Welcome to the Jha Lab research website! Shalene Jha is a Professor in UT Austin’s Department of Integrative Biology and Academic Director of Research at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Broadly, the Jha Lab examines ecological and evolutionary processes across biological scales, from genes to landscapes, to quantify global change impacts on plant-animal interactions, movement ecology, and the provisioning of ecosystem services.
Our work has provided insight into the environmental drivers of pollinator diversity, has revealed the complex and dynamic nature of wild pollinator foraging, and has exposed critical urbanization and elevation barriers to plant and pollinator gene flow across historic and contemporary time periods.
Prospective Students
If you are a prospective graduate student interested in these or related topics or if you are interested in joining the lab, please send me an email (sjha@austin.utexas.edu). Please include your resume/CV, information on relevant background experience you have, and ideas of the kinds of research questions you are interested in. We look forward to hearing from you!
Educators, Naturalists, Landowners
Our work aims to not only advance plant-pollinator research but to share research-informed practices with our community. If you want to help protect pollinators, you can find information on native bees and pollinator habitat conservation, as well as educational resources, such as identification guides and illustrated species lists, on our Outreach & Resources Page.
Accessibility & Well-being
Members of the Jha Lab work within the Department of Integrative Biology and the College of Natural Sciences on various activities to support well-being at the lab, department, college, and university levels.
Shalene Jha serves on the Community Accessibility and Belonging (CAB) committee for the College of Natural Sciences and is chair of the IB Community, Accessibility, and Well-being (CAW) committee. Some examples of committee activities include the development of STEM recruiting events (https://cns.utexas.edu/graduate-education/graduate-programs/sure), the creation of CNS excellence awards, and the promotion of gender-inclusive restrooms.
INTEGRATIVE BIOLOGY MISSION STATEMENT
In the Department of Integrative Biology, we welcome and embrace all members of our community, including students, staff, and faculty. We provide support for people of different backgrounds, races, nationalities, genders, sexual orientations, beliefs, religions, and socio-economic status. We respect, encourage, and engage varied perspectives, while recognizing that our strength and success, as a department, graduate program, and university, is built on the foundation of a wide range of perspectives and experiences.
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to acknowledge that we are meeting on the lands of Turtle Island, the ancestral name for what now is called North America. Moreover, we acknowledge the Alabama Coushatta, Cado, Carrizo-Comecrudo, Coahuiltecan, Comanche, Kickapoo, Lipan Apache, Tonkawa, and Isleta del Sur Pueblo, and all the American Indian and Indigenous Peoples and communities who have been or have become part of the lands and territories in Texas.