September 11th, Rossana Maguiña-Conde
The Life of A Flower
Flowers are more than just beautiful structures—they are essential organs for plant reproduction. Nearly 90% of flowering plant species rely on animal pollinators to transfer pollen and ensure successful reproduction. In this talk, we’ll delve into the fascinating world of floral biology, exploring the diverse traits flowers have evolved to attract their pollinators. From color and scent to shape and timing, each characteristic tells a story of coevolution and ecological partnership. Join Rossana Maguiña-Conde on September 11th to learn about the life of a flower!
Rossana Maguiña-Conde is an evolutionary ecologist studying plant-pollinator interactions and plant reproductive systems. She is currently working as a postdoctoral researcher at the Stengl Lost Pines Biological Station surveying insects, plants, and soil after a wildfire. Dr. Maguiña-Conde received her PhD in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of California Santa Cruz, where she studied studied plant evolution and the role of pollinators on this process, focusing on how flowers evolved from a bee syndrome to a bird syndrome in the Neotropical spiral gingers in Costa Rica and Peru. She received her MS in Biology from the University of Missouri at St. Louis, where she studied the feeding ecology of nectar bats and their associated plants in cloud forests of Ecuador.
Lecture Schedule
- 7:00 pm: Kid’s activities and natural history displays
- 7:15 pm – 7:45 pm: Guided tour of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory (sturdy shoes and water recommended!)
- 8:00 pm: The talk begins!
- 8:45 pm: Q&A with the speaker
📍 Location: Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, Texas 78703
💡 No RSVP is required – just show up and enjoy!
🅿️ Free parking is available at BFL for all lecture events!
🌦️ While we aim to host all events outdoors, sometimes weather conditions or volunteer capacity may require that we move the event inside the laboratory building.
Follow us on our Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or email us to stay updated on event-specific details. We look forward to seeing you at our events! ✨
Fall 2025 Schedule
Welcome back for a new semester! We are excited to announce Science Under The Stars’ fall 2025 schedule. SUTS is our free, student-run public outreach lecture series! Mark your calendars for our monthly events covering topics on science and nature by biologists at UT:
September 11: Rossana Maguiña-Conde – The life of a flower
October 9: Allison Hutt – Flora of the living dead: Resurrection plants of Central Texas
November 13: Savvy Cornett – Genital Schmenital! The complexities of biological sex
December 11: Sunishka Thakur – There are many ways to find a mate
Lecture Schedule
- 7:00 pm: Kid’s activities and natural history displays
- 7:15 pm – 7:45 pm: Guided tour of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory (sturdy shoes and water recommended!)
- 8:00 pm: The talk begins!
- 8:45 pm: Q&A with the speaker
Details
- Location: Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, Texas 78703
- No RSVP is required – just show up and enjoy!
- While we aim to host all events outdoors, sometimes weather conditions or volunteer capacity may require that we move the event inside the laboratory building.
- Free parking is available at BFL for all lecture events!
Follow us on our Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or email us to stay updated on event-specific details. We look forward to seeing you this spring under the stars!
April 10th, Yanan Bai
Illuminating Growth: The Story of Light and Plants
Is light just a source of energy for plants, or does it play a more intricate role in plant development? Curious about how light regulate every aspect of plant growth? Join Yanan Bai, graduate student in Plant Biology, on April 10th to discover the hidden secrets of how light shapes the life of plants.
Lecture Schedule
- 7:00 pm: Kid’s activities and natural history displays
- 7:15 pm – 7:45 pm: Guided tour of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory (sturdy shoes and water recommended!)
- 8:00 pm: The talk begins!
- 8:45 pm: Q&A with the speaker
📍 Location: Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, Texas 78703
💡 No RSVP is required – just show up and enjoy!
🅿️ Free parking is available at BFL for all lecture events!
🌦️ While we aim to host all events outdoors, sometimes weather conditions or volunteer capacity may require that we move the event inside the laboratory building.
Important Note About Parking
At our last SUTS event, a few of our visitors received parking tickets from UT PTS. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and ask that those who received tickets dispute them with PTS. We ask that visitors please park east of the entrance to BFL. For more information and assistance please contact Brackenridge Field Laboratory Manager Jason Lawson.
Jason Lawson
832-722-9447
Jlawson3413@utexas.edu
Follow us on our Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or email us to stay updated on event-specific details. We look forward to seeing you at our events! ✨
March 13th, Fiona MacNeill
Picking Your Poison: How Plant Chemical Traits Defend Against Herbivores, Attract Pollinators, and Influence Toxic Butterflies
Have you ever wondered why coffee plants make caffeine? Or why peppers evolved to be spicy? 🌶️ Join us on March 13th as PhD candidate Fiona MacNeill explores plant chemistry, the relationships between plants and their partners—like pollinators and insect herbivores—and how plant chemicals manipulate interactions with other species. Plus, why this matters for people too! 🌼🐝
Lecture Schedule
- 7:00 pm: Kid’s activities and natural history displays
- 7:15 pm – 7:45 pm: Guided tour of the Brackenridge Field Laboratory (sturdy shoes and water recommended!)
- 8:00 pm: The talk begins!
- 8:45 pm: Q&A with the speaker
📍 Location: Brackenridge Field Laboratory, 2907 Lake Austin Blvd, Austin, Texas 78703
💡 No RSVP is required – just show up and enjoy!
🅿️ Free parking is available at BFL for all lecture events!
🌦️ While we aim to host all events outdoors, sometimes weather conditions or volunteer capacity may require that we move the event inside the laboratory building.
Follow us on our Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or email us to stay updated on event-specific details. We look forward to seeing you at our events! ✨
Science Under The Stars at UT STEM Girl Day 2025
Today’s STEM Girl Day was a huge success!
✨Hundreds of K-8 future scientists stopped by our table to explore the wonders of nature. Our natural history collection featuring mammal skeletons, bird specimens, and wet specimens of reptiles and amphibians sparked so much curiosity and excitement that we ran through 400 gloves!
💡Our “What Nature Topic Excites You Most?” board was covered in sticky notes with amazing ideas for future talks. The Science Under The Stars coloring books disappeared in no time, and we handed out a ton of stickers!
⭐️None of this would have been possible without our incredible volunteers. From answering questions to keeping everything running smoothly, they made this event happen. Huge shoutout to our team for sharing their passion for nature and inspiring the next generation of scientists!
Our amazing volunteers! From left to right: Xinyi M, Tushar, Steven, Chloe, Tianyi, Jennie, Ryan 
Got a lot of new ideas for future talks today! 
Smruti (left) and Savvy (right) setting up the tables 
Science Under The Stars Coloring books created by Jennie 
Insect boxes curated by Steven 
Tushar sharing his knowledge on reptiles and amphibians 
Steven and his insect boxes 
Tianyi (left) and Smruti (right) introducing SUTS 
Ryan (left) and Xinyi (right) sharing knowledge on birds 
Chloe showing kids ethanol-preserved specimens 
Tianyi handing kids ethanol-preserved specimens 
Future scientists! 
We got a lot of visitors today 🙂
🐝Up next: Join us this Thursday (2/27) for a Science Under The Star event all about bees! We are teaming up with the Texas Science Festival for a buzzing good time. We’ve restocked our stickers and T-shirts, and we’ll have the brand-new coloring books——free to grab! Hope to see you there!
Science Under The Stars 