Rachel Grotte
I graduated from UTSA with a Bachelors of Science in Biology in 2009 and a Masters of Science in Biology in 2012. My favorite class was Desert Ecology. My undergraduate research work was on harvester ant behavior and my masters thesis was regarding fire ant behavior and evolution. I have been a lecturer and lab coordinator, teaching biology, environmental science, ecology and microbiology at NVC, UTSA and TAMUSA. I have also provided informal environmental education at The Science Mill in Johnson City creating programs to get families into the outdoors to learn about ecology together, wrote STEM education content that reaches many teachers in programs, and helped design mobile exhibits about invasive species and aquatic ecosystems for Sul Ross and Tarleton Universities. I also worked as a watershed ecologist at the San Antonio River Authority.
Now, I am working for TPWD as a Texas Nature Trackers Biologist with the Nongame and Rare Species team in the Wildlife Division where I can be a technical expert and a community engagement steward, creating a citizen science pipeline to collect quality data around the state about our species of greatest conservation need.
