Science Under the Stars

Texas is a BIG state facing a number of BIG environmental changes. Rising temperatures, shifting rainfall patterns, and human development are reshaping ecosystems that plants and animals depend on. Birds respond quickly to environmental change, making them important indicators of human impacts. On January 15th, we’ll explore how different species in Texas are adapting, declining, or shifting their ranges, and what those responses might tell us about the future. Understanding these patterns helps us protect the state’s remarkable biodiversity as conditions continue to change.

Brian Stokes is a PhD student at the University of Texas at Austin who studies how birds across Texas and North America are responding to a rapidly changing world. He investigates how species adapt or struggle as their habitats warm and shift. Brian uses everything from community science observations on apps like eBird and iNaturalist to genomic tools to understand how birds are coping, from big range changes to tiny DNA-level adjustments. One of his current projects focuses on the Green Jay, a vibrant tropical bird expanding its range northward into Texas.

Lecture Schedule
7:00 pm: Kid’s activities and natural history displays
7:15 pm – 7:45 pm: Guided tour of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory (sturdy shoes and water recommended!)
8:00 pm: The talk begins!
8:45 pm: Q&A with the speaker
📍 Location: Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, Texas 78703
💡 No RSVP is required – just show up and enjoy!
🅿️ Free parking is available at BFL for all lecture events!
🌦️ While we aim to host all events outdoors, sometimes weather conditions or volunteer capacity may require that we move the event inside the laboratory building.

Welcome back for a new semester! We are excited to announce Science Under The Stars’ spring 2026 schedule. SUTS is our free, student-run public outreach lecture series! Mark your calendars for our monthly events covering topics on science and nature by biologists at UT:

January 15: Brian Stokes–Changing Birds in A Changing Texas

February 19: Matt Ming–The “Evolution” of Evolution

March 12: Zarluis Mijango Ramos–Rare Plants Around the World

April: TBD

Lecture Schedule

7:00 pm: Kid’s activities and natural history displays
7:15 pm – 7:45 pm: Guided tour of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory (sturdy shoes and water recommended!)
8:00 pm: The talk begins!
8:45 pm: Q&A with the speaker
Details

Location: Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, Texas 78703
No RSVP is required – just show up and enjoy!
While we aim to host all events outdoors, sometimes weather conditions or volunteer capacity may require that we move the event inside the laboratory building.
Free parking is available at BFL for all lecture events!

Finding and choosing mates can be complicated, and many species have evolved diverse strategies to do this successfully. There are species where one male mates with multiple females but also species that pair bond for life. While many species have some sort of courtship and female choice, there are others where mating is a much “sneakier” affair. Variation in mating behaviors can also exist within the same species. In this talk, we will learn about some of the cool mating systems and strategies of the animal kingdom, and discuss some explanations about how and why this variation comes about in the first place.

Sunishka Thakur is a fifth year PhD student at UT Austin studying alternative male reproductive tactics in a swordtail fish. She explores how behavior, physiology and neurobiology can be shaped by different mating behaviors used by males to mate with females. She also studies how females respond to these alternative mating strategies and how it affects their behavior and physiology.

🕖 Lecture Schedule
7:00 pm: Kid’s activities and natural history displays
7:15 pm – 7:45 pm: Guided tour of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory (sturdy shoes and water recommended!)
8:00 pm: The talk begins!
8:45 pm: Q&A with the speaker

📍 Location: Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, Texas 78703
💡 No RSVP is required – just show up and enjoy!
🌦️ While we aim to host all events outdoors, sometimes weather conditions or volunteer capacity may require that we move the event inside the laboratory building.
🅿️ Free parking is available at BFL for all lecture events!

What is biological s*x? Is it our chromosomes? What’s in our pants? And if there’s only two s*xes, why do so many animals exist outside this binary categorization? We’re taught two s*xes exist and are significantly different from each other, but we also know biological s*x is really messy and complicated. Join Savvy for this all-ages talk about s*x, from genomes to behavior, and the amazing diversity of animals existing contently in its complexities.

On November 13th, why don’t you come up to the lab—Brackenridge Field Lab—and see what’s on the slab—the big white projection screen? We’ll leave you shivering with antici—because it’s finally gotten a bit nippy outside, right? Like, fall is finally here—pation.

Savvy Cornett (they/them) is a PhD student at UT Austin studying how nutrition regulates reproductive physiology and behavior in a small freshwater fish, Páunco Swordtail (Xiphophorus nigrensis). This little fish has 4 different morphological s*xes, who vary by their puberty timing, giving rise to variation in body shape and size and their mating behavior. Typically, nutritional status (how well fed an animal is) regulates reproduction: individuals reach puberty earlier when they intake more nutrients. Savvy’s research focuses on the evolutionarily ancient hormones regulating all this because how the reproductive hormones interact with the nutrition hormones, and vice versa, is poorly understood especially in this strange little fish.

Lecture Schedule
7:00 pm: Kid’s activities and natural history displays
7:15 pm – 7:45 pm: Guided tour of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory (sturdy shoes and water recommended!)
8:00 pm: The talk begins!
8:45 pm: Q&A with the speaker
📍 Location: Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, Texas 78703
💡 No RSVP is required – just show up and enjoy!
🅿️ Free parking is available at BFL for all lecture events!
🌦️ While we aim to host all events outdoors, sometimes weather conditions or volunteer capacity may require that we move the event inside the laboratory building.