, known for their consumption of nectar, are sweet delicacies in Mexico... Read more
"A clever African toad learned to copy a deadly snake to trick predators out of eating it"
(CNN)The Congolese Giant Toad shares its rainforest habitat with one of the most fearsome snakes in Africa. But mimicry might be the key to its survival, even without the fangs.
Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta draws people to Franklin Mountains State Park
Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta educates community on sustainability
The community celebrated the 15th Annual Chihuahuan Desert Fiesta Saturday, Sept. 28 in the Tom Mays Unit of the Franklins Mountains State Park.
The Chihuahuan Desert Education Coalition, along with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, organized the annual event to promote the preservation of open spaces and regional wildlife.
The event included guided hikes, wildlife demonstrations and educational exhibits.
The Chihuahuan Desert is the second largest desert in North America, boasting thousands of different species of plants, insects and hundreds of species of birds and mammals.
This year the event also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Franklin Mountains State Park conception... Read more