Any Texan can tell you: Our state’s ecosystems are changing. But how much? How quickly? And what does it mean for us?

With the support of alumni and friends like you, scientists and students across The University of Texas at Austin are working hard to answer these questions, advancing knowledge about our state’s past, understanding more about our present, and building a bright future where we can preserve our land, water and other natural resources.

They do much of that work at field stations — research sites where biologists, geoscientists, architectural researchers, engineers and other experts conduct important research on the interwoven tapestry of land, water and living resources that power local economies, Texas’ agricultural industries and communities around the state.

“A field station is like a living laboratory,” says Steven Gibson, B.A. ’04, resident manager of the Stengl-Lost Pines Biological Station. “It’s a place for all the things you can do in science that don’t take place in a lab.”

UT’s Texas Field Station Network, a group of research sites around the state, was built on the support of alumni and friends like you. Some gave the land on which the field stations now operate, but many more contribute annually so that UT’s students, faculty and researchers have the funding to conduct the long-range environmental research we need to tackle our state’s biggest environmental challenges.