Stavana Strutz, PhD

Dr. Stavana Strutz – a multidisciplinary scientist & science communicator.

Stavana Strutz would often visit her grandparents’ farm along the Red River in northern Texas. Her mother was a 3rd grade teacher who taught reading and science. These early experiences in farming country and helping with her mother’s science class fostered a love of nature and science at an early age.

After completing her Bachelor of Science in Biology and Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, she earned her Doctorate in Biology: Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior from the University of Texas at Austin. Her doctoral research focused on the climate change driven expansion of a vector-borne disease, cutaneous leishmaniasis.

After finishing her doctorate, she co-founded the first science writing nonprofit in the southern United States, Austin Texas Science Communicators. She then worked as a science communication coordinator with the Gulf Coast Carbon Center, a CCS (carbon capture and storage) research group at The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Strutz served as a chapter scientist and contributing author for the 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group II, “Chapter 2: Terrestrial and Freshwater Ecosystems and Their Services” report. Her research aims to understand the interaction between emerging infectious diseases and climate change.

Dr. Stavana Strutz has a diverse educational background and has communicated science through a variety of media: invited talks, radio, and visual art.