Whitney R. Harris World Ecology Center

Last week, we were excited to welcome members of the Children's Eternal Rainforest to campus!

We are so grateful for their time, insight, inspiration, and the chance to learn more about what it takes to run this awesome organization.

#HWEC #Conservation #Biodiversity #Ecology #UMSL #STL

Hey UMSL Students! Interested in attending a biology or conservation workshop or conference? Reach out to the Harris Center team. We’d love to explore how we can help make it happen.

📸 Dr. Jalene LaMontagne

#HWEC #UMSL#GradSchool #Biology #Ecology #Conservation #ProfessionalDevelopment #ESA

Harris Center on the Move!

Dr. Jalene LaMontagne and three awesome Harris Center–affiliated students recently attended the Ecological Society of America meeting! We love seeing our students and faculty connecting, networking, and sharing their work at professional conferences across the country.

📸 C. Sean Tracy | iNaturalist

#HWEC #UMSL #NationalMothWeek #Missouri #MissouriMoths #MothLove #InsectDiversity #Biodiversity #Pollinators #Ecology

Our Director, Dr. Aimee Dunlap, is a big fan of the rosy maple moth. With a wingspan of 1 to 2 inches, these pink-and-yellow beauties are the smallest of the silk moths.

Now it’s your turn! What’s your favorite Missouri moth? Drop your pick in the comments. Bonus points if you tell us why!

Happy National Moth Week!

Did you know Missouri is home is estimated to be home to more than 3,000 species of moths? To celebrate, we'll be posting our favorite moths and fun facts about them brought to us by our students, alumni, staff, and faculty.

You all did amazing work, UMSL undergrads!! Special shoutout to Taylor, who, alongside grad student Becky Hansis-O’Neill and Dr. Aimee Dunlap, won an award for her research on bees and caffeine!

📸 Becky Hansis-O'Neill

#HWEC #UMSL #Undergraduate #Behavior #Evolution #Ecology #Biology #Research #STL

Every year, UMSL celebrates undergraduate innovation at the Undergraduate Research Symposium. This year was no exception!

UMSL Biology and Harris Center affiliates made a strong showing with 9 presentations across 5 labs, joining students from across departments to share their work.

Though the interview took place last year, its message remains just as vital today. Check out his beautifully stated message in the link in our bio.

📸 E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation

#HWEC #HermannWorldEcologyAward #Biodiversity #HarrisonFord #EOWilson

These two friends and monoliths in their respective fields were champions of the same cause. Both men previously visited St. Louis to stand with the Harris Center and promote the work of our students while bringing awareness to the importance of conservation biology.

Harrison Ford, a past recipient of the Hermann World Ecology Award, spoke with the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation about the critical need to protect biodiversity - a cause their co-founder E. O. Wilson, another past awardee, was also committed to.

Thank you to everyone who was able to join us last week at the Jane and Whitney Harris Lecture with Dr. Craig Packer. It was a fantastic evening! Couldn't make it? Check out the highlights in the UMSL Daily article linked in our bio!

#HWEC #UMSLProud #STL #Conservation #Lions #Biology #Biodiversity

Check out Soren's full story by clicking the link in our bio!

#hwec #UMSL #umslproud #STL #biology #ecology #gradschool #fish #evolution #extremeenvironments #caves #research #Mexico

In addition to receiving the prestigious R. C. Lewontin Early Award, Soren was also awarded a research grant from the Harris Center. UMSL students, applications for the next round of research grants awarded from the Harris Center will be due the first Monday in March!

Soren, a PhD student in Dr. Tobler's lab, was featured in UMSL Daily today! Soren and members of the Tobler lab traveled to Mexico last summer to conduct research on fish living in extreme environments.

📸 Courtesy of Soren Johnson

If you’re an UMSL biology student interested in conservation ecology and want to attend a conference or workshop, the Harris Center can help support your journey. Reach out to us!

#HWEC #UMSLProud #STL #ResearchInAction #undergraduate #gradstudent #research #ecology #biology #biodiversity

Graduate students Becky and Addy also presented their research, adding to the Harris Center’s strong representation at the conference. From everything we’ve heard, it was an incredible experience for all of our students.

He reflected on the experience:

"The conference was a great experience for me because it encouraged me to present my research again at other conferences. I was surprised at how people interact with each other in this type of event. It was very professional while welcoming as well."

Undergraduate student Tim, who has been working on research funded by the Harris Center, also presented his work through a poster session to an interested crowd.

It was exciting to see all of the directions my educational journey in biology can bring me, and I'm looking forward to attending more conferences in the future." - Maddie

"It was my first conference, and I learned a lot about how they work. It was a great networking opportunity, and I learned about several internships that I can apply for...

Undergraduate student Maddie, who has been collaborating with one of our graduate students on a long-term project, attended her first conference. She was thrilled to see research she’s contributed to being presented and to witness the audience's engagement and positive feedback.

st week, the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference brought its buzz to town, and the Harris Center was proud to support both undergraduate and graduate students in attending and presenting their research! 🐾🌿

We caught up with some of them afterward to hear about their experiences.

📷 Source: Marchant Lab

#HWEC #UMSLProud #PlantScience #EvolutionaryBiology #MolecularBiology #STEM #Biodiversity #STEM #Plants #Science #Research #GradSchool #College #STL

🌿 Fun fact: In high school, he built his own greenhouse for growing tropical plants! With a self-regulating control system he installed before college, it’s still thriving 20 years later.

Learn more about the Marchant lab through the link in our bio!

Today, he shares his expertise by teaching courses like Advanced Molecular Biology, Discoveries and Advances in Genome Biology, and leading the Biolunch seminar series. Beyond the classroom, he mentors graduate and undergraduate researchers as they explore their own scientific interests.

Immersed in tropical ecosystems, he gained his first hands-on research experience and a profound appreciation for the beauty and value of biodiversity. After graduation, he returned to Costa Rica to teach sustainability and conservation biology before pursuing his PhD at the University of Florida.

His love for nature started early, catching caterpillars, spiders, and tadpoles in the park and bringing them home. That interest intensified during his junior year of college while studying abroad in the cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica.

His work dives deep into how these organs evolved across flowering plants, the genes behind their development and diversity, and how environmental stressors like heat, cold, and drought shape their growth. He’s especially intrigued by the effects of climate change on plant reproduction.

Faculty Spotlight on Dr. Blaine Marchant!

Dr. Marchant joined UMSL in January 2024 as an assistant professor. He explores the evolution, development, and physiology of plant reproduction, with a focus on anthers and pollen—the “male” side of plant reproductive organs.