Urban Ecosystems

Our Research

In the Urban Ecosystems stream, students use techniques from analytical chemistry, biology, molecular biology, microbiology, ecology, environmental science, geochemistry, earth sciences, data science and social science to study urban ecosystems. Much of our focus is on the Waller Creek watershed, which runs through the UT campus. Leveraging the restoration work by the City of Austin and the Waterloo Greenway, the Waller Creek watershed provides an ideal testing ground to study urban ecosystem functioning and its response to restoration. We also study other local ecosystems, and collaborate on data collected from streams across the entire United States. Our current research includes identifying and quantifying contaminants in waterways, locating contamination sources, looking at the effects of those contaminants on organisms such as bacteria, algae, fungi, and macroinvertebrates, and evaluating how stressors from urbanization and climate change affect ecosystem function.

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Our Strategy

Researchers in our stream first learn fundamental chemistry research skills in the context of environmental science experiments on samples of water, sediment, algae, macroinvertebrates, etc. collected from Waller Creek. Then, we move on to advanced techniques to explore the research interests of our three teams led by our three Research Educators, before students pursue a research project. All stream students develop the skills for independent and intelligent experiment design, execution, data analysis, and written and oral presentation, working with scientific literature, while working on collaborative skills, critical thinking, and interacting with local stakeholders.

Our Impact

Understanding the function of urban ecosystems can help build more sustainable cities as well as to provide areas of beauty and relaxation for urban dwellers. By identifying and quantifying a variety of urban stressors associated with creek and park ecosystems in Austin, we determine ways to improve these ecosystems, by both investigating ways to prevent these stressors, as well as ways to remediate those we can’t stop. Our students engage in real-world research and problem solving with faculty, staff, and community stakeholders, like the City of Austin, the University of Texas, the USGS, The Nature Conservancy, the Waterloo Greenway, and Ecology Action.