In a collaboration with the Farrior and Wolf labs of UT Austin EEB, we are working on the second trial of a plant ecology field experiment at the Brackenridge Field Laboratory here in Austin.

There are multiple opportunities for undergraduate students interested in plant ecology to perform their capstone/thesis research. Example research questions for capstones projects include:

• How do plant seedling characteristics of species differ depending on the diversity of the plant community (phylogenetic diversity and species richness)?
• How is the insect herbivore community different in plant communities, in and out of an insect herbivore exclusion treatment?
• What is the “real” impact of the insect herbivores on plant communities of different diversity levels?
• How do pollination levels differ in plant communities of different diversity levels?

Undergraduates interested in pursuing research questions related to these but also differ from these are encouraged to contact us! Interested undergraduate students in need of a capstone project starting in Spring 2022 (and/or continuing throughout Fall 2022 or later) should contact one of the graduate students working on the project, Damla Cinoglu (dcinoglu@utexas.edu). Please include your year, major, relevant coursework, a timeline for capstone, research interests to set up a meeting to further discuss the project.