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Riffles & Reeds Newsletter - May 2024

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ISSUE 5 - MAY 2024

Director's Report

By Dr. Jenny Oakley, Associate Director, Research Programs

Dr. Sandra Metoyer joins EIH this month as the Institute’s third executive director since its founding in 1991. Dr. Metoyer has over 13 years of experience in administering and directing funded projects in higher education. Most recently, she served as director of ED Title V Pathways, and director/co-PI of the NSF HSI Institutional Transformation Project at Galveston College, and as visiting faculty at Texas A&M University at Galveston. Dr. Metoyer holds a Ph.D. in geography and an M.S. in geosciences from Texas A&M University. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Metoyer to the EIH and UHCL family!

portrait of Dr. MetoyerDr. Sandra Metoyer

I am happy to have served EIH and the University as Acting Executive Director and I would like to thank the staff and students at EIH as well as the Advisory Council for their dedication to fulfilling our mission to advance understanding of the environment through interdisciplinary research, education, and outreach.

Research Notes

By Dr. Marc Mokrech, Geospatial Scientist and Lecturer

EIH, in collaboration with an international consortium of researchers, were awarded a grant titled “Upscaling Mangrove Restoration for Coastal Hazard Reduction in a Deltaic Environment: Prioritizing Restoration Efforts for Nature-based Solutions in the Volta Delta.” This research project, funded by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), will develop a decision support tool to bolster local restoration practitioners.

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group of people sitting in a circle under a tree

Education Notes

By Rowena McDermid, Environmental Education Assistant

Team Rubicon

The environmental education team has their work cut out maintaining and improving the habitat garden and the newly restored prairie habitat on the UHCL campus. Much of the work is removing and controlling invasive vegetation; we couldn’t do it without the amazing work of our dedicated volunteers.

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Alumni Highlight

By Sherah McDaniel, Research Associate

Justin Hansen earned his master’s degree in 2020 from UHCL, focusing on eels in Texas. Following graduation, Justin continued with EIH as a Team Leader, sampling for the National Coastal Condition Assessment in Texas and Louisiana. Currently, he serves as an Assistant Project Leader for ODFW’s Oregon’s Ocean Recreational Fishery Survey. Furthermore, Justin plans to commence his Ph.D. studies at Oregon State University later this year. His time at EIH provided him with invaluable experience, enhancing his CV and positioning him as a highly competitive candidate for future opportunities.

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Justin Hansen

Upcoming EIH Events

Check out our calendar of upcoming EIH-hosted events below. For questions about how to sign up or register for these events, please contact EIH@uhcl.edu.

ONGOING
Habitat Work Day – every Tuesday from 9-11am at EIH
Youth Birding Club – third Saturdays at 9am, location varies; does not meet in July and August
UHCL Bird Count – third Tuesdays, 7am from the EIH parking lot
MAY
27 University closed in observance of Memorial Day
JUNE
3-6 Discover Nature Camp for rising 1st and 2nd graders, 8:30-1 each day
10-13 Budding Naturalist Camp for rising 3rd-5th graders, 8:30-1 each day
10-14 Girls on the Prairie for high school girls, 8:30-1:30 each day
18 Native Milkweed 101, 10am, NOA I Training Room
19 University closed in observance of Emancipation Day
24-27 Hunger Games Camp for rising 6th-8th graders, 8:30-3 each day
JULY
4 University closed in observance of Independence Day
27 UHCL Plastic-Free July, One Less Plastic Pledge Campus Cleanup
AUGUST
19 First day of classes for students
SEPTEMBER
2 University closed in observance of Labor Day

There are a lot of great ways to learn and get involved with community environmental activities this summer. Below are suggestions from our colleagues around the Bay.

Applications are open for new GDRP volunteers for field assistants and the land-based Dolphin Research and Outreach Station. Deadlines to apply for the field assistant volunteer program are May 24, 2024; and May 31, 2024, for the Dolphin Research and Outreach Station at Seawolf Park. For details and to apply, visit: galvestonbaydolphin.org/citizen-science/

If you would like to share an event for our next issue of Riffles and Reeds, you can email us at EIH@uhcl.edu.

Check out everything we accomplished this spring!

Publications and Reports

Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program April 2024 Newsletter

Gordon, M., Curtis, S., Whitley, S., Robertson, S., Weiberg, G., Strickland, K., and Oakley, J.W. 2024. Updated fish species inventory for upper San Felipe Creek, Del Rio, Val Verde County, Texas, USA. The Southwestern Naturalist 68(1):69–74.

Gordon, M., Mokrech, M., Reistle, W., Oakley, J.W., McDermid, R., Hammerbach, G., and DeChellis, D. 2024. Microplastic distribution and impacts to diamond-backed terrapin, highlighting public education and future effects of sea-level rise. Quarterly Progress Report FY24, Quarter 2. EIH Report 24-001, 6 pp.

Reistle, W. and McDermid, R. 2024. UHCL habitat restoration and nature trail. Final report. Prepared for The Texas General Land Office, Contract 22-045-019-D116. 75 pp.

Events

Hosted the 23rd annual Texas Envirothon competition at Eastman Nature Center in Longview, April 13–15.
 
Co-hosted the Spring Bloom Nomenclature Workshop and Urban Prairie Tour held at Armand Bayou Nature Center on May 9, in partnership with Texas Coastal Prairie Initiative, Coastal Prairie Conservancy, Native Prairies Association of Texas, and Armand Bayou Nature Center.
 
Hosted the annual Houston Regional Ecology and Evolution Symposium at UHCL on May 10.

Awards

Awards
Patti Koch Sunny Rodrigues Bailey Steward

Patti Koch, department assistant, received the most prestigious staff award recognized by UHCL, the Hugh P. Avery Prize – President's Distinguished Staff Service Award, at the 45th Annual Staff and Faculty Awards on April 18.

Sunny Rodrigues, student assistant, received the Distinguished Leader Award and Peers’ Choice - Student Leader of the Year at the Hawk Excellence Awards on April 25. He was also awarded the Sue Fellman Servant Leadership Scholarship.

Bailey Steward was recognized for Best Undergraduate Student Poster for her poster, Sediment microbiome analysis to assess effectiveness of living shoreline management in restoring shoreline habitats, at the Houston Regional Ecology and Evolution Student Symposium on May 10.

Graduates

Kaylei Chau – M.S. thesis: Floating Treatment Wetlands: A Pilot-study of the Effects on Urban Catchments in a Subtropical Environment (advisor: Dr. George Guillen)

Presentations

Castillo, A., Cox, E., Oakley, J.W., and Guillen G. 2024. Estimating the abundance of microplastics in sediment of the Galveston Bay. Houston Regional Ecology and Evolution Symposium, Houston, TX. Presentation.

Chau, K., Oakley, J.W., Vega, R., and Guillen, G. 2024. Floating treatment wetlands: a pilot-study and large-scale field trial of the stormwater treatment potential in urban catchments in a subtropical environment. Houston-Galveston Area Council Clean Waters Initiative Workshop: Green Infrastructure, Houston, TX. Presentation.

Hammerbach, G., Gordon, M., DeChellis, D., and Howard, C. 2024. Evaluation of microplastic loading in diamondback terrapin and their associated habitats: sediment pilot study. Houston Regional Ecology and Evolution Symposium, Houston, TX. Poster.

McDaniel, S. 2024. Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program. Bay Area Divers Club, Pearland, TX. Presentation.

McDaniel, S. 2024. Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program. Texas Mariners Cruising Association, El Lago, TX. Presentation.

McDaniel, S. 2024. Galveston Bay Dolphin Research Program. Timber Cove Garden Club, Seabrook, TX. Presentation.

McDaniel, S., Robertson, A., Quackenbush, A., Scobel, L., O’Neal, E., Fazioli, K., and Mintzer, V. 2024. Land-based monitoring to study interactions between dolphins and recreational fisheries in Galveston Bay. Gulf of Mexico Conference, Tampa, FL. Poster.

McDermid, R. 2024. Plant of the month: Sticky Weed. Native Plant Society of Texas, Clear Lake Chapter Meeting. Virtual presentation.

Mokrech, M. 2024. Unmanned Aircraft Systems: terms, use and rules. Pasadena Citizens’ Advisory Council, Pasadena, TX. Presentation.

Oakley, J.W., Curtis, S., Swinford, J., Anderson, J., Davis, S., Fredrickson, A., Sak, A., Underwood, E., Kean, P., and Guillen, G. 2024. Eel ramps and eDNA detect recruitment of American eel (Anguilla rostrata) in Texas. Annual Meeting of the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Nacogdoches, TX. Presentation.

Perkins, K.J., Oakley, J.W., and Pilgrim, E. 2024. Using eDNA metabarcoding to assess fish assemblages in the rivers and streams of Texas. Annual Meeting of the Texas Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Nacogdoches, TX. Presentation.

Perkins, J.K., Oakley, J.W., and Pilgrim, E. 2024. eDNA metabarcoding as a tool to assess fish assemblages throughout Texas. Houston Regional Ecology and Evolution Symposium, Houston, TX. Presentation.

What's New?

New Students

Lydia Thurman, Graduate Research Assistant

New Employees

Dr. Sandra Metoyer, Executive Director
Richard Dotter, Equipment Coordinator
Loralei Miller, Summer Camp Intern
Sunny Rodrigues, Student Assistant
Diem Tran, Student Assistant
Brenda Villarreal, Department Assistant III

New Projects

Outdoor Ed-Ventures - Texas Parks and Wildlife Department CO-OP Grant. Project period: 2024–2025.

Did you miss something?

Our previous newsletters can be found online! Do you want to see something different in our future newsletters? Make recommendations by emailing them to EIH@uhcl.edu.

We thank all of our supporters and partners that make our work possible

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Thank you for your continued support of our programs. To learn more about EIH or to make a contribution in support of our research, education, and student success, please visit our website at: www.eih.uhcl.edu.

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