Burghardt Honored with Herpetology Award

August 25, 2026 by Kaitlin Coyle

Burghardt Honored with Herpetology Award

Profile

Professor Emeritus Gordon Burghardt received the 2026 Henry S. Fitch Award for Excellence in Herpetology. He is an Alumni Distinguished Service Professor of the psychology and the ecology and evolutionary biology departments. 

Alumni Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus Gordon Burghardt received the 2026 Henry S. Fitch Award for Excellence in Herpetology.

Awarded by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists, the prize recognizes long-term excellence in the study of amphibian and/or reptile biology, based principally on the quality of the awardee’s research. 

Among Burghardt’s numerous books written while a professor of psychology and ecology and evolutionary biology at UT, he is a co-author of The Secret Social Lives of Reptiles and editor of Health and Welfare of Captive Reptiles. 

His numerous honors include a 2024 Distinguished Animal Behaviorist Award.

by Amy Beth Miller

Survivor Support: Getting Language Right

August 20, 2026 by Kaitlin Coyle

Survivor Support: Getting Language Right

Profile

Congratulations to doctoral student Darla Bonagura and Associate Professor of Psychology Sarah Lamer, who shared their recent research collaboration in a featured article for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Their work highlights how the language used to describe sexual assault can shape who gets blamed, and why careful, survivor-centered communication matters.

by Randall Brown