2.25.26

Pollination matters

A Mexican petunia in the bagged self-pollination treatment.

The activities are as follows:

Pollination is one of nature’s most important processes. Without pollen moving from one plant to another, many plants would not be able to produce fruits or seeds. Without pollination, we wouldn’t have food like apples, strawberries, or even chocolate! But not all pollination works the same way. Some plants rely on pollinators like bees and butterflies, while others can reproduce without any help at all. Scientists are still exploring why plants have these different strategies.

As a science teacher, Cynthia is always looking for ways to bring real science into her classroom. To learn more about the work of scientists, she joined a summer research program. While there, she had the opportunity to design and carry out a study on pollination in a plant species, Mexican petunia.

Mexican petunias are a flowering plant found in gardens, parks, and wild spaces. They have bright purple flowers. This plant has two ways it can be pollinated, called pollination methods. First, insect pollinators visit and move pollen. When pollen is moved from one plant to another, this is called outcrossing. Second, these plants can self-pollinate, meaning pollen from a single flower can pollinate that same flower. 

Pollination methods make a big difference for plants. Outcrossing mixes the genetics of two different plants together, which creates new genetic combinations that may help offspring survive and thrive. In contrast, self-pollination means the genetics of the plant are the same as the parent plant and no new genetic combinations are made. Plants that use self-pollination don’t need to rely on pollinators, however many times the seeds they produce are not viable and are not able to grow. 

Cynthia predicted that outcrossing would produce the most fruits and seeds, and flowers that relied on self-pollination would produce fewer seeds. She designed a garden experiment where she could control how Mexican petunias were pollinated. To set up her study, she used four different treatments. 

Bagged – Cynthia put mesh bags around the petunia flowers. This prevents pollination from other plants, so this treatment shows whether flowers are able to successfully self-pollinate on their own.

Open pollination – Cynthia left these flowers open to visits from insects. These plants could be self-pollinated or outcrossed.

Self-pollinated by hand – Cynthia hand-pollinated these flowers using pollen from another flower on the same plant. This treatment shows whether the plant produces fruit when the flowers are self-pollinated by hand.

Outcrossed by hand – Cynthia hand-pollinated these flowers with pollen from a different Mexican petunia plant. These plants are all outcrossed.

Cynthia monitored the Mexican petunia plants in her four treatments for three weeks. She checked the flowers every few days to see which ones developed fruit. If a flower made a fruit, she counted the number of seeds per fruit. In the open pollination treatment, a few times the fruit opened and launched out its seeds before Cynthia could count them, meaning she could get fruit data from the flower, but not a seed count. At the end of her experiment, she had collected data on percent fruit development, or the chance of successful development of a fruit from a flower, and the number of seeds produced within those fruits, called seed count.

Featured scientist: Cynthia Nuñez from Florida International University

Flesch–Kincaid Reading Grade Level = 8.8

2.19.26

Toxic legacy

View of one of the Superfund Sites in Glynn County, courtesy of Glynn Environmental Coalition Archives, circa 2009.

The activities are as follows:

A Superfund site is a place that is so polluted by chemicals or other contaminants that it poses a risk to surrounding wildlife and people. These are often former industrial sites that polluted the land or water with toxic and hazardous waste.

In Glynn County, Georgia there are four Superfund Sites on the National Priorities List by the US EPA. These sites are found to be particularly hazardous. Research studies in the Glynn County have shown that these contaminants show up in the local environment. For example, they have found some of these chemicals in the nearby soil and water. They can also accumulate in the tissues of organisms and have been found in high levels in certain coastal animals, such as birds, fish, and dolphins. Eating fish from nearby rivers is likely one way that humans have been exposed to these chemicals. 

Many residents have known about the pollution for a long time, but felt like their concerns were being ignored. Therefore, community members contacted scientists at the University of Georgia and Emory University for research expertise. Together, local residents, organizations and scientists designed a study to assess whether or not people living in Glynn County have been exposed to the industrial chemicals. It was critical that the results were shared back with the community so they could avoid future exposure to the harmful chemicals.

Together, the team decided to focus on a few chemicals of interest, specifically toxaphene and PCBs. Both types of chemicals do not break down easily in the environment. Once these compounds are in our environment, they can stay there for decades! For this reason, toxaphene and PCBs are known as “persistent” chemicals.

Toxaphene is a mixture made up of many different chemical compounds. Common toxaphene types include toxaphene-26 and toxaphene-50. Toxaphene was produced in Glynn County and used as a pesticide for over 30 years, primarily to kill boll weevils that ate cotton plants. It is thought to be a carcinogen, meaning that it has been linked to causing certain types of cancer. It is now banned in the United States, but it still remains in the environment in some places. 

Polychlorinated biphenyls, called PCBs, are a group of synthetic chemicals that had many different industrial uses. PCBs were banned in the United States in 1979 due to their potential health effects, but were used in hundreds of industrial processes. PCBs may still be present in many different products we use today including transformers, plastics, paints and more! A PCB called Aroclor 1268 is the primary concern in Glynn County. Scientists can measure components of this chemical in the environment. In humans, PCBs are known to harm the immune, reproductive, endocrine, and nervous systems. PCBs are also probable carcinogens. Like toxaphene, PCBs are now banned.  

The scientists and community members wanted to compare chemical levels in Glynn County residents to the general population to see if living near Superfund sites may have increased their risk of exposure to dangerous chemicals. One hundred adult residents from the area participated in this study. All participants had lived in the area for 10 years or more. Each participant completed a short survey that shared details of their lives in the area and gave a blood sample. 

The scientist team at Emory University, led by Dana Barr, analyzed the blood samples for toxaphene and PCBs. These levels were then compared to levels found in the general reference population outside of Glynn County. Participants received their individual results, and a summary of the results was also shared at a community meeting. 

Featured Scientist: Dana Barr from Emory University with Glynn County Community Partners. Written by: Laura Rogers.

Flesch–Kincaid Reading Grade Level = 10.2

2.18.26

Testing the waters for oyster farming

Jane monitoring the Valdez oyster farm.

The activities are as follows:

With so much coastline, Alaska has many opportunities for mariculture, which is the farming of food in the ocean. Large-scale mariculture is still new in Alaska, but interest is growing quickly because it can provide jobs and food for small coastal communities.

Alaska’s cold, clean waters are ideal for growing oysters. Oysters usually stay on a farm for several years until they are large enough to sell. Farmers want oysters to grow as quickly as possible so they can sell them sooner. Because oyster farming is still fairly new in Alaska, research needs to be done to find the best ways to grow oysters successfully.

Amanda with a surface basket.

Amanda is a marine researcher who lives and works in Valdez, Alaska. She wants to figure out which methods are most effective for oysters to grow. She can then share her findings with farmers to help them. Amanda partnered with members of the Valdez Native Tribe who were interested in growing oysters in the area. 

Amanda started monitoring the oysters every year to document their growth. A few years after the farm was set up, she visited the site and noticed that the oysters had not survived the summer season. Amanda wanted to find out why this happened so they could prevent it from happening again in the future.

Amanda had a few ideas about what might be affecting the oysters. She noted that the oysters were all in surface baskets, which float at the top of the water. She also observed that the year that all the oysters perished, Valdez had heavy rainfall. Amanda knew that rain can lower salinity, or the amount of salt in ocean water, near the surface. Freshwater from rain flows into the ocean and can stay on top if it does not mix well with saltwater below. When salinity becomes too low, oysters close their shells and stop feeding and growing.

Jane with a lantern net.

Amanda asked one of her students, Jane, if she wanted to do an independent research project to test a new type of home for oysters. They explored the use of lantern nets, which are a different setup that holds oysters below the surface of the water instead of floating on top. These nets hang straight down and are about 3 meters long. They also have several levels, allowing oysters to be placed at different depths so Amanda and Jane could see where the oysters grew best.

To test salinity levels and oyster growth at different depths, Amanda and Jane set up a new study at the Valdez farm site. In April 2025, they brought very small, young oysters to the farm. They weighed out equal amounts of oysters and placed some into three surface baskets and some into different levels of two lantern nets. 

Over the summer, Jane visited the oyster farm every two weeks to measure salinity. She looked at four different depths: surface (0 meters), 1, 2, and 3 meters deep. This way, she could see whether the freshwater inputs make the surface water less salty. In October 2025, Jane and Amanda measured the oyster size at the end of the summer to see how much they had grown. They compared the length of oysters from the surface baskets and from the different levels of the lantern nets.

Featured scientists: Amanda Glazier (she/her) and Jane Churchill (she/her) from Prince William Sound College. Written by Melissa Kjelvik.

Flesch–Kincaid Reading Grade Level = 7.8

Additional teacher resource related to this Data Nugget:

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under award #OIA-2344553 and by the State of Alaska.

2.12.26

Jenison Fund at MSU supports Data Nuggets after NSF terminates grant

In May of 2025, the NSF terminated our collaborative Data Nuggets grant between Michigan State University and Auburn University titled, “Collaborative Research: Sharing Scientist Role Model Stories to Improve Equity and Success in Undergraduate STEM Education”. At the time of termination over $1 million in unspent funds remained, which would have gone towards personnel and research activities.

In response to situations like ours, where research was disrupted by changes to Federal policy, Michigan State University launched the Jenison Fund Career and Research Continuity Support program. This strategic initiative led by MSU’s Office of the President, Provost, and Office of Research and Innovation to provide targeted support for projects like ours that were cancelled but can be brought to a meaningful pause point. 

The Jenison Fund offers our collaborative team the ability to complete a paired-down version of our proposed study and continue the Data Nuggets program. We are using this time to seek future funding support, continue developing data literacy and science role model resources, and complete a research study undergraduate classrooms.

Thank you for your interest in Data Nuggets, and for supporting our work as we navigate these challenges and envision the future of the Data Nuggets program!

Already hard at work on our next proposal!
12.23.25

Growing kelp for community

A grow line on a kelp farm in Prince William Sound, Alaska.

The activities are as follows:

When thinking about farming, many people imagine fields of corn or soybeans, or even their own vegetable garden. All of these crops are grown on land, but what about growing food in the ocean? Alaska Natives who live along the coast have been harvesting kelp, a group of seaweeds, from the wild for thousands of years. Kelp is very nutritious and is full of vitamins and minerals. It is used in a variety of dishes, from soups to salads. Kelp also provides structure for herring to lay their eggs, another traditional food source that coastal Alaska Native communities harvest. Kelp has other purposes too, including soil fertilizer and food additive applications.

Recently, there has been a surge of interest in farming kelp at a larger scale along the Alaskan coast. Farming kelp involves cultivating kelp at a site to grow larger for harvest. Caitlin is a biologist who works for the Native Village of Eyak within the Prince William Sound of Alaska. The Tribe wants to start a kelp farm to provide a nutritious food source for its community members. Caitlin was tasked with designing the farm setup and testing how much kelp can be grown. Her first step was to find a site. She had to consider environmental factors that help the kelp grow. Kelp need particular nutrients and cool water temperatures. She also had to make sure the site was easy to get to and that it was protected from intense weather like high winds and large waves. 

Left: seed line one week after planting in November. Middle: kelp at the farm in April. Right: kelp blades after the harvest in June. 

To get started, Caitlin talked to the members of the Eyak community to learn where they have historically found kelp, called Traditional Knowledge. She listened to their suggestions, which were based on current and long-term connections with the local environment. This helped her identify a site that is a short boat ride. Caitlin also had discussions with other kelp farmers in Alaska and read scientific research articles to learn more about how to set up a kelp farm and which species would be a good fit. She decided to grow sugar kelp because it has a sweeter taste and grows well in other places with similar conditions. 

She designed the farm to grow the kelp vertically in the water. To do this, she would place lines vertically in the water for kelp to attach and grow at different depths. This design maximizes the amount of kelp grown below the surface, which is good to minimize interference with boats and animals. While vertical lines have benefits, there could be drawbacks too. Kelp needs sunlight for photosynthesis, which it uses to grow. But the deeper you go in the water, the less sunlight there is. The kelp at the surface will get plenty of light, but the kelp attached to the line in deeper water might not get enough. The kelp at the bottom could also get blocked or shaded by the kelp above it. 

Caitlin wanted to know if there is a time of year when kelp had the fastest growth rates. This information would help her know when to harvest kelp from the site. She also wanted to know whether depth affected the kelp growth. If it turned out that kelp didn’t grow on her vertical lines in deeper water, she may have to try another design. She predicted that kelp grown in the first 1-2 meters from the surface would grow more over a season because it would receive the most sunlight. 

To assess her kelp farm plan, Caitlin worked with partners to seed lines with fertilized sugar kelp spores. Each of these spores can grow into a large kelp blade that can be up to 5 meters long. The seeded lines were then installed vertically at the farm site in the fall of 2022. Caitlin and her colleagues set up 532 vertical lines that were each 10 meters long. In total, over 2 miles of seeded line were installed on the farm! The lines were attached to a horizontal line to secure them in place and were spaced out so they had room to grow. 

Each month, Caitlin and her colleagues monitored the kelp growth by measuring the length of kelp blades, or leaf-like structures, on 5-8 of the seeded lines. On each line, they measured kelp blades at different depths so they could see how the kelp was growing at different depths.

Featured scientist: Caitlin McKinstry (she/her) from the Native Village of Eyak. Written with Rosel Burt and Melissa Kjelvik from Prince William Sound College.

Flesch–Kincaid Reading Grade Level = 7.4

Additional teacher resource related to this Data Nugget:

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under award #OIA-2344553 and by the State of Alaska.

12.8.25

The science of stamen loss

A pollinator visiting a mustard flower, drinking nectar and picking up pollen from anthers.

The activities are as follows:

Plants and animals have adaptations, or traits that help them survive and pass on more of their genes to the next generation. Flowers are a key adaptation for plants because they help the attract pollinators and reproduce.

Flowers come in many different shapes, sizes, colors, and forms. While flowers as a whole are an adaptation, traits within flowers are often adaptations themselves. For example, different flower colors attract different types of animals to the plant. Some flowers make nectar that gives animals a food reward for visiting. Other plants have small flowers with no petals so that pollen can be easily picked up and travel by wind.

Many of the animals that visit the plant serve as pollinators. Pollinators help plants reproduce by bringing reproductive parts together. Pollination happens when pollen from the stamen reaches the stigma. This is needed for seeds to form. By moving pollen, pollinators help plants make more seeds. More seeds lead to more plants in the next generation. Small differences in flower traits can change which plant is the most successful at reproducing and setting seed.

Jeff is a scientist studying a very particular flower shape seen in plants of the mustard family. Most plants in this family have flowers with 4 long stamens and 2 short stamens. No other plants have this shape, and no one knows why! The short stamens are a particular mystery.

Jeff wanted to see why mustards might have these short stamens. He thought that short stamens are an adaptation because they make it harder for pollinators to reach the pollen, so that more pollen would be left over for later pollinators. This might be beneficial because the first pollinator visiting the flower wouldn’t be able to take all the pollen, leaving none for the following visitors. If his hypothesis was correct, he predicted that short stamens would have less pollen removed with each pollinator visit compared the long stamens.

Members of the Conner Lab taking measurements of pollen found on the anthers of short and long stamens.

To collect his data, Jeff and other scientists in his lab needed to measure how much pollen was removed by pollinators on short and long stamens. To do this, they grew mustard plants in the greenhouse and let them flower. This made sure no pollinators could visit the plants before the experiment. Next, they exposed the plants to the three most common pollinators for mustards – bumblebees, small bees, and syrphid flies. To test honeybees, plants were put into flight cages with bees inside. To test small bees and syrphids, plants were put outside. Pollinators chose the flower to visit. After each visit, the lab counted the pollen on the visited flower. They then compared it to the amount of pollen on a flower that was not visited. They used these values to calculate the percent pollen removed. This was repeated for short and long stamens.

Featured scientists: Jeff Conner (he/him) from the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. Written with Kirsten Salonga, Justice High School, Research Experience for Teachers.

Flesch–Kincaid Reading Grade Level = 7.6

Additional teacher resource related to this Data Nugget:

The data featured in this activity has been published. If you are interested in having students read primary scientific literature, they can complete this Data Nugget and then explore the full study here: 

11.20.25

Elizabeth Schultheis awarded fellowship to tackle science misconceptions

Dr. Elizabeth Schultheis, co-Founder of Data Nuggets and Education and Outreach Coordinator at the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station’s Long Term Ecological Research Program, has been named a 2025 Sound Science Fellow by the National Center for Science Education (NCSE). This prestigious fellowship, aimed at advancing the teaching of evolution, climate change, and accurate scientific education, will provide six scholars with unique opportunities to engage in deep exploration and collaboration, building upon NCSE’s mission to ensure accurate and evidence-based science education in K-12 schools nationwide.

The Sound Science Fellowship is designed to address the ongoing challenges faced by teachers as they navigate issues such as scientific misinformation, evolving educational standards, and societal resistance to critical scientific topics. “We are so excited to welcome this exceptional group of scholars into the second cohort of the Sound Science Fellowship,” said NCSE Executive Director Amanda L. Townley. “These fellows are passionate about inspiring the next generation of scientifically literate citizens, and through this fellowship, they will have opportunities to inform, support, and expand our understanding and approaches to address challenges to the teaching and learning of topics such as evolution and climate science.”

The 2025 Sound Science Fellows were selected based on their dedication to science education and science teacher education, their proven ability to engage critically in research and teaching spaces, and their commitment to upholding the highest standards of scientific accuracy. As part of the fellowship, each fellow will work closely with experts in the fields of evolutionary biology or climate science as well as pedagogy to develop our understanding of best practices in education and emerging challenges while contributing to ongoing efforts to improve science education nationwide.

Along with Schultheis, the 2025 Sound Science Fellows are: Kelly Feille, Associate Professor of Science Education at the University of Oklahoma; Isaiah Kent-Schneider, Associate Professor of Science Education at Purdue University; Lauren Madden, Professor of Elementary Science Education at The College of New Jersey; Irene Marti Gil, Educational Outreach Coordinator at Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Science; and Chelsea McClure, Assistant Professor of STEM at The Notre Dame of Maryland University.

“These educators are at the forefront of ensuring that future generations are equipped to understand and engage with the most important scientific issues of our time,” Townley said. Schultheis will serve a term of two years. During her tenure, she will work on individual and collaborative projects, attend seminars with scientists and education leaders, and contribute to NCSE’s broader mission to promote and defend high-quality science education across the nation.

For more information about the Sound Science Fellowship and the National Center for Science Education, please visit: https://ncse.ngo/supporting-teachers/sound-science-fellowship .

*****

Contact: Paul Oh, NCSE Director of Communications, oh@ncse.ngo

10.15.25

Stormy shorelines

A scientist adding water to simulate flooding.

The activities are as follows:

Chevak is a village that sits along the Ningliqvak River in Alaska. The area around the village is a flat coastal wetland, a landscape of winding river channels, marshes, and salty lakes. In the Yup’ik language, this low-lying terrain is called maraq. Here, salt-tolerant grasses and sedges thrive in an environment with brackish water, which is saltier than fresh water, but less salty than sea water. These wetlands serve as nesting grounds for waterfowl during the spring and summer months.

Further upland, the higher ground that sits roughly three meters in elevation is called nunapik, meaning tundra. Brackish water does not usually touch these areas. The tundra has many freshwater lakes and supports a different plant community, rich with forbs, shrubs, and lichen. Because it experiences less flooding, more types of plants can live in the upland tundra, providing important resources for food and medicine.

In recent years, coastal flooding has become more common near Chevak. Protective sea ice melts earlier each year. Storm surges and rising sea levels now push brackish water further inland. These flooding events increase erosion, damage property, and alter the delicate balance of wetland and tundra ecosystems.

Ecologists Karen, Kathy, and Josh began studying the plants around Chevak to better understand how flooding affects these ecosystems. To understand how plant communities at high and low elevations respond to flooding, the scientists designed an experiment at Old Chevak, the original village site abandoned decades ago due to flooding.

Chevak, a village in Alaska.

Working in collaboration with the Chevak community and the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge, they established experimental plots to simulate flooding. The flooded plots were created by pumping in seawater to simulate high-tide flooding. This was repeated 3 times during the summer. Karen, Kathy, and Josh also kept control plots where no brackish water was added. The treatments were repeated at both high and low elevation sites. There were 7 replicates at each location.

At the summer’s end the team collected data on plant growth. They measured the biomass, or weight, of all plants in all of the plots. Karen, Kathy, and Josh grouped the plants into 4 groups. Graminoids, which include grasses and sedges, are the dominant plant group of the maraq. They typically grow well in flooded wetland areas. Forbs are broadleaf herbs, like salmonberries, that grow well in the nunapik. Shrubs include species such as blueberries, cranberries, and tundra tea. Like forbs, they also grow well in the nunapik. Lichens are plant-like species that form low crusts along the ground and are only found in the higher elevation sites.

Karen, Kathy, and Josh thought that plants from the low elevation sites would be made up of more salt and flood-tolerant species and would therefore be less harmed by frequent floods. On the other hand, high elevation sites would consist mostly of plant species that are not salt or flood-tolerant and would not do well during floods.

Featured scientists: Karen Beard (she/her) of Utah State University, Kathy Kelsey (she/her) of the University of Colorado Denver and Joshua Leffler (he/him) of South Dakota State University. Written by: Andrea Pokrzywinski (she/her).

Flesch–Kincaid Reading Grade Level = 8.9

Additional Resources:

This activity pairs with another Data Nugget, “Salmonberries in our future”, which features this same collaboration, but focuses on one culturally significant type of Arctic plant, salmonberries.

Additional video resources and lesson extensions can be found at the project website “Working Together”, including the following:

  • “Voices from the Land” introduces the collaboration between scientists and Yup’ik community members. They are working together to respect and care for the land. This narrative is told by the students from Bethel and Chevak Alaska. 
  • “Mapping Merbok” describes the questions scientists are researching to document how increased flooding, such as that from Typhoon Merbok, will drive landscape changes.
  • “Warming and Flooding on the Tundra” describes the research scientists are conducting to measure the impact of both warming and flooding on plant communities.
9.20.25

Salmonberries in our future

Picking salmonberries is a cultural tradition for many Alaskans.

The activities are as follows:

In the Yup’ik and Cup’ik Native communities of western Alaska, berry picking is a deeply rooted tradition. Many villages are located more than 500 miles from the nearest road system or grocery store. Fresh fruits and vegetables from other places are flown in by small planes at significant cost. This makes local berries a lifeline for these remote villages.

Salmonberries (also known as cloudberries) are one type of Arctic berry. They are prized for their wonderful taste. Salmonberries are rich in nutrients like vitamin C, antioxidants, and essential minerals. One cup of salmonberries alone can meet a person’s daily vitamin C needs. In addition to humans, these berries provide nutrients to other animals, such as migrating birds, small mammals, and bears.

During berry season, families travel across the land to gather berries, preserve them, and store them for the winter. Families use a vast web of winding rivers to travel by boat to reach their berry picking camps. These western Alaska rivers flow towards the Bering Sea, where freshwater mixes with salty ocean tides.

Rubus chamaemorus, known as salmonberry in western Alaska, ready to be picked.

This mix of saltwater and freshwater shapes the tundra landscape. Tough, salt-tolerant plants, like grasses and sedges, often dominate low-lying areas closest to the sea. Slightly higher ground, just above the reach of the tides, provides a more suitable home for berries. These subtle shifts in water levels play a large role in determining where berries can grow.

Ecologists Karen, Kathy, and Joshua are collaborating with Native communities to learn more about how changes in climate are affecting berry plants. They are studying two major changes already observed under climate change – warming and flooding. Over time, warming and flooding combined could change the entire makeup of plant communities. This will affect whether local families are able to continue their traditions and access this valuable food source.

Alaska’s average temperatures are increasing, more so than other parts of the globe. This warming might help some plants by extending the growing season. With more time and sunlight, salmonberries and other plants may actually grow faster.

Climate change is also expected to increase flooding in some areas of coastal Alaska. Storms are already becoming stronger and more frequent, pushing seawater farther inland. Because of this, flooding events are increasing in frequency. Rising sea levels and storm surges may kill salmonberry plants because these plants are not adapted to having their roots submerged in salty water.

To tease apart the effects of warming and flooding, Karen, Kathy, and Joshua designed a field experiment to simulate climate change. They built clear plastic structures, called open-topped chambers, to trap heat and raise the temperature by about 2°C. These chambers can be thought of as mini time machines, creating small areas that have the expected temperatures of the coming decades. Next, they created flooded plots using brackish, or slightly salty, water that they collected where the fresh river water meets the sea. They used this water to simulate flooding events in the plots. In the end, their experiment had four different types of plots: (1) Control plots with no warming or flooding, (2) plots that were warmed, (3) plots that were flooded, and (4) plots that were both warmed and flooded. 

They let these treatments run the full growing season. After that time, the team collected data on salmonberry growth. Karen, Kathy, and Joshua measured both the height and biomass of salmonberry plants in all of the plots. These two measures are good estimates of how many berries the plants will produce – the larger the plant, the more berries it can make. They were very precise in their measurements; in a place where food and traditions are tied to the land, every berry matters.

Note: Cloudberries (Rubus chamaemorus) are regionally known as “salmonberries” in western Alaska, and “Naunrat”, “Atsaq/Atsisaq”, or “Atsalugpiaq” in Yup’ik and Cup’ik. In southeast Alaska, a related but different species, Rubus spectabilis, produces berries that are known as salmonberry in that region. In this activity, we will be referencing Rubus chamaemorus.

Featured scientists: Karen Beard (she/her) of Utah State University, Kathy Kelsey (she/her) of the University of Colorado Denver, and Joshua Leffler (he/him) of South Dakota State University. Written by: Andrea Pokrzywinski (she/her).

Flesch–Kincaid Reading Grade Level = 5.7

Additional Resources:

This activity pairs with another Data Nugget, “Stormy shorelines,” which features this same collaboration but expands to additional plant groups in tundra and coastal habitats. 

These two videos were filmed with scientists during the field research and will give students background information on the research efforts conducted in Chevak, Alaska.

Additional video resources and lesson extensions can be found at the project website “Working Together”, including the following:

  • “Voices from the Land” introduces the collaboration between scientists and Yup’ik community members. They are working together to respect and care for the land. This narrative is told by the students from Bethel and Chevak Alaska. 
9.8.25

Join Data Nuggets at NABT 2025!

We are looking forward to sharing Data Nuggets at the 2025 NABT Professional Development Conference. NABT will be held from October 30th through November 2nd at the St. Louis Union Station Hotel in St. Louis, Missouri. Details are below!

  • Title: Authentic scientific research and data for the classroom with Data Nuggets
  • Description: Data Nuggets are free resources, co-designed by scientists and teachers to bring authentic data and research into classrooms. They highlight the true process of science, along with any surprises along the way. In this hands-on Huxley Award session we will demonstrate best practices for their use in biology classrooms.
  • Presenter: Dr. Elizabeth Schultheis
  • Date & Time: Thursday, October 30, 2025 at 12:30 PM–2:30 PM
  • Location: Midway Suite 7 & 8
Hands-on Data Nuggets workshop to learn about the program and go through classroom-ready example activities!
Next Page »