Dan

As the HMNS Curator of Vertebrate Zoology, Dr. Dan is known as ‘the guy with the most backbone’ in the museum! He curates four permanent exhibits at the museum, where he was worked as a full-time staff member since 1999. He has described 10 new species to date, and is very active in local (hmns.org/houstonwildlife) and international (Southeast Asia and Latin America) wildlife research, especially with gamebirds. Afflicted with the inability to ‘shake the nature bug’, when he’s not at work in the museum, one of his favorite things to do is scouting and exploring the great outdoors with his family.

Other Projects

Other Urban Wildlife Projects in the Bayou City Hidden Life of Houston CBC Citizen Science Garden

News

2004 – Tickled pink by a Flamingo’s visit 2012 – Spider webs pose a danger for small birds  2015 – Elusive cardinals are beginning to show up 2018 – Update on Waugh bridge bat colony hit by Hurricane Harvey associated flooding 2020 – Aquatic turtles of McGovern Lake 2020 – Neighborhoods and parks let budding […]

HUWP Image Gallery

The Houston Urban Wildlife Project (HUWP) is a program that was born around 2000 when collaborating on a project with colleagues from Rice University regarding the effect of bayou channelization upon urban avian diversity. View our image gallery below to catch a glimpse of the research being conducted, and learn how you can get involved.

Finding Wildlife In The Burbs

Where to find wildlife in the ‘burbs Wildlife is all around us.  Every once in a while when driving at night or going on an early morning walk its possible to see an Opossum or Raccoon running across the road.  At the other end of the spectrum a variety of birds, lizards and squirrels are […]

Bird Projects

Invasive Bird Projects The Texas Invasive Bird Project (TIBP) has been ongoing since 2008, resulting in many studies of invasive birds here in Houston.  These include six core focal species: Mute swan, Egyptian geese , Monk parakeet, Red-vented bulbul , Scaly-breasted munia  and Northern red bishop.  Other studies (mostly prior to TIBP) were done for Blue-crowned parakeet  and small seed-eating birds.   Aquatic Bird Projects We have […]

Mammal Projects

Nutria and Beaver niche partitioning at an urban pond Carnivore Projects Range expansion and ecology of Ringtail Albinsm in Raccoons  ‘Rediscovery’ of the Cougar in east Texas  Carnivores (Bobcats, Coyotes, Striped skunks) and other species returning to Houston city limits   Waugh Street Bat Projects The effects of a major flooding event on Free-tailed bats  […]

Get Involved

Citizen science   One of the best ways to get involved is through Citizen Science– research projects that rely on the efforts of local citizens to collect data.  New ways of approaching old methods in data collection are a good thing!   eBird  I shrugged off eBird for years despite many friends and colleagues raving about it.  I […]

Houston Urban Wildlife Project

What is it? The Houston Urban Wildlife Project (HUWP) is a program that was born around 2000 when collaborating on a project with colleagues from Rice University regarding the effect of bayou channelization upon urban avian diversity.  What has taken place since is a diverse array of urban wildlife projects, primarily research.  Coordinated by Daniel Brooks, […]