HRI's Dr. Wes Tunnell advised Texas State Aquarium on their “Caribbean Journey”
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – After years in the making, the Texas State Aquarium celebrated the 2017 opening of its new Caribbean Journey exhibit exploring the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a biodiverse region in Mexico’s eastern Yucatan Peninsula.
Sian Ka’an, meaning “Origin of the Sky,” is a unique zone of interconnected marine, coastal, and terrestrial ecosystems well-known to HRI’s Dr. Wes Tunnell, who has dedicated his career to researching and introducing his students to the reef systems of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Caribbean. When the Texas State Aquarium decided to fulfill their vision of adding a Caribbean wing, Aquarium President and CEO Tom Schmid knew just who to call.
Tunnell, HRI’s Endowed Chair for Biodiversity and Conservation Science and Professor Emeritus, served as an adviser on this exciting new aquarium exhibit. A marine ecologist and biologist focusing primarily on coastal and coral reef ecosystems and a passionate science educator, Tunnell aided in the development of the original Texas State Aquarium beginning in 1978 and has also collaborated on science exhibits with the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
