UH Environmental Research Gets a Boost with New Designation

Texas Gov. Greg Abbot earlier this month signed legislation designating the UH Coastal Center as the Texas Institute for Coastal Prairie Research and Education, formally establishing its role in studying coastal prairies and their restoration and in sharing that knowledge.

The recognition builds on work decades in the making, starting when UH acquired nearly 1,000 acres 35 miles south of the Third Ward campus. The land is part of the former Camp Wallace military installation and offers facilities and field sites for work – by UH faculty and students, as well as those from other institutions – in areas ranging from air quality to geophysics, climate change and wetland ecology. Steven Pennings, professor of Biology and Biochemistry and director of the center, offered an update on activities there.