NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) – SFA Gardens has partnered with Moody Gardens on Galveston Island to research and plant resilient trees and greenery designed to withstand the weather of 21st-century Texas.
The joint initiative, titled “Climate Resilient Plants for a 21st Century Galveston Island,” has existed since 2016 and utilizes a 2-acre research plot located near the Galveston airport.
Dr. David Creech, Director of SFA Gardens at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, said the project addresses changing weather patterns, hot Texas summers and unexpected weather events.
“If you go back and look at the historical record, it is getting hotter overall. But we also have aberrant climate,” Creech said. “We were minus 4 degrees February 16th, 2021. We’ve had late freezes that we didn’t anticipate, which is real hard on the blueberry growers and the peach growers.”
Field experience for graduate researchers
Audrey Hughes, a graduate student in terrestrial ecology who is assisting Creech, spent time at the Galveston site checking irrigation lines, mixing and spraying herbicides to eliminate weed competition around protected trees, and harvesting berries for seed planting.
“Conservation is very important for me personally, just making sure that we do continue to have plants in the future that are tolerant to these new climates,” Hughes said. “The coast is pretty salty. It’s very windy. So plants that are really hardy and able to withstand that salt and wind, it’s just great for the ecology there.”
Hughes said preserving diverse plant communities is essential for long-term ecological balance and future generations.
“I feel like they’re often kind of overlooked. You know, you hear a lot about people who are working with like the cute fuzzy things, but plants deserve as much love,” Hughes said. “Conserving our biodiversity is so important for so many reasons.”
Copyright 2026 KTRE. All rights reserved.
Comments are closed.