TPWD
For nearly a decade, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has funded several research grants and contracts to faculty members from UTRGV and its legacy institutions.
ARTIFICIAL REEF PROGRAM
Since 2007, researchers from South Texas have partnered with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to monitor artificial reefs in the western Gulf of Mexico. These reefs are made from a variety of materials, including sunken ships such as the Texas Clipper, concrete culverts, and out-of-service oil rigs. They harbor vital populations of fishes and invertebrates. More than $1.9 million has been awarded to faculty to conduct artificial reef research, with a dozen graduate students receiving their master's theses stemming the monitoring program.