Apr 25, 2023
At the 2023 Unified Commencement Ceremony, four Tulane University faculty members will receive university-wide teaching awards: the Suzanne and... more
On April 22, Tulane University Special Collections (TUSC) resumed its practice of “Flipping the Bird” — a weekly practice of turning a page in its John James Audubon Birds of America series. The staff will turn a page in one of the volumes every Wednesday to reveal one of Audubon’s drawings (at one... more
They grow up to 12-15 feet tall and are causing havoc in the wetlands of North America. Known as Phragmites australis, the non-native common reed is one of the most important and most studied plants in the world. It is also one of the most invasive, said Keith Clay, professor and chair of the... more
Thanks to a symbiotic fungus, many species of morning glories contain elements of powerful psychedelic drugs, according to a new Tulane University study published in the journal Communications Biology. The seeds of the common tropical vine, whose namesake trumpet-like blooms only open in the... more
Hannah Frank, a bat expert in the Tulane University School of Science and Engineering, will share in a $1.25 million award for new research in detecting and mitigating emerging animal-borne infectious diseases. The award, part of the first Scialog: Mitigating Zoonotic Threats initiative, was given... more
The Tulane University Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology will host Catherine (Katie) Peichel as the speaker for the Fall 2021 Hathaway Lectureship Series. Peichel will give a lecture entitled “Replaying the tape of life: How predictable is evolution” on Friday, Oct. 29, at 4 p.m. in the... more
For coffee drinkers, there’s nothing like that first sip in the morning. For Tulane University researchers studying the sustainability of coffee in Honduras, the stakes are far higher than a tempting cup of joe. Honduras is one of the world’s top coffee producing countries, but the growing global... more
For more than a decade, Jordan Karubian, an ecologist at Tulane University, and his Tulane colleagues have been taking students to northwest Ecuador, leading them on a research journey through one of the world’s major conservation hotspots for biodiversity. Their Project Ecuador program has had... more
Knowledge of the power of medicinal plants has been passed down for thousands of years by native healers worldwide. Science confirms that plants and other organisms often hold the solutions to numerous human medical problems. Mark Plotkin, renowned tropical biologist and ethnobotanist, came to... more
A Tulane University scientist is teaming up with researchers across the country as part of a $15 million initiative by the National Science Foundation to establish a new field of study that has the potential to transform biomedical, agricultural and basic biological sciences. Henry “Hank” Bart, a... more
When biologist Keith Clay came to Tulane University in July 2018, he brought with him an impressive knowledge of periodical cicadas, the noisy bug that has emerged by the billions in states east of the Mississippi after 17 years underground. Clay, professor and chair of the Tulane Department of... more
In the world of plant ecology and conservation, Robin Wall Kimmerer is considered a rock star. She is also the featured speaker of the 2021 Marcia Monroe Conery Lectureship Series sponsored by the Tulane University Department Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Kimmerer, a world-renowned professor... more
Noxious weed invasions represent a major threat to the productivity of rangelands, and in the U.S., invasive plants occupy over 100 million acres of rangeland estimated to cause $5 billion in annual losses. “We need to understand what factors promote invasion, so that those factors can be targeted... more
Kathleen Ferris, an assistant professor in the Tulane University Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, has been awarded a $1.2 million grant for research that could lead to a better understanding of how organisms adapt to harsh environments and how new species are formed. The five-year... more
As Climate Week draws to a close, Tulane faculty are reflecting on what they have learned through their lectures and participation in climate change events across the country over the past week. One emerging theme is the growing demand for a climate-educated workforce. With global economies... more
Thomas Sherry has spent his career studying how nature works. A Tulane professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, he concentrates on birds, especially the diversity of species of tropical birds. He’s also Siegel Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at the Taylor Center for Social Innovation and... more
While everyone is still isolating, quarantining or keeping socially distant, there might be enough time to fit in a new hobby, one with a Tulane connection: raptor reporting. Jennifer Coulson, PhD, of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in the School of Science and Engineering,... more
Jordan Karubian has been conducting tropical research in northwest Ecuador since 2003, long before he joined the faculty of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Tulane University in 2010. Having lived in Ecuador for six years, he knew the area to be a conservation hotspot for... more
Tulane’s Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies hosted its fifth annual Three Minute Thesis competition for PhD students on Thursday, November 7th in the Kendall-Cram Lecture Hall. The competition cultivates doctoral students’ academic, presentation, and research communication skills and... more
A team of researchers, including two from Tulane University, has identified a new species of pocket shark, following careful study of a pocket shark that made international headlines in 2015 after it was brought to the Royal D. Suttkus Fish Collection at the Tulane University Biodiversity Research... more
Margaret K. “Meg” Maurer of Forest Lake, Minnesota, a Newcomb Scholar and 2019 graduating senior, died in a tragic accident on March 5. The Tulane community mourns the loss of this truly exceptional person. Meg, an outstanding and dedicated student by any measure, was the recipient of numerous... more
From the woodpecker and the parrot to the falcon and the dove, birds are among the most fascinating creatures on the planet. As Tulane biologist and birding expert Bruce Fleury says, “Birds are phenomenally interesting—and often extremely surprising—in their biology, physiology, aerodynamics and... more
Tulane University’s Karubian Lab has released a new five-year, two-part study on the populations of brown pelicans along the Gulf Coast. The work charts the birds’ ability to rebound from near extinction in the state of Louisiana as a result of storms and the 2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. The... more
A Tulane University researcher who studies bird migration has found that a decline in the number of wood thrushes is probably due to deforestation in Central America, not to the loss and degrading of forest in the United States where the songbird breeds. The study by Caz Taylor, an associate... more
Could mockingbirds, known for mimicking the sounds of other birds, also be mirroring the effects of lead exposure in humans? Tulane University researchers have received a grant from the Morris Animal Foundation to continue their study on this and other possible results of lead exposure in wildlife... more
Tulane University senior Clare Lister didn’t spend much time in a typical classroom during her study abroad semester in Tanzania this spring. Instead, she went on safari to learn about wildlife conservation, to a homestay in a remote village to learn about Maasai culture and to a rainforest reserve... more
Amble just a stone’s throw downriver of Mardi Gras World, upriver of the Crescent City Connection Bridge, on the East Bank of the mighty Mississippi River in New Orleans, and you’ll note a sleek, modernistic grey building with water-retention gardens in front. Within the interestingly patterned... more
The wetlands are critical to the survival of Louisiana’s coast. Serving as a front-line defense against hurricanes, floods and storm surges, the many species that line the coast have evolved to show resiliency in the face of natural and man-made hazards. Tulane researchers are seeking to understand... more
In the autumn of 1820, John James Audubon left Cincinnati and headed toward Louisiana, following the great southern migration of birds down the Mississippi River flyway. His journey, part of his effort to create a mammoth pictorial survey called The Birds of America, acknowledged a central reality... more
Studies have long shown that girls are less likely than boys to be interested in math and science, but new research by Tulane University researchers published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science suggests that matching girls with female role models could dramatically reverse... more
Even before she began her freshman year at Tulane University in 2015, Kyu Min Huh, an aspiring ornithologist from South Korea, emailed various professors in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology to find out what research opportunities might be available to her. She learned of three... more
If that mockingbird won’t sing, could lead be the problem? Tulane University researcher Renata Ribeiro wants to find out by setting up bird feeders around homes throughout New Orleans as part of a yearlong project funded by the Morris Animal Foundation. Research has shown that older New Orleans... more
