The 2025 Forum was a tremendous success! Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who participated and brought energy and excitement to this year’s event. We are grateful to Texas A&M University–San Antonio for their outstanding hospitality as host, and a special thanks to the planning committee for putting together a great program.
| 9:00 - 9:10 | WELCOME REMARKS - CONFERENCE HOST: Liz Borda | ||||||||||
Session 1 (Oral Presentation) - Moderator: Fernando Calderon Gutierrez | |||||||||||
| 9:10 -9:30 | Okan Külköylüoğlu, Ostracod diversity, disturbance, and conservation of springs and groundwater habitats in the Great Basin and Texas | ||||||||||
| 9:30 - 9:50 | Cecilia Fitzgerald-Cook, Detecting environmental DNA (eDNA) of a keystone crustacean in threatened Hawaiian wetlands. | ||||||||||
| 9:50- 10:10 | Tyler Morgan, Gene flow at the microscale in three endangered animals | ||||||||||
| 10:10-10:30 | Muntadher Mashan, Using genomic tools to enhance biodiversity assessments in karst subterranean estuaries | ||||||||||
| 10:30-10:50 | Gabrielle Vaughn, Population genetics and distribution of Typhlatya species | ||||||||||
| 10:50-11:10 | Coffee Break | ||||||||||
Session 2 (Oral Presentation) - Moderator: Amelia Hunter | |||||||||||
| 11:10-11:30 | Joseph Aubert, Insect diversity in the Hyporheic Zone of Texas rivers | ||||||||||
| 11:30-11:50 | Ramon Villarreal, Investigation of 2 potential new species of Cirolanides, a crustacean (Isopoda) found in the Edwards Aquifer. | ||||||||||
| 11:50-12:10 | Andrew Cannizzaro, Light shining into the darkness: phylogenetic analyses of a hypogean crustacean (Amphipoda: Parabogidiella) reveals unique diversity and structuring | ||||||||||
| 12:10-12:30 | Photo Contest - Moderator: Bernard Mbithi | ||||||||||
| 12:30- 1:40 | Lunch (Cafeteria) | ||||||||||
| 1:40 - 2:40 | Poster Session | ||||||||||
Session 3 (Oral Presentation) - Moderator: Caroline Mierzejewski | |||||||||||
| 2:40 - 3:00 | Katherine Bell, Conservation genetics of Stygobromus in Texas | ||||||||||
| 3:00 - 3:20 | Ruben Tovar, Exploring the utility of diceCT in karst and aquifer taxa | ||||||||||
| 3:20 - 3:40 | Ben Hutchins, The Aquifer Biodiversity Collection at the Edwards Aquifer Research & Data Center | ||||||||||
| 3:40 - 4:00 | Student Awards and Photo Contest Winners - Moderator: Liz Borda | ||||||||||
| 4:00 - 4:15 | CLOSING REMARKS - CONFERENCE HOST: Liz Borda | ||||||||||
| 4:15 - ? | Burleson Yard Beer Garden? Aquaduck Beer Garden?Borda | ||||||||||
| Presenter | Title | Co-Authors | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evan Guerrero | Influence of the hyporheic zone on gene flow in invertebrates in the Edwards-Trinity Aquifer, Texas. | Dr. Kathryn Perez, Dr. Benjamin Schwartz, Dr. Benjamin Hutchins | ||||||||
| Danielle Bragg | Spatiotemporal analysis of metazoan community from the subterranean estuaries of the Yucatan peninsula and Cozumel island through metagenomics | Dr. Elizabeth Borda, Dr. Fernando Calderon-Gutierrez | ||||||||
| Erika Frandsen | Relationships between benthic and hyporheic insect communities across environmental gradients in Texas rivers | Benjamin F. Schwartz, Benjamin T. Hutchins, Weston H. Nowlin, Todd Swannack, Miranda Sams, Kierra Determan, Kirby Wright, Jessica Kittridge, Catherine Cline | ||||||||
| Connor Grizzle, Marco Rodriguez | Toward Speleogenomic Pipelines: Characterizing Biodiversity from Species to Communities | Marci Casias, Marco Rodriguez, Fernando Calderón-Gutiérrez & Elizabeth Borda | ||||||||
| Kamryn Richard | Work with Ozark Cave Fauna | Danté Fenolio | ||||||||
| Lukas Perez | A second uncoiled phreatic snail (Gastropoda: Cochliopidae) from the Edwards-Trinity aquifer | K.E. Perez, B. Hutchins, B. Schwartz |
| Elizabeth Borda - Texas A&M University San Antonio |
| Fernando Calderon-Gutierrez - Stephen F. Austin State University |
| Kathryn Perez - University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley |
| Amelia Hunter - USFWS - Southwest Regional Office |
| Randy Gibson - USFWS– San Marcos Aquatic Resources Center |
| Benjamin Hutchins - Edwards Aquifer Research & Data Center |
| Victor Castillo III - Edwards Aquifer Research & Data Center |
Interactive Map for Directions--Click Directions Tab Below
2024 TEXAS GROUNDWATER INVERTEBRATE FORUM
The 2024 TGIF Planning Committee would like to thank everyone that attended and presented.
We look forward to TGIF 2025!
GOAL
To bring together people who are working on subterranean biology so that knowledge and information can be shared and transferred and future efforts to increase knowledge of groundwater ecosystems can be coordinated.
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the organizers of TGIF is to encourage collaboration and exchange of ideas and information, and to more efficiently and clearly convey and transfer information to those who need and/or use it.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
A number of people are currently working on Texas groundwater organisms, however, there is infrequent research coordination and information exchange about the diverse projects and ongoing efforts that can cause barriers for those who want to fully understand groundwater biodiversity, promote efficient dissemination, and effectively use the data for research and management purposes.