Impact of Biology Research

Drs. Darren Pollock, Ivana Mali, and Jesse Filbrun and their students have active projects exploring the ecology of understudied regional species and communities. Dr. Pollock is investigating the taxonomy, distribution, and feeding preferences of predatory “robber flies.” He has curated about 16,000 specimens and has one of the largest collections of robber fly predator-prey associations in the world.

Limnology students with a flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris) sampled using a ck electrofisher during a fish community survey in the Pecos River near Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

Dr. Mali leads a research program focused on a state threatened freshwater turtle species, the Rio Grande cooter. The Mali Lab established a long-term monitoring program to study survivorship, growth rates, diet, reproduction, and basking activity of the turtles on the Black River. Dr. Filbrun recently established a long-term drifting fish egg and larvae survey in the Pecos River. His goal for this monitoring program is to measure the pace and extent of fish assemblage responses to environmental change in our region.

Limnology students measuring water transparency of Lake Sumner, a reservoir of the Pecos River.