Biodiversity Research & Education

January 22, 2016

UT Tyler Office of Marketing and Communications

UT Tyler Announces Center for Environment, Biodiversity and Conservation

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January 22, 2016

Media Contact:  Hannah Buchanan
Editor/Writer–Strategic Communications & Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.539.7196 (cell)

The University of Texas at Tyler has established a multidisciplinary research and education center to study and conserve biodiversity.

The UT Tyler Center for Environment, Biodiversity and Conservation will work to find practical solutions to species' declines and extinctions through collaborative partnerships.

"We are very excited about this new center. With the rapid loss of biodiversity both globally and locally, there is an urgent need to investigate the causes of species extinction," said Dr. Neil Ford, professor of biology and center director. "Concurrently, there is a need to understand both the ecological and economic impacts of species loss and the role of conservation in preserving ecosystems. Of the nearly two million species catalogued by scientists, a large number are being negatively impacted by human activity."

The center involves 19 UT Tyler faculty members – from five departments and three colleges – who represent research expertise in ecology, conservation genetics, genomics, landscape ecology, environmental economics and water and air pollution. The organisms being investigated are equally diverse and include insects, snakes, freshwater fish and mussels, turtles, crayfish and plants that inhabit aquatic and terrestrial habitats.

Although located in East Texas, the vision of the center is global because biodiversity loss is a global problem, Ford added.

"The CEBC is uniquely positioned to be a leader in the solving of such problems because of our multidisciplinary expertise as exhibited by the long and distinguished history of research, education and training in the fields of ecology and conservation biology by faculty at UT Tyler," he said.

For more information, visit uttyler.edu/cebc.

One of the 14 campuses of the UT System, UT Tyler features excellence in teaching, research, artistic performance and community service. More than 80 undergraduate and graduate degrees are available at UT Tyler, which has an enrollment of more than 8,500 high-ability students. UT Tyler offers courses at its campuses in Tyler, Longview and Palestine as well as a location in Houston.