OHS Biology & Conservation Club

07/28/2026

We had a pretty spectacular bloom of these flowers in the last month on a property North of Olney. They belong to the genus Eustoma, most likely and are one of a couple of species that could occur here. Notice that the bulk of them are purple but a few plants produce white flowers. These could likely be the same species with genetic variants that produce the alternative color. There are several mechanisms plants can exhibit to create the variation, though. With some more time and attention we could observe the pollinators and see if there is a difference in species that interact with the different flower colors. If you swipe to the last photo you can see just how tiny the seeds are for these plants. They literally produce a “seed dust” that can spread millions of seeds per plant! This is just one of thousands of examples of beautiful, native, Texas weather tolerant plant that are out there!

04/26/2026

The biology club crew spent the day yesterday on the Brazos River, paddling and cleaning up as part of the inaugural paddle clean up day! The group paddled 10 miles of river and helped haul out 7 tires, a 55-gal barrel, and around 142 lbs of trash! Our group of 16 made up close to half of the group! A big thanks to the Brazos Cleanup Project board, volunteers, and support crew for making this happen. The river hasn’t looked better in years!

03/30/2026

Please check out the OHS Leads Out page! If you can donate, they would appreciate it so much! If you can't, you can still help out in a big way by following their page, liking, and sharing the post! Every dollar will help!

Students from Olney High School’s Student Council and National Honor Society… Will Stewart needs your support for Olney HS Student Leadership Canoe Expedition

03/24/2026

On the Map!

On Sunday, some of our students completed their first Nurdle Patrol survey and officially added data to a global citizen science project tracking plastic pollution.

“Nurdles” are tiny plastic pellets, the raw material used to make almost all plastic products. Because of spills and poor handling, they often end up in rivers and oceans, where they persist for decades and can be mistaken for food by wildlife. The majority of nurdles are manufactured right here in Texas, along the coast near oil processing centers, since the materials needed to make them come from petroleum products.

Through Nurdle Patrol, volunteers survey shorelines using a simple, standardized method to track where these microplastics are showing up. Every data point helps scientists, educators, and policymakers better understand how plastic moves through our ecosystems, and where intervention is needed most.

We are happy to say that our first survey did not turn up any nurdles at the Highway 16 bridge over the Brazos River! However, there is always plenty of other trash around to pick up. If you want to help with that show up any day and put a few pieces in a bag and haul them out. OR you can always take part in the ! There is a paddle cleanup date coming up on April 25th! Hope to see you there!

We’re proud to contribute real data from right here at home and even more excited to keep building our dataset over time. Science doesn’t just happen in labs it happens on riverbanks, with students, asking real questions about the world around them. Head over to nurdlepatrol.org to learn more about nurdles and how we can work to reduce their presence where they don’t belong!

01/31/2026

Day four recap! On day four we woke up to our usual Pacuare alarm clock. If you swipe all the way to the last video, you will hear the Howler monkeys that hung around the preserve. They are a good and pretty reliable alarm at about 5:00 am. You will also probably hear the rare sounds of a 37 year old male biology teacher breathing in the humid Costa Rican air.

The day was spent learning about data collection and then an activity where we collected data and then the students presented their findings from the data. almost let that 37 year old teacher beat him in a long jump contest. That contest was of course for the data collection activity.

That afternoon, one of the Leatherback Sea Turtle nursery nests hatched. The nursery is constructed back away from the water and protected by netting and a small fence to prevent predation of the eggs. The eggs that are relocated to these nurseries were found on night census walks and relocated due to their proximity to the water (which can kill the eggs), among other issues with nest location, cover, etc. Everyone in our group had the opportunity to help collect data on the hatchlings. We took carapace measurements and weights and then that evening, got to release them into the big briny.

It is a sobering fact that one in 1000 of those hatchlings makes it to adulthood. We released 26 hatchlings. Hopefully, more than one make it! Human activity, predation, 60-40% nest failure, and so much more contribute to fatalities. The adults can reach up to 1300lbs and 8 feet in length, but the hatchlings fit in the palm of your hand.

made friends with a nice coconut and promptly fell asleep in the hammock with it. We couldn’t let the photo-op pass.

We want to thank Stewart's and family for their continued support in funding our trips! I wouldn’t be nearly as knowledgeable and interested in wildlife, learning, and conservation without your efforts to get me outdoors as a kid. You play a large part in my desire to share these experiences with the next generations. We couldn’t do these trips without you.

01/30/2026

On full day number three we took some naps on the bus on our way to Pacuare Reserve on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, and picked up some snacks along the way. We drove through pineapple and banana plantations and learned quite a bit about the conflict that surrounds those large scale corporate farms. We don’t think twice about the behind-the-scenes impacts of some of the things we buy and consume daily but the impacts are real and felt by many of the rural Costa Ricans in that area.

We got to take a boat ride to the reserve and saw more birds, howler monkeys, caiman, and more on the boat ride. Upon arriving we got our bags stowed away in the rooms, ate lunch and learned about the various species of sea turtles we would hopefully have the ability to work with while at Pacuare. That afternoon we took a hike into the forest which is all new growth forest as much of the region used to be farmed. At first glance it may not seem very different from old growth forests but the succession of plants and lack of the larger older trees becomes very obvious after spending time there. Much of the coast line in this area has been set aside as preserves for not only forest species but also the sea turtles that use the beaches for their nests. We got to see and interact (from a distance) with some Capuchin monkeys. One of them, we named Scarface, must have been the troops alpha male and he wasn’t terribly fond of our presence. We got to see a basilisk lizard run across the water to escape a Caiman and the beautiful Agami herons on their nests. I was not able to get a photo of the herons but you should look them up!

That night we did our first night census for nesting sea turtles. Unfortunately, we didn’t happen upon any but we learned a ton and had a blast walking the beach in the middle of the night with no flashlights. The stars, clouds, and waves crashing made it a very enjoyable time. The conversations became more and more interesting the later it got 🤣.

01/29/2026

Our second full day was spent completely in the Tirimbina Rainforest Preserve. In the morning, we had a delicious breakfast (the EPI cooks know how to do it right!) and headed off into the forest. Not even 100 yards into the forest .pi pointed out a hole in the hillside by the trail. If it were in Texas I would assume a coyote had dug it and that there were 2 or 3 living in it. Nope, it was a crow-sized or smaller bird called a broad-billed motmot. There is a pretty horrible picture of one in this post. We saw lots of insects (including bullet ants), plants, and sloths (even a juvenile!) Tirimbina has a good amount of old-growth rainforest which is magnificent to see and dwindling across the globe.

In the afternoon, we hiked down to the outdoor classroom and the creek where we sampled aquatic macro-invertebrates to identify and use as biomarkers of stream health. The students did great and we got soaked not only by the creek but also the rain! Of course, the sampling totals became a competition with this group between partner groups and previous visiting groups numbers. I am currently preparing some materials for us to start doing this here at home!

If I remember correctly, there might have been a wild game of mafia that involved Beanboozled jelly beans as the punishment for losing. tried to get out of eating his by swallowing it whole. Don’t worry, we held him accountable the NEXT round he lost.

Today, I’d like to thank for their generous donation. We are fortunate to have so many industry partners who are local to Olney and are dedicated to keeping our community strong and our students engaged!

As always, we are preparing for our next trip in 2027. If you would like to donate please message me here and I will get the necessary information to you! We have a record number of students interested so fundraising will be an even more crucial step in our participation!

01/28/2026

Hey everyone! It’s been a great snow break! But now I’m thinking back to the warm, humid Costa Rica climate and we are preparing to select our group for the next trip in 2027! I’ll be posting a brief recap and photos of each day that we spent in Costa Rica last summer. It was a fantastic trip with a phenomenal group of students. Our instructors .pi and .caucel were so great. Both were patient, good humored, and super knowledgeable about everything we saw and all that we did.

We would like to take a second to thank for their continued support of our student’s education and experiences on these trips. They have been a crucial partner in getting our students out to do something beneficial for people and the environment, while also supporting us financially. Your dedication to our community and students is amazing!

The first day and a half we spent traveling from Olney to DFW airport, then to San Jose where we met up with our bus driver Sergio and our instructors. On the way to the hotel, might have asked if we were likely to see a “Tupac”. I informed him that unless Tupac faked his death and was now residing in Costa Rica, it wasn’t likely. However, we might see a toucan? Apparently, that was what he meant 😂. We awoke the next morning and did our medical checks, the students turned in their phones, and headed out for Tirimbina Rainforest Preserve. We were in full tourist mode taking in the city, towns, countryside, and the rainforest. We settled into our next lodging and that evening, set out on a night hike after a short rain. The sounds of the rainforest at night were deafening and diverse. We saw two species of toucan, so many frogs, geckos, anoles, lizards, and birds it was hard to keep track of them all.

Of course we will be fundraising for our next trip soon. If you would like to donate to our trip you can send me a direct message, or an email and I will give you instructions on how to do so! We have a record number of students participating this time so we can use all the help we can get!

12/03/2025

A couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to participate in the again. This year I had along helping us for the 3rd year in a row and Nate for the 2nd year in a row! It’s been great to see the grow so well in the last 6 years. We had over 100 volunteers this year and we are achieving what we set out to do. Trash was harder to find this year than in any previous year and our group only managed to pick up 13 bags. Compare that to the 50 bags we picked up last year!!!!! Seeing so many people come out to care for and maintain such a valuable public space was great! Having students go with me and return year after year to help is even better!