A woman in a blue jacket stands in front of the stone ruins and steep green mountains of Machu Picchu, Peru.

UW Alum Teaches and Researches Global Biodiversity, Inspiring Curiosity and Conservation

Nina Zitani has discovered and named 15 insect species previously unknown to science. Fellow entomologists have named another nine newly discovered species in her honor.

A renowned scientist and educator, Zitani has led or co-led more than 30 expeditions to remote areas of Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru. She’s collected and scrutinized thousands of entomological research specimens, led field courses in the Amazon rainforest, and served as a biodiversity expert for 18 Smithsonian Journeys, including an “Around the World by Private Jet” program.

Latest News

A close-up on a hawk.

Rare Broad-Winged Hawk Released at UW After Discovery on Campus in June

At the edge of the University of Wyoming’s Prexy’s Pasture Thursday, July 30, people gathered around a rare sight in Wyoming for this time of year—a broad-winged hawk.

The uncommon bird of prey was found on campus in June with a fractured beak and a significant parasite load. A month later, the young hawk, healed and ready to resume its journey, flew from UW’s lawn to the trees between the S.H. Knight Geology Building and the Engineering Building before heading southeast.

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field containing a thick strip of yellow grass with mostly green grass to the right side

UW-Led Institute Releases Film Highlighting 10 Years of Collaborative Invasive Grass Management

The University of Wyoming’s Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems (IMAGINE) has released a short film highlighting a decade of collaborative efforts to manage invasive grasses in northeast Wyoming.

The film, titled “Northeast Wyoming Holds the Line Against Ventenata & Medusahead,” features the Northeast Wyoming Invasive Grass Working Group (NEWIGWG), one of the largest invasive grass working groups in the U.S.

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Four people stand in a field; Jahshua Sanchez is holding a bird.

UW’s WYOBIRD Contributes to Study on Climate Sensitivity Among Tree Swallows

Across the board, tree swallow populations have similar sensitivity to warming amid climate change, but different abilities to respond to change. Breeding dates have advanced about one day per degree of warming, but northern populations face tighter time constraints and greater exposure to warming, according to recent research that included University of Wyoming students and faculty in the Wyoming Bird Initiative for Resilience and Diversity (WYOBIRD).

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large group of people organized into two rows pose together next to a sign advertising UW's Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

UW Graduate Student Presents Hunger in Wyoming Workshops Across the State

In partnership with the Food Bank of Wyoming, University of Wyoming graduate student Julie Hampton-Lyon has organized a workshop series addressing the issue of food security.

Hampton-Lyon, a master’s student in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences’ Food Science and Human Nutrition program, has spearheaded six events sharing information about Wyoming food policy with communities across the state.

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Videos

Winter Care for Young Trees | From the Ground Up

Pruning Trees in Winter | From the Ground Up