On Dr. Jennifer Pollack’s desk, a ceramic card holder bears a quote from Ed Harte, the Harte Research Institute’s (HRI) namesake: “Make a difference.” The ethos of those three words is felt immediately upon entering the research facility—it echoes down the halls, into the laboratories and within the hearts and minds of each individual contributing to HRI’s mission. Especially Dr. Pollack.
It’s that mission that brought her back to HRI. She first joined the team in 2007 for her postdoctoral work as an assistant research scientist. After moving to the university’s Life Sciences department in 2011, she made her HRI homecoming in 2018.
“This is just such a special place,” Pollack said. “It aligns with the why behind what I do, as it was founded on the idea of getting out there and doing something good; making a legacy contribution. You learn that this is really how you move the needle—this is where real change can be made.”
Now chairing Coastal Conservation and Restoration at HRI, Pollack oversees research focused on science-based insights to support natural resource management, enhance coastal ecosystem sustainability and assess changing conditions on habitats like oyster reefs, while exploring restoration strategies for lost ecological functions.
A colleague once likened their work to bricklaying. In the beginning, there wasn’t much there, perhaps just the foundation of a structure, but gradually the structure begins to take shape. And the hard truth of this line of work is that they’ll never be done laying bricks. “The amount of habitat loss is enormous,” she admitted, “but when you see tangible changes—like those visible on Google Earth—it helps make the effort feel less daunting.”
When you walk into Pollack’s lab, the most notable thing you’ll find—aside from the groundbreaking work being done behind the door and under the microscope—is that the overwhelming majority of researchers inside are women. She finds that somewhat serendipitous but certainly significant.
“It wasn’t my intention to build an almost all-female team,” she said. “It’s a rigorous process to be a part of our team—you have to be willing to never stop learning and work together. You need grit to push past failure and break boundaries.”
And the presence of a female leader can lower barriers to entry for aspiring scientists. “Representation matters,” she noted, reflecting on her own career, where most of her mentors, though great, were men. Now, she provides that inspiration for a new generation of female scientists.
One of Pollack’s legacy projects is Sink Your Shucks. Though trained in benthos, she hadn’t focused on oysters until joining HRI, where a growing interest in funding habitat restoration led her to pursue oyster reef restoration. At the same time, local restauranteur Brad Lomax and HRI Chair Dr. Joe Fox discussed Lomax’s large volume of oyster shells. When the conversation got back to Pollack, a lightbulb went off. Drawing on her experience from the Carolinas, where a state-run oyster recycling program existed, Pollack envisioned a similar initiative for HRI.
If too many shells are taken away, an oyster reef disappears; but in a literal plate-to-bay cycle, new generations of oysters are able to move into prior generations’ shells. The program, over the last 15 years, has collected more than 3 million pounds of shells and constructed over 45 acres of reef in the Mission-Aransas estuary bays.
The impact of Sink Your Shucks extends beyond the immediate environmental benefits: Pollack explained oysters are a phenomenal entry point into conservation and restoration. By securing the right partnerships, educating the community and creating public participation events, tangible results of restoration at work are seen.
“You can see it in their eyes,” she said of participants at community events. “People use their own hands to make a difference, and in doing so, we create new stewards of the bay and the coast. That is the Sink Your Shucks, and really the HRI, effect.”
A researcher and scholar at one of the highest levels, Pollack’s list of achievements is extensive, but what she values most is connecting HRI’s work with key decision-makers. She credits former HRI executive directors Dr. Bob Furgason and Dr. Larry McKinney for instilling the importance of being an “honest broker” of knowledge. “We present all the information, and it’s up to the decision-makers to act on it,” she explained. “I’m not here to advocate for a specific decision, but I will provide facts they can trust.”
One of Pollack’s most admirable qualities is her openness to admitting when she doesn’t know something. In fact, problems excite her, and finding solutions to problems, even if that means bringing in other minds and perspectives, excites her even more. When presented with a challenge, she instantly reframes the perspective to that of new opportunities.
“With the nature of our work, our pressing needs are constantly changing depending on environmental threats,” she said. “I’m not in the business of being the best at everything, and we have top experts in their fields here. So, when presented with a new challenge, we involve the right collaborators and find a way forward. With new questions, we need someone to come up with new answers, and I’d rather that someone be us.”
In August 2023, Pollack was named the Larry D. McKinney Endowed Chair at HRI. As one of the highest honors awarded to HRI faculty, the appointment sets her at the pinnacle of scientific research both nationally and internationally.
However, no matter her title, the number of published works, secured grant dollars or students she’s ushered into the next phase of their career, the positive changes she contributes to will always be what keeps her going. Though habitat loss, rising sea levels and climate change’s varying effects are real and omnipresent threats, if she can help to leave this place a little better than she found it, if she can lay just a wall’s worth of bricks, she’ll consider all the hard work worth it.
