Become A Jaguar 
Request Info 
Apply Texas A&M-San Antonio Biology students truly earned their laurels as they placed 1st in their division in the Intercollegiate Range and Wildlife Plant Identification Competition at the 50th annual Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society meeting. This was the first time in TAMU-SA history that students participated in the competition.
The A&M-San Antonio Range and Wildlife Plant Identification Team members included Rafael Alcoser, David Perez, Kalin Skinner, and Natalie Thunderbolt, and were coached by Dr. Dean Wiemers, adjunct professor of biology. Undergraduate Kalin Skinner received recognition for identifying the greatest number of plants and winning the individual student competition in TAMU-SA’s division. The team prepared for weeks in advance of the competition to be able to identify 120 different plants by family, genus, and specific epithet. Students were faced with the challenge of plant identification based off only a stem, mast, leaf characteristic, seed head, or even just a root system.
The Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society celebrated their 50th meeting in Austin, Texas on February 20-22. More than 700 people from multiple universities and community colleges across Texas attended the meeting and competed in the Intercollegiate Range and Wildlife Plant Identification and other competitions.
The students of the Range and Wildlife Plant Identification Team would like to thank the TAMU-SA Biology Department, the San Antonio Botanical Gardens, and the Mitchell Lake Audubon Center for their support, allowing them to perform their best and take home the prize!
