Timberlake Biological Field Station Vol. 1 - Issue 2

TIMBERLAKE BIOLOGICAL FIELD STATION NEWSLETTER April 2023

Vol. 1 - Issue 2

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Mary’s Mesocosms A mesocosm is a world within a world. A container placed in the environment with controlled exchange pathways, a mesocosm allows a researcher to control certain variables while permitting overall environmental processes to continue as is natural. At Timberlake, three ponds have been outfitted with mesocosms to study the effects of shading and food web structure on the community structure of algae over time. This is the thesis research of Mary Mullins, a graduate student in the Department of Biological Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Victoria Chraïbi. Mary will repeat the experiment multiple times to study seasonal variation in the ecological interactions. If you visit Timberlake in the next year and see orange buckets in the water, you’re observing science in action!

Mary Mullins and one of her mesocosms.

Introducing the FIELDS Program Science education plays a key role in interesting young students in STEM careers and shaping scientifically literate and involved citizens. At the same time, it is increasingly important for university STEM students to develop formal and informal science communication skills to interact with the public. To serve both educational needs, Timberlake is now the focal point of a new program, FIELDS, that has received funding from the Pioneer Foundation. FIELDS stands for “Field-based Interactive Experiences for Learning Disciplines in Science.” The program will train undergraduate science majors to lead authentic learning experiences for grades 4, 5, 6, and 9 students from regional school districts 2

who visit Timberlake for field trips. Coordinated by the assistant director of Timberlake, Dr. Victoria Chraïbi, the undergraduate FIELDS leaders will learn how to teach scientific concepts using invitational learning and inquiry to foster a love of nature and interest in the scientific process in young visitors. As part of the FIELDS program, Timberlake will release a schedule of monthly field trip programs with topics aligned to state learning requirements with the goal to increase Timberlake’s accessibility and impact as an outdoor learning center for the surrounding area.

If you would like more information on the FIELDS program, please contact Dr. Victoria Chraïbi at chraibi@tarleton.edu.

Brownwood, Zephyr ISD Students Spring is a time that both teachers and students are ready to go outside to soak up some sun – and be educated at the same time! In March Timberlake Biological Field Station hosted students from two local ISDs. Katherine Means from Brownwood ISD coordinated visits from two groups of 5 th graders (about 90 kids plus teachers and aides) to learn about the importance of water and diversity in the environment. Dixie Mayer followed a week later with 11 4 th graders from Zephyr ISD and showcased predator/prey relationships with a program entitled “Quail CSI.” Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped to make both of these events a success and to the teachers who see the value of an outdoor education!

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Service Day Clean-up Timberlake Biological Field Station was more than happy to participate in Tarleton’s annual Service Day on March 23rd – a day set aside for students, faculty and staff to give back to their institution and the community. While convincing students to make the 90 minute drive to Rye Valley proved to be a bit of a challenge, we did have 4 enthusiastic volunteers who showed up eager to put a little elbow grease into helping with a project that had instant impact. These 4 undergraduate Biology and Biomedical Science majors spent several hours removing unwanted items from a ravine immediately adjacent to the picnic pavilion at the field station. Thank you Luke, Meredith, Sarah and Logan for helping to turn an eyesore into a beautiful, natural looking part of the landscape.

Before and after pictures of the ravine next to the pavilion 4

Service day cleanup at TBFS

Continued Growth with the Addition of Two Bunkhouses We are pleased to announce the addition of two bunkhouses to our growing facility on the banks of the Colorado River. Delivery and setup happened last November, and the two buildings are now hooked up to electric, sewer and water. Each bunkhouse has 6 bunkbeds, a modest bathroom with double vanity and two stalls, individual storage cubbies, and of course an HVAC system to allow year-round use. Underpinning, decking and ADA accessibility are next on the list of projects, and we hope to have these completed soon.

Bunkhouses at Timberlake 5

Weather Station Fully Functional Thanks to Tarleton’s innovative IT team, the Timberlake weather station is now fully functional and connected to the West Texas Mesonet network. If

you are ever wondering what is happening weather-wise in the Rye Valley (or elsewhere in the western ½ of Texas), go to https://www.mesonet.ttu.edu/ and click on the station to the northwest of Austin. The National Wind Institute at Texas Tech also provides a variety of additional downloadable data related to all their associated weather stations. We hope to utilize data from Timberlake to track long-term ecological changes as they relate to our ever-changing weather.

West Texas Mesonet web site showing data from Timberlake’s weather station

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Ornithology – Summer 2023: First Summer Course to be Held at TBFS Dr. Sudman will be hosting the first ever Tarleton course at the field station during Tarleton’s first 4-week summer session. Eight students will join Dr. Sudman

for two weeks of intensive field work documenting the avian diversity at Timberlake, learning about the breeding ecology of birds, and generating a baseline dataset related to nest-site preferences for some of the more common birds found in central Texas. The second two weeks of the summer session will entail online lectures and data analysis, culminating in a written report related to their field studies. Now that we have bunkhouses, we hope to expand field-based course offerings and establish TBFS as not only an integral part of our organismal biology programs, but also offer courses in related areas such as environmental sciences, GIS, geology, range science, science education ……like in the movie Field of Dreams – build it and they will come!

Mississippi kites in a dead tree at Timberlake Biological Field Station 7

Bluebonnets at Timberlake Ranch