Birds, mammals, herps and fish – Dr. Brooks oversees the museum’s vertebrate zoology collection of over 5,000 specimens. The majority represents the Texas coastal bend region but also includes Africa, Latin America, threatened and endangered species, and select taxonomic groups.
Dr. Brooks is dedicated to encouraging and facilitating the use of the collections for research by students, scholars and scientists. Generous with his time, he mentors students at every level – post docs to high school with their research projects. Brooks also leads the Texas Invasive Bird Project, a citizen-science project that tracks the status of invasive or introduced species of birds in the state of Texas, as well as the Houston Urban Wildlife Project, a collaborative effort to study animal species in our urban neighborhoods.
Houston Urban Wildlife Project
Dr. Brooks led the design of the Farish Hall of Texas Wildlife and Frensley/Graham Hall of African Wildlife. He also contributes to the museum’s temporary exhibit offerings, some of which have traveled to other institutions.
Having done field work all over the world, Dr. Brooks’ research covers numerous topics and taxa. He has concentrated much of his work on community ecology, as well as natural history and conservation of Neotropical birds and mammals, especially the Peruvian Amazon, Paraguayan Chaco and eastern Bolivian panhandle.
Dr. Brooks actively publishes his research. He has written numerous books, book chapters, and published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Brooks earned his Ph.D. in Wildlife and Fish. Science, Texas A&M University after he received his master’s degree in biology from Texas Tech and bachelor’s degree in zoology from State University of New York at Oswego. He was named the HMNS curator of vertebrate zoology in 1999.
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Exhibit Halls