Frank Hensley

associate professor biology

on faculty since 2005

Phone: 708.293.4619
Fax: 708.385.5665
E-mail: frank.hensley@trnty.edu 

Education

Ph.D., University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 1994
M.S., University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, 1990
B.S., Baylor University, Waco, Texas, 1987

Professional and Personal Interests

When asked what is exciting about his job, Dr. Frank Hensley would say, “amphibians and reptiles.” The biology professor is a man of distinction on the subject of extinction.

“I worked on the reproductive biology of the endangered Costa Rican golden toad, Bufo periglenes. The toads became extinct in 1989, apparently due to climate change. I was the last person to ever see the species.”

Hensley earned his master’s and Ph.D. in zoology at the University of Florida. He did his doctoral research on amphibian metamorphosis at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The huge facility is home to five nuclear reactors used to make nuclear weapons. The professor then opted for a change of venue.

“I worked in Arizona for seven years where I collaborated on studies of desert bat populations, black-neck garter snakes, and Sonora mud turtles. In Chicago, my major research emphasis is on bat activity patterns in suburban habitats.”
    
When Hensley is not dabbling in research, he is teaching in a Trinity classroom.
   
“My major goal is to help students expand their science literacy and incorporate scientific understanding into a Christian worldview.”
    
When not teaching or absorbed in his research, Hensley enjoys bicycling, nature photography, and watching his son’s martial arts classes. He lives in Midlothian, Illinois, and attends Morgan Park Presbyterian Church in Chicago.

Courses Taught

• A Survey of Plants and Animals
• Ecology
• Environmental Science
• Introduction to Biology
• Medical/Biological Terminology
• Urban Ecology

Professional Society Membership

• American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists
• Society for Conservation Biology

Papers Published and/or Presented

• “Bat monitoring and Management, Arizona Game & Fish Region VI, 1996-2001.” Arizona/New Mexico Wildlife Society Meetings. Safford, Arizona. Burger, W. P. and F.R. Hensley. February 2002.