Tessa Boucher (’20), a master’s student in environmental science, is tracking how the North Texas Municipal Water District’s restoration of the 15,000-acre Riverby Ranch is changing the bird population there. Preliminary results have found the efforts have helped increase bird diversity — one of the indicators of success for a restoration project. A lover of animals, Boucher was originally on the path to become a veterinarian, but her undergraduate research on painted buntings with UNT principal lecturer James Bednarz at Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area made her realize she was passionate about working in ecosystem restoration. Her research has earned multiple awards from the Texas Society for Ecological Restoration.