Quinta Mazatlán invites the community to explore the hidden world of one of South Texas’s most fascinating and threatened species during a special Thursday Night Live presentation, “Texas Tortoise Ecology in the Rio Grande Valley,” with wildlife scientist Camryn Kiel, on Thursday, January 29, from 6 to 7 p.m.

The Texas tortoise is the only native tortoise species in the state, uniquely adapted to the Tamaulipan thornscrub. Listed as state-threatened, the species faces ongoing challenges from habitat loss, fragmentation, and declining population trends. Despite these pressures, surprisingly little research has been conducted to guide conservation efforts. In this talk, Kiel will share findings from her recent graduate research conducted from 2022 to 2024, during which she equipped Texas tortoises with tracking devices and temperature loggers to better understand their movement patterns, habitat selection, and thermal ecology. The presentation will offer an engaging overview of Texas tortoise ecology while highlighting new insights that can inform future conservation strategies.

Camryn Kiel is a wildlife scientist with a background in ornithology and herpetology. Originally from northwestern Ohio, she moved to Texas in 2020 to pursue her doctorate at Texas A&M University, focusing on Texas tortoise ecology and the influence of prescribed fire on tortoise habitats in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. She currently resides in Brownsville and works as an avian biologist for SWCA Environmental Consultants.

This program is free with general admission. For more information, call (956) 681-3370 and follow Quinta Mazatlán on social media for updates.