Search Results for: urchin

8.24.24

Do urchins flip out in hot water?

Erin in the urchin lab at UC-Santa Barbara.

The Reading Level 1 activities are as follows:

The Reading Level 3 activities are as follows:

Teacher Resources:

Imagine you are a sea urchin. You’re a marine animal that attaches to hard surfaces for stability. You are covered in spikes to protect you from predators. You eat giant kelp – a type of seaweed. You prefer temperate water, typically between 5 to 16°C. But you’ve noticed that some days the ocean around you feels too hot.

These periods of unusual warming in the ocean are called marine heatwaves. During marine heatwaves, water gets 2-3 degrees hotter than normal. That might not sound like much, but for an urchin, it is a lot. The ocean’s temperature is normally very consistent, so urchins are used to a small range of temperatures. Urchins are cold-blooded. This means they can’t control their own body temperature and rely on the water around them. Whatever temperature the ocean water is, they are too!

Erin is a scientist who studies how environmental changes, like temperature, affect organisms. Erin first got excited about urchins when she interned with a research lab. When she started graduate school, she learned more about their biology and started to ask questions about how urchins would react to marine heatwaves. Hot water can speed up animals’ metabolisms, making them move and eat more. However, warmer temperatures can also cause stress, potentially causing urchins to be clumsier and confused.

Erin getting ready to scuba dive to look for urchins off the California coast.

One summer, two science teachers, Emily and Traci, came to California to work in the same lab as Erin. Emily and Traci wanted to do science research so they can share their experience with their students. As a team, they decided to test whether marine heat waves could be stressing urchins by looking at a simple behavior that they could easily measure. Healthy urchins have a righting instinct to flip over to orient themselves “the right way” using their sticky tube feet.

The research team predicted that urchins would be slower to right themselves in warmer temperatures. However, they also thought the response could depend on the temperature the urchins were used to living in. If the urchins had been acclimated to higher temperatures, they might not be as strongly affected by the heatwaves.

Together, Erin, Emily, and Traci took 20 urchins into her lab and split them into 2 groups. Ten were kept at 15°C, the ocean’s normal temperature in summer. The other ten were kept at 18°C, a marine heatwave temperature. They let the urchins acclimate to these temperatures for 2 weeks. They tested how long it took each urchin to right itself after being flipped over. They did this at three temperatures for each urchin: 15°C (normal ocean), 18°C (heatwave), and 21°C (extreme heatwave). They worked together to test the urchins three times at each temperature to get three replicates. Then they calculated the average of each urchin’s responses.

Featured scientists: Erin de Leon Sanchez (she/her) from University of California – Santa Barbara, Emily Chittick (she/her), and Traci Kennedy (she/her) from Milwaukee Public Schools.

Flesch–Kincaid Reading Grade Level = The Content Level 3 activity has a score of 7.9 ; the Level 1 has a score of 5.9

Additional teacher resources related to this Data Nugget include:

Here is a video of a parrotfish finding and eating an urchin. Show this video to emphasize how important it is for urchins to be able to right themselves!

Video of a trial where the researchers flipped over an urchin and timed how long it took the urchin to flip back over.

Watch how sea urchins use items from their environment to cover themselves.

3.25.14

Won’t you be my urchin?

The vegetarian sea urchin Diadema antillarum.

The activities are as follows:

Éste Data Nugget también está disponible en Español:

Imagine you are snorkeling on a coral reef where you can see many species living together. Some animals, like sharks, are predators that eat other animals. Other species, like anemones and the fish that live in them, are mutualists and protect each other from predators. There are also herbivores, like urchins, that eat plants and algae on the reef. All of these species, and many more, need the coral reef to survive.

Experimental setup with tiles in bins. Some bins have sea urchins and some do not.

Corals are the animals that build coral reefs. They are very sensitive and can be hurt by human activity, like boating and pollution. Coral reef ecosystems are also in danger from warming waters due to climate change. Sadly, today many coral reefs around the world are dying because the places they grow are changing. Sarah is a marine biologist who is determined to figure out ways to save coral reefs. Sarah wants to understand how to help the dying corals so they can keep building important and diverse coral reef habitats.

Corals compete with large types of algae, like seaweed, for space to grow on the reef. Corals are picky and only like to live in certain places. If there is too much algae, corals will have no place to attach and grow. Sea urchins are important herbivores and one of the species that like to eat algae. Sarah thought that when urchins are present on the reef, corals will have less competition from algae for space, and thus more room to grow. Maybe adding urchins to a coral reef is a way to help corals!

To test her idea Sarah set up an experiment. She set 8 bins out on the reef. Into half of the bins, Sarah added urchins. She left the other half without urchins as a control. Sarah put tiles into all of the bins. Tiles gave an empty space for coral and algae to compete and grow. After a few months, Sarah looked at the tiles. She counted how many corals were growing on each tile. Sarah predicted that more corals would grow on the tiles in bins with sea urchins compared to the control bins with no sea urchins.

B. Photograph of Agaricia juvenile on experimental substratum. C. Photograph of Porites juvenile on experimental substratum

B. Photograph of coral species Agaricia juvenile on experimental tile. C. Photograph of coral species Porites juvenile on experimental tile.

Featured scientist: Sarah W. Davies (she/her) from the University of Texas at Austin

Flesch–Kincaid Reading Grade Level = 6.5

There is one scientific paper associated with the research in this Data Nugget. The citation and PDF of the paper is below.

Davies SW, MV Matz, PD Vize (2013) Ecological Complexity of Coral Recruitment Processes: Effects of Invertebrate Herbivores on Coral Recruitment and Growth Depends Upon Substratum Properties and Coral Species. PLOS ONE 8(9):e72830

After students have completed the Data Nugget, you can have them discuss the management implications of this research. Watch the news story below and have students consider how urchins can be used as a management tool to help restore coral reefs!

SaveSave

Data Nuggets professional development for Clayton County Public Schools

Data Nuggets are free classroom activities, co-designed by scientists and teachers. When using Data Nuggets students are provided with the details of authentic science research projects, and then get to work through an activity that gives them practice looking for patterns and developing explanations about natural phenomena using the scientific data from the study. The goal of the Data Nuggets project is to engage students in the practices of science through an innovative approach that combines scientific content from authentic research with key concepts in quantitative reasoning.

Materials from webinars:

Webinar recordings:

Session 1 – Elementary school teachers with Liz Schultheis

Session 2 – Middle and high school teachers with Melissa Kjelvik

Session 3 – Middle and high school teachers with Melissa Kjelvik

If you have any questions, please reach out to Liz (eschultheis@gmail.com) or Melissa (kjelvikm@gmail.com) and we’d be happy to help! Follow Data Nuggets on social media for updates (Twitter @Data_Nuggets, Instagram @Data_Nuggets).

Data Nuggets + Project Biodiversity = DataVersify

Below is a table of all DataVersify Activities – Data Nuggets for which we have a Scientist Profile. Click on the title to open a page displaying the Data Nugget activity, teacher guide, and links to the Profile on Project Biodiversify. The table can be sorted and searched.

For more information on Project Biodiversify, visit their website! For more information on the collaboration between Data Nuggets and Project Biodiversify, check out our Publications & Research page!

Search:

Data Nugget Title	Scientist Profiles	Summary	Content Level
Do urchins flip out in hot water?	Erin de Leon Sanchez	Corals are the most important reef animals since they build the reef for all of the other animals to live in. But corals only like to live in certain places. In particular they hate living near algae because the algae and coral compete for the space they both need to grow. Perhaps if there are more vegetarians, like urchins, eating algae on the reef then corals would have less competition and more space to grow.	1 & 3
Spiders under the influence	Aaron Curry	People use pharmaceutical drugs, personal care products, and other chemicals on a daily basis. Often, they get washed down our drains and end up in local waterways. Chris knew that many types of spiders live near streams and are exposed to toxins through the prey they eat. Chris wanted to compare effects of the chemicals on spiders in rural and urban environments. By comparing spider webs in these two habitats, they could see how different the webs are and infer how many chemicals are in the waterways.	2
Stop that oxidation! What fruit flies teach us about human health	Biz Turnell	Each of our cells is home to mitochondria, tiny factories whose job is to turn the food we eat into the energy we need to live. But during this process oxidative damage can cause harm to everything in the cell. There are two ways that bodies can prevent oxidative damage: antioxidants and more efficient metabolic pathways. Biz looked at fruit flies with varying genetics for these two strategies and wanted to test whether the level of oxidative damage in eggs and sperm would influence how many offspring a female had.	4
Blinking out?	Julia Perrone	Many people have fond memories of watching fireflies blink across open fields and collecting them in jars as children. This is one of the reasons why fireflies are a beloved insect species. However, there is concern that their populations are in decline. Scientists turned to the longest-running study of fireflies known to science to see if this is the case!	2
Raising Nemo: Parental care in the clown anemonefish	Tina Barbasch	Offspring in many animal species rely on parental care; the more time and energy parents invest in their young, the more likely it is that their offspring will survive. However, parental care is costly for the parents. The more time spent on care, the less time they have to find food or care for themselves. In the clown anemonefish, the amount of food available may impact parental care behaviors. When there is food freely available in the environment, are parents able to spend more time caring for their young?	3
How milkweed plants defend against monarchs	Anurag Agrawal	For millions of years, monarch butterflies have been antagonizing milkweed plants. Although adult monarchs drink nectar from flowers, their caterpillars only eat milkweed leaves, which harms the plants. The only food for monarchs is milkweed leaves, meaning they have evolved to be highly specialized, picky eaters. But their food is not a passive victim. Like most other plants, milkweeds fight back with defenses against herbivory. Which defensive traits are helping in the fight against herbivory?	3
Mowing for Monarchs Part 1 & Mowing for Monarchs Part 2	Gabe Knowles	During the spring and summer months, monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed plants. Milkweed plays an important role in the monarch butterfly’s life cycle. When milkweed is cut at certain times of the year new shoots grow, which are softer and easier for caterpillars to eat. Scientists set out to see if mowing milkweed plants could help boost struggling monarch populations.	2
Why are butterfly wings colorful?	Adriana Darielle Meija Briscoe	Big wings allow butterflies to fly everywhere with ease. But you may wonder, why are the wings of some species so brightly colored? The red postman butterfly lives in rainforests in Mexico, Central America, and South America. The color pattern on its wing is usually a mix of red, yellow, and black. These bright colors may warn birds and other predators that they would not make a tasty meal. Another potential reason for butterflies to have bright colors and dramatic patterns is to attract mates.	3
Feral chickens fly the coop	Eben Gering	Sometimes domesticated animals escape captivity and interbreed with closely related wild relatives. Their hybrid offspring have some traits from the wild parent, and some from the domestic parent. Traits that help hybrids survive and reproduce will be favored by natural selection. On the island of Kauai, domestic chickens escaped and recently interbred with wild Red Junglefowl to produce a hybrid population. Over time, will the hybrids on Kauai evolve to be more like chickens, or more like Red Junglefowl?	3
Getting to the roots of serpentine soil	Allie Igwe	When an organism grows in different environments, some traits change to fit the conditions. Serpentine soils have high amounts of toxic heavy metals, do not hold water well, and have low nutrient levels. Low levels of water and nutrients found in serpentine soils limit plant growth. Because serpentine soils have fewer plant nutrients and are drier than non-serpentine soils, Alexandria thought that plants growing in serpentine soils may not invest as much into large root systems.	2
Streams as sensors: Arctic watersheds as indicators of change	Arial Shogren	As the world warms from climate change, the Alaskan Arctic is heating up. This is causing permafrost, or the frozen underground layer of rock and ice, to melt. When permafrost melts, plant material that has been stored for thousands of years begins to decay, releasing carbon and nitrogen from the system. Ecologists can act like “ecosystem accountants” measuring the balance of material that goes into and out of these systems.	3
Does a partner in crime make it easier to invade?	Tomomi Suwa	Mutualisms are a special type of relationship in nature where two species work together and both benefit. This cooperation should lead to each partner species doing better when the other is around – without their mutualist partner, the species will have a harder time acquiring resources. But what happens when one partner cheats and takes more than it gives?	3
Purring crickets: The evolution of a new cricket song	Robin Tinghitella	About twenty years ago, scientists discovered male Pacific field crickets in several spots in Hawaii had stopped making songs due to selection from a parasitoid fly that uses the songs to locate their hosts. One summer, scientists heard what sounded like a purring cat, but there was no cat in sight. This sound was coming from crickets, and was unlike anything ever observed before. Could it be the beginning of evolution of a novel mating signal?	3
Buried seeds, buried treasure	Marjorie Weber	Over 100 years ago, a scientist named William J. Beal had a question: how long do seeds survive underground? He started an experiment by filling 20 bottles with seeds from 50 plant species, buried them on campus, and creating a map to find them in the future. This map have been passed down from scientist generation to generation. The most recent bottle was dug up in 2021, and scientists tested how many seeds were still able to germinate after 142 years underground.	2
Does the heat turn caterpillars into cannibals?	Kale Rougeau	When Kale started graduate school, they joined a lab that studies how climate change affects the spread of disease in fall armyworms, a type of caterpillar. Fall armyworms can get infected with a special type of virus and it can be spread through cannibalism. Do warmer temperatures cause caterpillars to be hungrier, leading to more cannibalism and disease spread?	3
What big teeth you have! Sexual selection in rhesus macaques	Raisa Hernández-Pacheco	In Cayo Santiago there is one of the oldest free-ranging rhesus macaque colonies in the world. Scientists have gathered data on these monkeys and their habitat for over 70 years. The program monitors individual monkeys over their entire lives, and when they die their bodies are recovered and skeletal specimens are stored in a museum. These skeletal specimens can be used by scientists today to ask new and exciting questions, for example, what traits are under sexual selection in this population?	3
Reconstructing the behaviour of ancient animals	Holly E. Anderson	Holly specializes in using fossils to paint a picture of the lifestyles of ancient animals. She uses the shape, structure, damage patterns, and burial poses of bones, and compares them to modern bones. By using what we know about living species, Holly can reconstruct the life and death of ancient organisms. Holly compared a primate skull fossil to its living relatives to see if she can determine if the ancient primate was nocturnal, diurnal, or cathemeral.	4

Showing 1 to 17 of 17 entries

Data Nuggets En Español

Debajo, encontrarás una tabla de todas las actividades de Data Nuggets. Puedes hacer clic en el título para abrir la guía del maestro, actividades para los alumnos, la rúbrica de calificaciones y otros recursos asociados. La tabla se puede ordenar usando las flechas ubicadas al lado del encabezado de cada columna. También se puede buscar por área de contenido usando la barra de búsqueda, localizada en la esquina superior derecha de la tabla.

Search:

Título	Traducción por	Edición por	Resumen
¿Quieres ser mi erizo de mar?	Ana Pamela Torres-Ocampo	Priscilla Lumbreras	Los corales son los animales que construyen los arrecifes. Los corales compiten por espacio con muchos tipos de algas para poder vivir en el arrecife. Al mismo tiempo, los corales son muy selectivos y les gusta vivir en ciertos lugares solamente. Si hay demasiadas algas, los corales no tendrán un lugar donde adherirse a los arrecifes y crecer. Los erizos de mar son herbívoros importantes y una de las especies a cuáles les gusta comer algas.
Blanqueamiento de corales y cambio climático	Ana Pamela Torres-Ocampo	Elsa Herraez Hernandez	Los corales son de color blanco pero se ven marrones y negros porque cierto tipo de algas viven dentro de ellos. Las algas, al igual que las plantas, usan la energía del sol para hacer su propio alimento. Cuando el agua se calienta demasiado las algas ya no pueden vivir dentro de los corales, por lo que salen de ellos. Carly es una científica que quiere estudiar el blanqueamiento de corales para poder ayudar a proteger los corales y los arrecifes de coral.
Viendo hacia el futuro	Priscilla Lumbreras	Tatzyana Wachter	Debido a que las plantas son tan importantes, necesitamos investigar cómo les afectará el cambio climático. ¿Cómo afectarán las temperaturas más altas a las plantas de la tierra? Es posible que primaveras generadas por el cambio climático que ocurran más temprano y que estén más cálidas, puedan provocar que las flores florezcan más y más temprano.
¿Puede una marisma salada recuperarse después de la restauración?	Priscilla Lumbreras	Ana Pamela Torres-Ocampo & Elsa Herraez Hernandez	En la década de 1990, estaba claro que la marisma salada de Saratoga Creek estaba en problemas. La planta invasiva, Phragmites australis, cubría grandes extensiones del pantano, abarrotaron las plantas nativas y redujeron el número de animales. En 1998, científicos, incluyendo los miembros de la Comisión de Conservación de Rockport y los alumnos del club de ciencias de la Escuela Intermedia Rockport, comenzaron a investigar el problema.
Produciendo energía: Comparando la biomasa de cultivos de biocombustibles	Priscilla Lumbreras	Ana Pamela Torres-Ocampo & Elsa Herraez Hernandez	Los biocombustibles están hechos de los tejidos de las plantas que están vivas y que se cultivan hoy en día. Cuando se cosechan las plantas, sus tejidos, llamados biomasa, se pueden convertir en combustible. Los biocombustibles son renovables, lo que significa que podemos producirlos tan rápido como los usamos. En los sitios del Centro de Investigación de Bioenergía de los Grandes Lagos en Wisconsin y Michigan, científicos e ingenieros están tratando de investigar qué plantas producen los mejores biocombustibles.
Dónde encontrar los herbívoros hambrientos	Carina Baskett	Beatriz Pablo Carmona	Al viajar a zonas cálidas y tropicales el riesgo de verte expuesto a enfermedades aumenta. Este mismo patrón de exposición a ciertos riesgos se repite en otros seres vivos tales como en los cultivos, en zonas cálidas aparecen con mayor frecuencia problemas asociados a plagas, lo que no se aprecia de tal manera en los cultivos de zonas templadas o frías. ¿Aparece este patrón para las plantas silvestres?
¿Son las plantas del Trópico más toxicas que el resto?	Carina Baskett	Beatriz Pablo Carmona	Antes de que los científicos aprendieran a elaborar medicinas en el laboratorio, la gente encontraba sus medicinas en las plantas. Hoy en día, la gente sigue extrayendo algunos productos medicinales de las plantas. Pero, ¿Por qué las plantas producen estos químicos que son tan útiles para las personas? Muchas de estas sustancias químicas sirven para reducir la herbivoría. Carina pensó que esas defensas químicas dependan en la latitud, o en la distancia del Ecuador. ¿Son las plantas del Trópico más toxicas que el resto?
Escarabajo, ¡Hace frío ahí fuera!	Fran Guerola	Andre Szejner Sigal	Muchas especies dependen de la nieve para protegerse del frío del invierno. La nieve actúa como una manta que cubre el suelo, evitando a que éste llegue a estar demasiado frío. Si las temperaturas invernales aumentan, la nieve se derrite y el suelo queda al descubierto durante períodos de tiempo más largos. Esto produce la sorprendente situación en que ¡temperaturas más altas producen suelos más fríos! ¿Cómo responderán las especies que dependen de la nieve, como las mariquitas, a temperaturas más altas producidas por el cambio climático?
¿Por qué son coloridas las alas de las mariposas?	Adriana Briscoe	Arturo Arellano Covarrubias	Gracias a sus grandes alas, las mariposas vuelan con facilidad a todas partes. Pero te preguntarás, ¿por qué tienen las alas de colores tan vivos? Una de las razones por las que las mariposas pueden tener alas de colores brillantes es que estos colores advierten a los pájaros y otros depredadores de que no serían una comida apetitosa. Otra posible razón para que las mariposas tengan colores brillantes y dibujos espectaculares es atraer a sus parejas. Sin embargo, hay pocos estudios que demuestren si el color por sí solo o el patrón de color juntos disuaden a los depredadores o atraen a las parejas.

Showing 1 to 9 of 9 entries

Professional Development Workshops

Below you will find all of our teacher professional development materials. These materials include handouts from the workshop, binder materials, and all session slides. For the “26 pack” of Data Nuggets, click here.

Agendas: Michigan PD July 10-11th, Colorado PD July 20-21st

Slides from all sessions

Ice breaker activity (Images to print, protocol, answer key)
Quantitative practices
What are Data Nuggets?
Process of science
Hypotheses
Graphing and data exploration
Constructing explanations (CER)
Asking productive science questions
Data Nugget research study information

Binder materials and handouts

What are Data Nuggets?
Quantitative practices in the biology classroom
- Data Nugget Guide to Graphing
- Data Nugget Tool for Constructing Explanations using Claim-Evidence-Reasoning
- The Graph Choice Chart (GCC) – a tool to help students turn data into evidence
- Quantitative Reasoning (QR) Case Studies
- QR Definitions
The process of science
Hypotheses
- Strode (2015) Hypothesis Generation in Biology: A Science Teaching Challenge & Potential Solution. The American Biology Teacher, 77(7): 500-506.
- Writing a scientific hypothesis (teacher guide) (student guide) – Paul Strode
- Hypotheses and theories explained – Understanding Science, UC Berkley
- Hypothesis misconceptions – Understanding Science, UC Berkley
Exploring data with statistics and graphing
- Data Nugget Guide to Graphing
- The Graph Choice Chart (GCC) – a tool to help students turn data into evidence
- HHMI Teacher Guide: Math and Statistics – Topics include measures of average (mean, median, mode), variability (range, standard deviation), uncertainty (standard error, 95% confidence interval), Chi-square analysis, student t-test, Hardy-Weinberg equation, frequency calculations, and more.
- Data and Error Analysis in Science – Beginners Guide (mean, median, mode, range, standard deviation, variance, standard error, and confidence intervals) – Strode and Brokaw
- Teaching independent vs. dependent variables
- Flowchart for statistics used in biology – Paul Strode
- ANOVA – Student Guide – Paul Strode
- Regression Analysis – Student Guide – Paul Strode
- Chi-square Test – Student Guide – Paul Strode
- t-test – Student Guide – Paul Strode
Supporting claims using scientific data as evidence
- BSCS Identify and Interpret Strategy – Student version, teacher version
- Constructing explanations (CER) scaffolding tool
- BSCS constructing explanations tool
- Example Student Responses for “Won’t you be my urchin?” Data Nugget
Asking good questions
- Tables from “Make Just One Change”

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

SaveSave

LTER Data Nuggets

The following Data Nuggets are written by LTER scientists and created using LTER Data.

To learn more about the ongoing collaboration between Data Nuggets and the LTER, check out our blog posts, “Data Nuggets: small activities with big impacts for students” and “LTER Data Nuggets: Breathing new life into long-term data“. If you have any questions about the research in an LTER Data Nugget, or want help accessing original datasets, please contact us or the Education and Outreach Coordinator (EOC) for that site.

Search:

Title	LTER Site	EOC & Website	Content Level	Summary
Blinking out?	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	2	Many people have fond memories of watching fireflies blink across open fields and collecting them in jars as children. This is one of the reasons why fireflies are a beloved insect species. However, there is concern that their populations are in decline. Scientists turned to the longest-running study of fireflies known to science to see if this is the case!
Little butterflies on the prairie	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	2	Many farmers are concerned with growing our food while still protecting habitat wildlife. They want to know - how can we grow food for ourselves while still providing good habitat for other species? Prairie strips are a new idea that might help both farmers and the environment. These strips are small areas of prairie that can be added to farm fields. They look like rows of flowers and grasses within a field. They create habitat for many species, like butterflies, birds, ants, and even microscopic fungi and bacteria!
Farms in the fight against climate change	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	2	Different farming practices affect the amount of carbon stored in soil, an important factor for soil health and climate change. Soil scientist Caro analyzed long-term data from a 30-year experiment at Kellogg Biological Station, comparing four land management types—including conventional farming, no-till, and cover crops—to see which ones best increase soil carbon. Her work helps identify practices that benefit both farmers and the planet.
Microbes facing tough times	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	3	As the climate changes, Michigan is expected to experience more drought. Scientists are looking into how crop mutualistic interactions with microbes may help them withstand drought periods. First they need to know how microbes are impacted by different carbon and drought conditions.
Bringing back the Trumpeter Swan	Kellogg Biological Station LTER & Kellogg Bird Sanctuary	Liz Schultheis	3	Trumpeter swans are the biggest native waterfowl species in North America. At one time they were found across North America, but by 1935 there were only 69 known individuals in the continental U.S.! In the 1980s, many biologists came together to create a Trumpeter Swan reintroduction plan. Since then the North American Trumpeter Swan survey has been conducted to measure swan populations and determine whether this species is recovering.
Growing energy: comparing biofuel crop biomass	Kellogg Biological Station LTER & University Wisconsin-Madison GLBRC	Liz Schultheis	3	Corn is one of the best crops for producing biomass for fossil fuels, however it is an annual and needs very fertile soil. To grow corn, farmers add a lot of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to their fields. Other crops, like switchgrass, prairie, poplar trees, and Miscanthus grass are perennials and require fewer fertilizers and pesticides to grow. If perennials can produce high levels of biomass with low inputs, perhaps they could produce more biomass than corn under certain low nutrient conditions.
A difficult drought	Kellogg Biological Station LTER & University Wisconsin-Madison GLBRC	Liz Schultheis	2	Biofuels are made from plants that are growing today, and are being considered as an alternative to fossil fuels. To become biofuels, plants need to go through a series of chemical and physical processes that transform the sugars into ethanol. Scientists are interested in seeing how yeast’s ability to transform sugar into fuel is affected by environmental conditions in fields, such as temperature and rainfall. They used data from a year with drought and a year with normal rainfall to determine if plants that grew under drought conditions were lower quality for ethanol production.
Fertilizing biofuels may cause release of greenhouse gasses	Kellogg Biological Station LTER & University Wisconsin-Madison GLBRC	Liz Schultheis	3	One way to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere could be to grow our fuel instead of drilling for it. Unlike fossil fuels that can only release CO2, biofuels remove CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow and photosynthesize, potentially balancing the CO2 released when they are burned for fuel. However, the plants we grow for biofuels don’t necessarily absorb all greenhouse gas that is released during the process of growing them on farms and converting them into fuels.
The ground has gas!	Kellogg Biological Station LTER & University Wisconsin-Madison GLBRC	Liz Schultheis	3	Nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide are responsible for much of the warming of the global average temperature that is causing climate change. Sometimes soils give off, or emit, these greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere, adding to climate change. Currently scientists figuring out what causes differences in how much of each type of greenhouse gas soils emit.
Mowing for monarchs, Part I	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	2	During the spring and summer months, monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed plants. Milkweed plays an important role in the monarch butterfly’s life cycle. When milkweed is cut at certain times of the year new shoots grow, which are softer and easier for caterpillars to eat. Scientists set out to see if mowing milkweed plants could help boost struggling monarch populations.
Mowing for monarchs, Part II	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	2	When the scientists mowed down milkweed plants for their experiment, they changed more than the age of the milkweed plants. They also removed other plant species in the background community. Perhaps the patterns they were seeing were driven not by milkweed age, but by eliminating predators from the patches they mowed.
Invasion Meltdown: will climate change make invasions even worse?	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	3	Humans are changing the earth in many ways, including adding greenhouse gasses to the atmosphere, which contributes to climate change, and introducing species around the globe, which can lead to invasive species. Scientists wanted to know, could climate change actually help invasive species? Because invasive species have already survived transport from one habitat to another, they may be species that are better able to handle change, such as temperature changes.
Springing forward	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	1 & 3	What does climate change mean for flowering plants that rely on temperature cues to determine when it is time to flower? Scientists who study phenology, or the timing if life-history events in plants and animals, predict that with warming temperatures, plants will produce their flowers earlier and earlier each year.
Cheaters in nature – when is a mutualism not a mutualism?	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	4	Mutualisms are a special type of relationship in nature where two species work together and both benefit. This cooperation should lead to each partner species doing better when the other is around – without their mutualist partner, the species will have a harder time acquiring resources. But what happens when one partner cheats and takes more than it gives?
Fair traders or freeloaders?	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	Liz Schultheis	3	One example of a mutualism is the relationship between a type of bacteria, rhizobia, and plants like peas, beans, soybeans, and clover. Rhizobia live in bumps on the plant roots, where they trade their nitrogen for sugar from the plants. Rhizobia turn nitrogen from the air into a form that plants can use. Under some conditions, this mutualism could break down, for example, if one of the traded resources is very abundant in the environment.
Trees and bushes, home sweet home for warblers	Andrews Forest LTER	Kari O'Connell	4	The vast coniferous forests of the Pacific Northwest provide surprisingly rich and diverse habitat types for birds. Andrews Forest is a long-term ecological research site where there have been manipulations of timber harvest and forest re-growth. This land use history has large impacts on the bird habitats found in an area. Each year since 2009, scientists have gone out and measured bird populations and habitat types. Two species of warbler, with very different habitat preferences, can give insight into how birds are responding to these disturbances.
Streams as sensors: Arctic watersheds as indicators of change	Arctic LTER	Amanda Morrison	3	As the world warms from climate change, the Alaskan Arctic is heating up. This is causing permafrost, or the frozen underground layer of rock and ice, to melt. When permafrost melts, plant material that has been stored for thousands of years begins to decay, releasing carbon and nitrogen from the system. Ecologists can act like “ecosystem accountants” measuring the balance of material that goes into and out of these systems.
Limit by limit: Nutrients control algal growth in Arctic streams	Arctic LTER	Amanda Morrison	3	Aquatic algae, a type of microbe that live in the water, need to take in nutrients from their surroundings for growth. Two important nutrients for algal growth are nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P). Climate change may be altering which nutrients are limiting to algae, changing food webs in the ecosystem.
Which tundra plants will win the climate change race?	Arctic LTER	Amanda Morrison	3	While you might think of the arctic tundra as a blanket of snow and polar bears, this vast landscape supports a diversity of unique plant and animal species. Climate change is altering the arctic environment. With warmer seasons and fewer days with snow covering the ground, soils are thawing more deeply and becoming more nutrient-rich. With more nutrients available, will some plant species be able to outcompete other species by growing taller and making more leaves than other plant species?
Spiders under the influence	Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER	Bess Caplan & Alan Berkowitz	2	People use pharmaceutical drugs, personal care products, and other chemicals on a daily basis. Often, they get washed down our drains and end up in local waterways. Chris knew that many types of spiders live near streams and are exposed to toxins through the prey they eat. Chris wanted to compare effects of the chemicals on spiders in rural and urban environments. By comparing spider webs in these two habitats, they could see how different the webs are and infer how many chemicals are in the waterways.
All washed up? The effect of floods on cutthroat trout	Andrews Forest LTER	Kari O'Connell	2	Floods are very common disturbances in streams. If floods happen right after fish breed and eggs hatch, young fish that cannot swim strongly may not survive. Although floods can be dangerous for fish, they are also very important for creating new habitat. Cutthroat trout are a species of fish living in Mack Creek, which experiences occasional floods. Trout breed in the early spring, right at the peak of flooding, so scientists are collecting long-term data on this species. Will floods hurt trout populations or help?
Benthic buddies	Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems LTER	Katie Gavenus	2	Arctic lagoons support a surprisingly wide range of marine organisms! Marine worms, snails, and clams live in the muddy sediment of these lagoons. Having a rich variety of benthic animals in these habitats supports fish, which migrate along the shoreline and eat these animals once the ice has left. Ken, Danny, and Kaylie are interested in learning more about how the extreme seasons of the High Arctic affect the marine life that lives there.
The birds of Hubbard Brook, Part I	Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest	Sarah Garlick & Amey Bailey	2	Avian ecologists at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest have been monitoring bird populations for over 50 years. The data collected during this time is one of the longest bird studies ever conducted! What can we learn from this long-term data set? Are bird populations remaining stable over time?
The birds of Hubbard Brook, Part II	Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest	Sarah Garlick & Amey Bailey	3	Hubbard Brook was heavily logged and disturbed in the early 1900s. When logging ended in 1915, trees began to grow back. The forest then went through secondary succession, which refers to the naturally occurring changes in forest structure that happen as a forest ages after it has been cut or otherwise disturbed. Can these changes in habitat availability, due to succession, explain why the number of birds are declining at Hubbard Brook? Are all bird species responding succession in the same way?
When whale I sea you again?	Palmer Station Antarctica LTER	Janice McDonnell	4	People have hunted whales for over 5,000 years for their meat, oil, and blubber. Today, as populations are struggling to recover from whaling, humpback whales are faced with additional challenges due to climate change. Their main food source is krill, which are small crustaceans that live under sea ice. As sea ice disappears, the number of krill is getting lower and lower. Humpback whale population recovery may be limited because their main food source is threatened by ongoing ocean warming.
Lizards, iguanas, and snakes! Oh my!	Central Arizona–Phoenix LTER	Lisa Herrmann	3	People have dramatically changed the natural riparian habitat found along rivers and streams. In many urban areas today, these riparian habitats are being rehabilitated with the hope of bringing back native species, such as reptiles. Reptiles, including snakes and lizards, are extremely important to monitor as they play important roles in ecosystems. Are rehabilitation efforts in Phoenix successful at restoring reptile diversity and abundance?
The mystery of Plum Island Marsh	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER & The TIDE Project	David Moon	3	Salt marshes are among the most productive coastal ecosystems, and support a diversity of plants and animals. Algae and marsh plants feed many invertebrates, like snails and crabs, which are then eaten by larger fish and birds. In Plum Island, scientists have been fertilizing and studying salt marsh creeks to see how added nutrients affect the system. They noticed that fish populations seemed to be crashing in the fertilized creeks, while the mudflats were covered in mudsnails. Could there be a link?
Urbanization and estuary eutrophication	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	David Moon	4	Estuaries are very productive habitats found where freshwater rivers meet the ocean. They are important natural filters for water and protect the coast during storms. A high diversity of plants, fish, shellfish and birds call estuaries home. Estuaries are threatened by eutrophication, or the process by which an ecosystem becomes more productive when excess nutrients are added to the system. Parts of the Plum Island Estuary in MA may be more at risk from eutrophication due to their proximity to urban areas.
Does sea level rise harm saltmarsh sparrows?	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	David Moon	3	For the last 100 years, sea levels around the globe have increased dramatically. Salt marshes grow right at sea level and are therefore very sensitive to sea level rise. Saltmarsh sparrows rely completely on salt marshes for feeding and nesting, and therefore their numbers are expected to decline as sea levels rise and they lose nesting sites. Will this threatened bird species decline over time as sea levels rise?
Keeping up with the sea level	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	David Moon	3	Salt marshes are very important habitats for many species and protect the coast from erosion. Unfortunately, rising sea levels due to climate change are threatening these important ecosystems. As sea levels rise, the elevation of the marsh soil must rise as well so the plants have ground high enough to keep them above sea level. Basically, it is like a race between the marsh floor and sea level to see who can stay on top!
Is your salt marsh in the zone?	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	David Moon	3	Beginning in the 1980s, scientist James began measuring the growth of marsh grasses. He discovered that their growth was higher in some years and lower in others and that there was a long-term trend of growth going up over time. Marsh grasses grow around mean sea level, or the average elevation between high and low tides. Are the grasses responding to mean sea level changing year-to-year, and increasing as our oceans warm and water levels rise due to climate change?
Marsh makeover	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	David Moon	3	The muddy soils in salt marshes store a lot of carbon, compared to terrestrial dry soils. This is because they are low in oxygen needed for decomposition. For this reason they play a key role in the carbon cycle and climate change. If humans disturb marshes, reducing plant diversity and biomass, are they also disturbing the marsh's ability to sequester carbon? If a marsh is restored, can the carbon holding capacity also be brought back to previous levels?
Invasive reeds in the salt marsh	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	David Moon	2	Phragmites australis is an invasive reed that is taking over saltwater marshes of New England, outcompeting other plants that serve as food and homes for marsh animals. Once Phragmites has invaded, it is sometimes the only plant species left, called a monoculture. Phragmites does best where humans have disturbed a marsh, and scientists were curious why that might be. They thought that perhaps it was caused by changing salinity, or amount of salt in the water, after a marsh is disturbed.
Can a salt marsh recover after restoration?	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	David Moon	2	Before restoration began, it was clear the Saratoga Creek salt marsh was in trouble. Invasive Phragmites plants covered large areas of the marsh, crowding out native plants and animals. Human activity was thought to be the culprit – storm drains were dumping freshwater into the marsh, lowering salinity. In 1999 a restoration took place to divert freshwater away from the marsh in an attempt to reduce Phragmites numbers. Did it work?
Make way for mummichogs	Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	David Moon	4	Mummichogs are small fish that live in tidal marshes all along the US Atlantic coast. Because they are so widespread and can be found in most streams, they are a valuable tool for scientists looking to compare the health of different marshes. The absence of mummichogs in a salt marsh is a sign that it is highly damaged. Students collected data on mummichog numbers before and after a marsh restoration. Did the restoration successfully bring back mummichogs to the marsh?
Do you feel the urban heat?	Florida Coastal Everglades LTER	Nick Oehm	3	Record-breaking temperatures climb higher every year, and Florida is no exception. These extreme temperatures affect organisms of all types, including humans. Irvin wanted to see how much the heat varies across Miami and compare it to the sensor at the airport that is used to issue heat warnings. He focused on sites where people gather outside - bus stops. He also chose sites that varied in shade coverage to see how temperatures fluctuate in different environments.
The case of the collapsing soil	Florida Coastal Everglades LTER	Nick Oehm	4	The Everglades are a unique and vital ecosystem threatened by rising sea levels due to climate change. Recently scientists have observed in some areas of the wetland the soils are collapsing. What is causing this strange phenomena? Sea level rise might be stressing microbes, causing carbon to be lost to the atmosphere through increased respiration.
The carbon stored in mangrove soils	Florida Coastal Everglades LTER	Nick Oehm	2	Mangroves are globally important for many reasons. They form dense forested wetlands that protect the coast from erosion and provide critical habitat for many animals. Mangrove forests also help in the fight against climate change by storing carbon in their soils. The balance between how much carbon is added to the soils and how much is released might be dependent on a variety of factors, including tree size and amount of disturbance to the site.
Are forests helping in the fight against climate change?	Harvard Forest LTER	Clarisse Hart & Katharine Hinkle	3	In the 1990s, scientists began to wonder what role forests were having in the exchange of carbon in and out of the atmosphere. Were forests overall storing carbon (carbon sink), or releasing it (carbon source)? To test this, they built large metal towers that stand taller than the forest trees around them and use sensors to measure the speed, direction, and CO2 concentration of each puff of air that passes by. These long term measurements can tell us whether forests help in the fight against climate change.
A window into a tree’s world	Harvard Forest LTER	Clarisse Hart & Katharine Hinkle	2	Scientists are very interested in learning how trees respond to rapidly warming temperatures. Luckily, trees offer us a window into their lives through their growth rings. Growth rings are found within the trunk, beneath the bark. These rings provide a long historical record, which can be used to study how trees respond to climate change.
Love that dirty water	Harvard Forest LTER	Clarisse Hart & Katharine Hinkle	4	As green spaces are lost to make room for homes and businesses, there are fewer forests and wetlands to filter our drinking water. A team of scientists used the New England Landscapes Future Explorer to study this challenge for the Merrimack River, an important river for the people of New England.
Fertilizer and fire change microbes in prairie soil	Konza Prairie LTER	Jill Haukos	4	Prairies grow where three environmental conditions come together – a variable climate, frequent fires, and large herbivores roaming the landscape. However, prairies are experiencing many changes. For example, people now work to prevent fires, which allows forest species take over. In addition, land previously covered in prairie is now being used for agriculture. How do these changes affect the plants, animals, and microbial communities that inhabit prairies?
Does more rain make healthy bison babies?	Konza Prairie LTER	Jill Haukos	2	The North American Bison is an important species for the prairie ecosystem. Bison affect the health of the prairie in many ways, and are also affected by the prairie as well. Each year when calves are born, scientists go out and determine their health by weighing them. This long-term dataset can be used to figure out whether environmental conditions from the previous year affect the health of the calves born in the current year.
Trees and the city	Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area LTER	Meredith Keller	3	Trees provide important benefits, such as beauty and shade. The number and types of tree species that are planted in a neighborhood can increase the benefits received from trees in urban areas. Based on her own observations, Adrienne started conversations with her colleagues about differences in urban landscapes. They conducted a study to see how social demographics of neighborhoods may be related to tree species richness and tree cover.
Do urchins flip out in hot water?	Santa Barbara Coastal LTER	Scott Simon	1 & 3	Periods of unusual warming in the ocean are called marine heatwaves. During marine heatwaves, water gets 2-3 degrees hotter than normal. That might not sound like much, but for an urchin, it is a lot. The research team decided to test whether marine heat waves could be stressing urchins by looking at a simple behavior that they could easily measure - how long it takes urchins to flip back over.

Showing 1 to 45 of 45 entries

SaveSave

Study 26 Pack

Below, you will find a table of the 26 Data Nuggets to be used in the research study. Click on the Title to open a page displaying the Data Nugget and associated activities. The table can be sorted using the arrows located next to each column header. It can also be searched using the search command at the top of the table. By default we have the activities sorted by increasing difficulty.

For a reminder on what the Content Levels (1-4) and Graph Types (A-C) mean, check out our information page here.

Search:

Title	Content Level	Keywords	Summary
Won’t you be my urchin?	1	coral reef, herbivory, marine, sea urchin, water, animals, competition	Corals are the most important reef animals since they build the reef for all of the other animals to live in. But corals only like to live in certain places. In particular they hate living near algae because the algae and coral compete for the space they both need to grow. Perhaps if there are more vegetarians, like urchins, eating algae on the reef then corals would have less competition and more space to grow.
Coral bleaching and climate change	1	climate change, coral reef, marine, mutualism, temperature, animals, algae	Corals are animals that build coral reefs. They look brown and green because they have small plants, called algae, that live inside them. The coral animal and the algae work together to produce food so that corals can grow big. When the water gets too warm, sometimes the coral and algae can no longer work together. The algae leave and the corals turn white, called coral bleaching. Scientists want to study coral bleaching so they can protect corals and the reefs that provide a home for so many different species.
Dangerously bold	1	animals, animal behavior, tradeoff, fish, predation	There are two main habitats that young bluegill sunfish can use to find food to eat – open water and cover. There is lots of food in the open water, but this habitat also has very few plants for bluegill to hide from predators, like the largemouth bass, so it’s not safe when bluegill are small! The cover habitat has less food, but it has lots of plants that make it hard for predators to see the bluegill. This sets up a situation where there are costs and benefits to using either habitat, called a tradeoff.
Springing forward	1 & 3	climate change, phenology, plants, temperature	What does climate change mean for flowering plants that rely on temperature cues to determine when it is time to flower? Scientists who study phenology, or the timing if life-history events in plants and animals, predict that with warming temperatures, plants will produce their flowers earlier and earlier each year.
Do insects prefer local or foreign foods?	2	herbivory, invasive species, plants, insects, enemy release, ecology	Insects that feed on plants, called herbivores, can have big effects on how plants grow. A plant with leaves eaten by herbivores will likely do worse than a plant that is not eaten. Herbivores may even determine how well an exotic plant does in its new habitat and whether it becomes invasive. Understanding what makes a species become invasive could help control invasions already underway, and prevent new ones in the future.
Deadly windows	2	animals, behavior, birds, environmental	Glass makes for a great windowpane because you can see right through it. However, this makes windows very dangerous for birds. Many birds die from window collisions in urban areas. In North America window collisions kill up to 1 billion birds every year! Perhaps local urban birds are able to learn the locations of windows and avoid collisions. By comparing window collisions by local birds to those of migrant birds that are just passing through, we can determine if local birds have learned to deal with this challenge.
A tail of two scorpions	2	animal behavior, animals, predation	Species rely on a variety of methods to defend against predators, including camouflage, speedy escape, or retreating to the safety of a shelter. Other animals, such as scorpions, have painful venomous stings. Scientists wanted to know whether the pain of a scorpion sting was enough to deter predators, like the grasshopper mouse.
Sexy smells	2	adaptation, animal behavior, animals, birds, mating	Animals collect information about each other and the rest of the world using multiple senses, including sight, sound, and smell. They use this information to decide what to eat, where to live, and who to pick as a mate. Many male birds have brightly colored feathers and ornaments that are attractive to females. Visual signals like these ornaments have been studied a lot in birds, but birds may be able to determine the quality of a potential mate using other senses as well, such as their smell!
How do brain chemicals influence who wins a fight?	2	animals, behavior, competition, insects, aggression, brain chemistry, physiology	Animals compete for resources, including space, food, and mates. What are the factors that determine who wins in a fight? Within the same species, larger individuals tend to win fights. However, if two opponents are the same size, other factors can influence outcomes. Serotonin is a chemical compound found in the brains of all animals, including stalk-eyed flies. Even a small amount of this chemical can make a big impact on aggressive behavior, and perhaps the outcome of competition.
Marvelous mud	2	ecology, environmental, fertilization, mud, phosphorus, substrate, water, wetland	Because mud is wet most of the time, it tends to have different properties than soil. Dead organic matter (partially decomposed plants) is an important part of mud and tends to build up in wetlands because it is decomposed more slowly under water where microbes do not have all the oxygen they need to break it down quickly. The amounts of organic matter may determine the levels of phosphorus and other nutrients held in wetland muds.
Is chocolate for the birds?	2	agriculture, animals, birds, biodiversity, ecology, plants, rainforest	Humans invented agriculture 9,000 years ago, and today it covers 40% of Earth’s land surface. To grow our crops, native plants are often removed, causing the loss of animals that relied on these native plants for habitat. However, sometimes animals can use crop species for food and shelter. For example, the cacao tree may provide habitat for bird species in the rainforests of Costa Rica. Will the abundance and types of birds differ in cacao plantations, compared to native rainforests?
Bye bye birdie? Part I	2	animals, biodiversity, birds, climate change, succession, disturbance, ecology	Avian ecologists at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest have been monitoring bird populations for over 40 years. The data collected during this time is one of the longest bird studies ever conducted! What can we learn from this long-term data set? Are bird populations remaining stable over time?
Bye bye birdie? Part II	3	animals, biodiversity, birds, climate change, succession, disturbance, ecology	Hubbard Brook was heavily logged and disturbed in the early 1900s. When logging ended in 1915, trees began to grow back. The forest then went through secondary succession, which refers to the naturally occurring changes in forest structure that happen as a forest ages after it has been cut or otherwise disturbed. Can these changes in habitat availability, due to succession, explain why the number of birds are declining at Hubbard Brook? Are all bird species responding succession in the same way?
To bee or not to bee aggressive	3	animals, behavior, genes, insects, tradeoff	Honey bees turn nectar from flowers into honey, and honey serves as an energy-rich food source for the colony. Honey also makes hives a target for break ins by animals that want to steal it. Bees need to aggressively defend their honey when the hive is threatened. They also need to ensure that they do not waste energy on unnecessary aggressive behaviors when the threat level is low. One way bees might match their aggressiveness to the threat level in the environment is learning from adults when they are young.
Raising Nemo: Parental care in the clown anemonefish	3	adaptation, animals, behavior, coral reef, ecology, fish, marine, mating, tradeoff	Offspring in many animal species rely on parental care; the more time and energy parents invest in their young, the more likely it is that their offspring will survive. However, parental care is costly for the parents. The more time spent on care, the less time they have to find food or care for themselves. In the clown anemonefish, the amount of food available may impact parental care behaviors. When there is food freely available in the environment, are parents able to spend more time caring for their young?
Growing energy: comparing biofuel crop biomass	3	agriculture, biofuels, climate change, fertilization, plants	Corn is one of the best crops for producing biomass for fossil fuels, however it is an annual and needs very fertile soil. To grow corn, farmers add a lot of chemical fertilizers and pesticides to their fields. Other crops, like switchgrass, prairie, poplar trees, and Miscanthus grass are perennials and require fewer fertilizers and pesticides to grow. If perennials can produce high levels of biomass with low inputs, perhaps they could produce more biomass than corn under certain low nutrient conditions.
Fertilizing biofuels may cause release of greenhouse gasses	3	biofuels, climate change, fertilization, greenhouse gasses, nitrogen, plants	One way to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we release into the atmosphere could be to grow our fuel instead of drilling for it. Unlike fossil fuels that can only release CO2, biofuels remove CO2 from the atmosphere as they grow and photosynthesize, potentially balancing the CO2 released when they are burned for fuel. However, the plants we grow for biofuels don’t necessarily absorb all greenhouse gas that is released during the process of growing them on farms and converting them into fuels.
The ground has gas!	3	climate change, temperature, greenhouse gasses, nitrogen, plants	Nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide are responsible for much of the warming of the global average temperature that is causing climate change. Sometimes soils give off, or emit, these greenhouse gases into the earth’s atmosphere, adding to climate change. Currently scientists figuring out what causes differences in how much of each type of greenhouse gas soils emit.
When a species can’t stand the heat	3	animals, climate change, disturbance, ecology, environmental, mating, temperature	Tuatara are a unique species of reptile found only in New Zealand. In this species, the temperature of the nest during egg development determines the sex of offspring. Warm nests lead to more males, and cool nests lead to more females. With warming temperatures due to climate change, scientists expect the sex ratio to become more and more unbalanced over time, with males making up more of the population. This could leave tuatara populations with too few females to sustain their numbers.
Feral chickens fly the coop	3	adaptation, animals, behavior, birds, ecology, evolution, mating	Sometimes domesticated animals escape captivity and interbreed with closely related wild relatives. Their hybrid offspring have some traits from the wild parent, and some from the domestic parent. Traits that help hybrids survive and reproduce will be favored by natural selection. On the island of Kauai, domestic chickens escaped and recently interbred with wild Red Junglefowl to produce a hybrid population. Over time, will the hybrids on Kauai evolve to be more like chickens, or more like Red Junglefowl?
CSI: Crime Solving Insects	3	animals, insects, parasitism	You might think maggots (blow fly larvae) are gross, but without their help in decomposition we would all trip over dead bodies every time we went outside! Forensic entomologists also use these amazing insects to help solve crimes. Blow flies oviposit on dead bodies, and the age of the maggots that hatch helps scientists determine how long ago a body died. Scientists noticed parasitic wasps were also present at some bodies. Might these wasps delay blow fly oviposition and interfere with scientists' estimates of time of death?
How the cricket lost its song, Part I	3	adaptation, animal behavior, animals, evolution, mating, parasitism	Pacific field crickets live on several Hawaiian Islands, including Kauai. Male field crickets make a loud, long-distance song to help females find them, and then switch to a quiet courtship song once a female comes in close. One summer scientists noticed that the crickets on the island were unusually quiet. Back in the lab they saw males that had lost their specialized wing structures used to produce song! Why did these males lose their wing structures?
How the cricket lost its song, Part II	3	adaptation, animal behavior, animals, evolution, mating, parasitism	WIthout their song, how are flatwing crickets able to attract females? In some other animals species, males use an alternative to singing, called satellite behavior. Satellite males hang out near a singing male and attempt to mate with females who have been attracted by the song. Perhaps the satellite behavior gives flatwing males the opportunity to mate with females who were attracted to the few singing males left on Kauai.
Are you my species?	3	adaptation, animals, behavior, biodiversity, competition, evolution, fish, mating	How do animals know who to choose as a mate and who is a member of their own species? One way is through communication. Animals collect information about each other and the rest of the world using multiple senses, including sight, sound, and smell. Darters are a group of over 200 colorful fish species that live in lakes and rivers across the US. The bright color patterns on males may signal to females during mating who is a member of the same species and who would make a good mate.
The mystery of Plum Island Marsh	3	fertilization, fish, marine, mollusk, water, wetland	Salt marshes are among the most productive coastal ecosystems, and support a diversity of plants and animals. Algae and marsh plants feed many invertebrates, like snails and crabs, which are then eaten by larger fish and birds. In Plum Island, scientists have been fertilizing and studying salt marsh creeks to see how added nutrients affect the system. They noticed that fish populations seemed to be crashing in the fertilized creeks, while the mudflats were covered in mudsnails. Could there be a link?
Finding Mr. Right	4	adaptation, animals, behavior, biodiversity, birds, evolution, mating, local adaptation	Mountain chickadees are small birds that live in the mountains. To deal with living in a harsh environment during the winter, mountain chickadees store large amounts of food throughout the forest. Compared to populations at lower elevations, birds from higher elevations are smarter and have better spatial memory, helping them better find stored food. Smarter females from high elevations may be contributing to local adaptation by preferring to breed with males from their own population.

Showing 1 to 26 of 26 entries

8.18.16

Professional Development Workshop @ KBS Summer Institute 8/18/16

Advice on how to use the Claims-Evidence-Reasoning framework in your classroom intentionally. Session presented with two Michigan science teachers, Marcia Angle and Cheryl Hach.

Session Description: In our session we will talk about the transition of science education away from memorization of facts and more towards the application of applying critical thinking and quantitative reasoning. We will discuss the importance of scaffolding student learning centered on the scientific principles of investigation, student discourse, and will unveil our new graphic CER organizer that we designed to support student writing when it comes to Claim, Evidence and the oh so difficult Reasoning portions of science writing. We use Data Nuggets throughout the session to model how you can integrate our CER tool into the classroom and increase the amount of data analysis and interpretation done in your classroom. This session is for upper elementary, middle and high school teachers whose students struggle with quantitative skills and CER writing. Our little nuggets can do great things!

MEET THE SCIENTISTS!

Want to know more about the scientists behind each Data Nugget? Click on their name for a link to their professional websites, or on their Data Nugget to learn more about their research!

Search:

Name	Institution	About Me	Data Nuggets
Jaron Adkins	Utah State University	Jaron is an ecosystem ecologist focused on the links between soil microbial communities and ecosystem functions. Jaron received his B.S. from Boise State University, where he researched how plant-soil interactions influence carbon sequestration under biofuel crops. Jaron completed his Ph.D. at Michigan State University, where he studied the effects of wildfire on soil carbon cycling and microbial community structure in California mixed-conifer forest.	Sink or source? How grazing geese impact the carbon cycle
Anurag Agrawal	Cornell University	I teach classes in ecology and field biology, and enjoy natural history, identifying plants, figuring out what makes some organisms toxic, and interacting with students. Most of my research is on the interactions on insects and plants in the local landscape – seeking to understand their ecology and evolution. Monarchs and milkweeds figure in prominently, but not exclusively. I also work with plant breeders to work on ways to improve pest management in crops with reduced pesticides. The ability to pursue a life in science is a gift from our society for which I will be eternally grateful. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	How milkweed plants defend against monarch butterflies
Ruby An	Princeton University	I am a plant community ecologist fascinated by the Arctic and passionate about understanding the resilience of ecosystems to global climate change. In my PhD at Princeton University, I study the expansion of tundra shrubs or “shrubification” of the Arctic. I spend the summer at Toolik Field Station on the North Slope of Alaska, where I run field experiments to simulate “future worlds” for tundra plants. In the winter, I am in New Jersey analyzing data and building mathematical models. Year-round, some of my main joys are eating pastries, growing basil from grocery-store stems, and playing dungeons & dragons on zoom with my sisters.	Which tundra plants will win the climate change race?
Holly E. Anderson	University of Warsaw, Poland	Holly is a palaeontologist at the University of Warsaw. Holly’s multidisciplinary studies include reconstructions of function and behaviour in prehistoric organisms and the processes of decay and burial that lead to fossilisation. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Reconstructing the behaviour of ancient animals
Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira	Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute	I am a forest ecologist at the Smithsonian, where I lead the Ecosystems and Climate Program for the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO). I am interested in how forests around the world interact with our changing climate - both how they respond and how they can help to slow the pace of climate change. For example, I am interested in how climate change is affecting tree growth and mortality, what makes trees resistant or vulnerable to drought, how climate affects forest recovery after big disturbances, and how the amount of carbon stored in forests varies around the world.	Breathing in, Part 1 & Breathing in, Part 2
Irvin Arce	Miami Senior High School & Florida International University	I am an Environmental Science teacher at Miami Senior High. My students would say I love hands-on activities and field work. I like to make connections between the theory and the real world in my labs. In 2023 I joined a Research Experience for Teachers where I worked on a social research project that focuses on measuring the real temperature across Miami. Among many things new that I learned, I saw that everyone can contribute meaningfully to science and help their community by doing so. The field work in my RET project was done by concerned citizens with various scientific backgrounds.	Do you feel the urban heat?
Ivan Arismendi	Oregon State University	I am from the southern cone of South America where empanadas, lamb, and temperate rainforests formed my early years. I am a quantitative aquatic ecologist interested in the links among water, land, and people. I focus on freshwater-terrestrial links, freshwater-marine links, invasive species impacts on aquatic and riparian ecosystems, and the consequences of climate change on freshwater food webs and ecosystems. I am also interested in issues related to diversity and inclusion in science.	All washed up? The effect of floods on cutthroat trout
Trisha Atwood	Utah State University	Trisha is an assistant professor in the Watershed Sciences Department and the Ecology Center, where she runs the Aquatic Ecology and Global Change Lab at USU. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and staff in the lab conduct research on a broad array of questions relating to the health, conservation and dynamics of freshwater and marine ecosystems across the globe.	Sink or source? How grazing geese impact the carbon cycle & Poop, poop, goose!
Christie Bahlai	Kent State University, Michigan State University	I am an applied quantitative ecologist and population ecologist who uses approaches from data science to help solve problems in conservation, sustainability, and ecosystem management. I combine a background in physics and organismal ecology with influences from the tech sector and conservation NGOs to ask questions and build tools addressing problems in population ecology.	Blinking out?
Megan Ballard	University of Texas - Austin	I am interested in using measurements of sound waves to learn more about underwater environments. By studying the propagation of sound waves through the ocean, we can characterize the water masses of the ocean’s interior, the sediments that make up the seafloor, and the waves or ice cover on the ocean’s surface. By listening to naturally occurring sounds, we can determine wind speed and rainfall, identify species of vocalizing fish and marine mammals, and estimate photosynthetic bubble production from submerged aquatic vegetation.	The sound of seagrass
Mélanie Banville	Arizona State University	Ever since I was young I had a keen interest for wildlife. This led me to pursue a B.S. in Zoology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. Shortly after I graduated I left Canada to travel and work in the United States. I have been working as a professional wildlife biologist on a wide variety of wildlife-related projects for over a decade, eight of which were in the desert southwest. I truly believe that a better understanding of urban ecology is of fundamental importance for the future of all living organisms as our urban boundaries expand and put more pressure on our ecological resources.	Lizards, iguanas, and snakes! Oh my!
Tina Barbasch	Boston University	I first became interested in science catching frogs and snakes in my backyard in Ithaca, NY. This inspired me to major in biology at Cornell University, located in my hometown. As an undergraduate, I studied male competition and sperm allocation in the local spotted salamander. After graduating, I joined the Peace Corps and spent 2 years in Morocco teaching environmental education and 6 months in Liberia teaching high school chemistry. As a PhD student, I study how parents negotiate over parental care in my study system, the clownfish. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Raising Nemo: Parental care in the clown anemonefish
Carina Baskett	Michigan State University	I became interested in biology when I was in high school, so I joined Science Olympiad. I went to college at Rice University in Houston, Texas, my hometown. I did some research on pollination in college, and decided that I really enjoyed learning about the relationships between plants and insects. Before starting my PhD, I did a year-long Watson Fellowship, an independent study abroad. I traveled to different ecosystems in Ecuador, Chile, Panama, and Spain, and made a podcast about relationships between people and nature. For my PhD, I studied pollination and herbivory and how they change with latitude—lots of travel again!	Where to find the hungry, hungry herbivores & Are plants more toxic in the tropics?
Heather Bateman	Arizona State University	I am a field ecologist and conservation biologist interested in how human land-use affects vertebrate populations and habitats. As Earth’s ecosystems move into a future of growing human influence, restoring the integrity of these ecosystems will become central to the conservation of biodiversity. Human activities tend to perturb ecosystems by suppressing natural disturbances such as flooding or fire. This can lead to a decline in native species and proliferation of non-native species. My research interests lie in exploring population responses to habitat alteration, with a particular interest in amphibians, reptiles, and birds.	Lizards, iguanas, and snakes! Oh my!
Karen Beard	Utah State University	My research focuses on how changing landscapes influence species interactions and ecosystem functioning. My research is often done in the context of non-native species and/or climate change. I am researching how non-native frogs influence the communities and ecosystems where they invade on the Hawaiian islands. I have also conducted research in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta in western Alaska on how the timing of seasonal events, including bird migration, influences species interactions and ecosystem processes.	Sink or source? How grazing geese impact the carbon cycle
Matthew G. Betts	Oregon State University	I study the ways that landscape composition and pattern influence animal behavior, species distributions and ecosystem function. As humans are one of the primary drivers of landscape characteristics globally, much of my work is applied and focused on management and conservation. However, understanding mechanisms is key to generalization, so a central part of my research program is basic in nature and links landscape ecology to behavioral ecology, physiology, and molecular ecology.	Trees and bushes, home sweet home for warblers
Andrew Blinn	Idaho State University	Andrew is currently working on a research project studying carbon dynamics and ecosystem function in urban streams. Stream ecology played a large role in developing his passion for ecological sciences and he hopes to foster the passion of future scientists through education. He has also spent two years as an interpretive park ranger and naturalist for Maryland and Delaware State Parks where he developed stream monitoring programs in parks that help inform natural resource managers and introduce the public to exciting research methods in ecology.	Surviving the flood
Harriet Booth	Northeastern University	I am interested in how species interactions drive community structure and dynamics in coastal ecosystems as well as how these interactions are altered by human influence. My graduate research will focus on predator-prey dynamics in a subtidal oyster reef system in Apalachicola Bay, Florida. I am examining the combined effects of intraspecific trait diversity and density of stone crabs on oyster survival and growth over time.	The mystery of Plum Island Marsh
Isabela Borges	Kellogg Biological Station,Michigan State University	I'm a Brazilian evolutionary ecologist, currently working as a conservation scientist at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden in Santa Barbara, California. I received my my Ph.D. from Michigan State University, having worked in the Fitzpatrick lab at the W. K. Kellogg Biological Station. I grew up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and started my undergraduate degree in biology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. I then transferred to the University of Toronto, in Canada, where I completed a B.Sc. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.	Guppies on the move
Jennifer Bowen	Marine Science Center, Northeastern University	My work runs the gamut from modeling how changing land use on watersheds alters the geochemistry of receiving waters to understanding how climate change and nutrient enrichment alters the structure and function of microbial communities. In particular I have been focusing on both how human activities are altering the structure and function of microbial communities and in turn how microbial communities can help ameliorate pollution from human sources.	Marsh makeover
Carrie Branch	University of Nevada Reno	I have been interested in animal behavior and behavioral ecology since my second year in college at the University of Tennessee. I research how variation in ecology and environment affect communication and signaling in birds. I have also studied various types of memory and am interested in how animals learn and use information depending on how their environment varies over space and time. Once I finish my PhD I hope to become a professor at a university so that I can continue to conduct research and teach students about animal behavior. In my spare time I love hiking with my friends and dogs, and watching comedies!	Finding Mr. Right
Adriana Briscoe	University of California, Irvine	Like many scientists, I believe that communicating science to the public is becoming increasingly urgent. As a consequence, I have become very interested in how science communicated in K-12 lessons, short dispatches, blogs, podcasts and videos can be used as a tool for inviting the public to participate in science as students, citizen scientists or as consumers of scientific knowledge. My research is focused on understanding what happens to gene products underlying physiological and behavioral traits following gene duplication and functional diversification. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Why are butterfly wings colorful?
Robert Buchsbaum	Mass Audubon	I enjoy sharing my knowledge and passion for the natural world as a trip leader and lecturer for Mass Audubon and other environmental groups. My particular interests include marine and coastal habitats, wildflowers, birds, climate change, and alpine ecology. I am a Mass Audubon’s Regional Scientist in the Southeast, Cape, and Islands Region and have been a staff scientist here since 1987.	Make way for mummichogs & Does sea level rise harm saltmarsh sparrows?
Kristi Bugajski	Valparaiso University	I specialize in the area of forensic entomology. Forensic entomology looks at how insects are used in a court of law. My specialty is medico-legal forensic entomology, or how maggots can be used to estimate the amount of time that has passed since death. I am interested in oviposition timing and factors that influence oviposition.	CSI: Crime Solving Insects
Ashley Carroll	Gull Lake Middle School	I teach 7th-grade science at Gull Lake Middle School in Richland, MI. In the summer of 2018 I worked in Jeff Conner’s lab and participated in a Research Experience for Teachers (RET). My research experience took place at one of Michigan State University's off-campus sites, Kellogg Biological Station (KBS). During my time at KBS I collaborated with scientists and college students to study a variety of radish plant adaptations.	Fast weeds in farmer’s fields
Jeff Conner	Michigan State University	I study the mechanisms by which natural selection on plants produces (sometimes very rapid) adaptation to a variable environment, as well as possible constraints on this adaptation. Members of my lab measure the strength of selection acting in present-day populations and combine this with quantitative and molecular genetic and genomic analyses to predict short-term evolutionary change and identify the genetic mechanisms underlying adaptation and constraint. Major projects focus on floral evolution and weed adaptations to agricultural habitats.	Fast weeds in farmer’s fields
Susan Cook-Patton	The Nature Conservancy	I am a Senior Forest Restoration Scientist at The Nature Conservancy. I work to quantify the climate mitigation potential of reforestation and other natural climate solutions and infuse the best-available science into land management decisions.	Breathing in, Part 1 & Breathing in, Part 2
Dave Costello	Kent State University	I am an ecosystem ecologist and I spend most of my time studying how human actions impact rivers and streams. Recently, my work has focused on excess nutrients, metal pollution, and the combination of those two “stressors”. I use experiments in the field and lab to discover how human stressors change the abundance, composition, and function of organisms living in streams. I am fascinated by the resilience of stream organisms to the stresses of human disturbance.	Surviving the flood
Aaron Curry	Baltimore Ecosystem Study LTER site & Wise High School	I am an Environmental Science Teacher at Wise High School in Maryland. As a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) Fellow with the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, I studied the effects of pharmaceuticals and personal care products on riparian spider food webs. To do this research, I worked with a team of undergraduate students from UMBC to sample spiders and we also analyzed pictures of spider webs to determine the irregularity of the web shapes. I am a huge science nerd and I really enjoy being outdoors studying science. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Spiders under the influence
Robert Cox	University of Virginia	I am an evolutionary ecologist and my interests span from comparative endocrinology and physiology to behavioral ecology and evolutionary genetics. My current projects focus on integrating quantitative genetics, endocrinology, and genomics to study intralocus sexual conflict and life-history tradeoffs.	Is it better to be bigger? & Is it dangerous to be a showoff?
Hans Dam	University of Connecticut-Avery Point	I am a biological oceanographer. My research interests are in the biology, ecology and evolution of planktonic organisms, particularly pelagic copepods. Earlier in my career I investigated questions dealing with the role of planktonic organisms in biogeochemical cycles in the ocean, and the formation and fate of marine aggregates. Recently, my interests have broadened to deal with questions of the evolutionary ecology of plankton.	Dangerous aquatic prey: can predators adapt to toxic algae?
Ellen Damschen	University of Wisconsin-Madison	As an ecologist and conservation biologist, I am interested in how local and regional ecological processes affect species diversity with a particular emphasis on how human-induced global changes affect their relative importance. My approach lies at the intersection of basic and applied ecology, using long-term datasets and large-scale experiments from terrestrial plant communities to test basic theory with relevance to applied conservation management.	A burning question
Emily Dangremond	Roosevelt University	I am an ecologist with interests in conservation, climate change, and patterns of abundance. My research has been on rare plants in California, Panama and Illinois and on the geographic range expansion of mangroves in Florida. I teach courses in ecology, introductory biology, botany and global change biology. One of my main goals is to spend time outside, and studying the natural world lets me do that.	Mangroves on the move
Sarah Davies	University of Texas at Austin & Boston University	Changing climates and ongoing anthropogenic habitat modifications threaten natural ecosystems worldwide. Research in my lab studies the potential roles of acclimation, adaptation, and dispersal in an organism’s response to rapid climate change. Understanding how symbioses are maintained is fundamental as climate change disrupts symbiotic relationships worldwide. The coral–Symbiodinium symbiosis is essential and serves as the cornerstone for the entire reef ecosystem.	Won’t you be my urchin?
Erin de Leon Sanchez	University of California - Santa Barbara	I am a Ph.D. student in Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara studying the effects of marine heatwaves on the ecologically and commercially important red sea urchin, Mesocentrotus franciscanus. Prior to graduate school, I earned my B.S. in Biology at the University of California, Davis and researched how warming and hypoxia affect Chinook salmon. Overall, I am interested in how commercially important aquatic species may adapt to climate change and its associated stressors. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Do urchins flip out in hot water?
Clara Deser	National Center for Atmospheric Research	I study global climate variability and climate change using observations and models, with an emphasis on interactions among the atmosphere, ocean, and sea ice. My recent projects include the role of internal variability in regional climate change, the effects of projected Arctic sea ice loss on global climate, asymmetries between El Nino and La Nina, and Pacific decadal variability.	The Arctic is Melting – So What?
Leila Desotelle	Michigan State University	My research explores how food web subsidies can influence communities. I study the Kalamazoo River, which has several dams. Dams change the flow of the water and can increase the production of phytoplankton. The phytoplankton can act as a subsidy both temporally and spatially. Stream insect communities change along the river, and some of this response is to the subsidy from dams. Rivers frequently have multiple dams though many are aging and will be removed in the coming decades. Therefore, understanding how dams change food sources is important for the management of rivers.	Float down the Kalamazoo River
Colin Donihue	Harvard University & Washington University	I am an evolutionary ecologist studying the drivers and consequences in intra-specific variation in animal functional traits. In particular, my research focuses on predicting changes in behavioral, morphological, and performance traits as a result of changes in ecological context. My field research in Southern Europe, the West Indies, East Africa, and North America makes use of direct manipulative studies and landscape-scale natural experiments. My work generates fundamental insights into eco-evolutionary dynamics and critical applied lessons for conservation in human-dominated landscapes.	Hold on for your life! Part 1 & Part 2
Emma Droste	North Carolina State University	I am a PhD student in Genetics and Genomics at NC State. I received my bachelors in Genetics and master's in STEM Education also from NC State (AKA Go Pack!). I am fascinated by how genes shape the nervous system, and am studying the fly auditory system for my dissertation. When I'm not doing science, I am crafting in my sewing room, acting on the stage, or hammocking with a book.	Did you hear that? Inside the world of fruit fly mating songs
Liz Duff	Mass Audubon, Salt Marsh Science Project	I coordinate environmental education in the Great Marsh Region and beyond, primarily in salt marshes and other coastal ecosystems. I provide professional development workshops and courses for teachers. Currently, I am conducting long term ecological research with middle and high school students, investigating invasive Phragmites. I engage students in stewardship projects, and am passionate about my work teaching about climate change, working to raise awareness about rising sea levels, and to inspire actions and plan for the future.	Make way for mummichogs & Invasive reeds in the salt marsh & Can a salt marsh recover after restoration?
Ken Dunton	University of Texas Marine Science Institute & Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems LTER	I am a biological oceanographer whose research is focused on estuarine, coastal, and shelf processes. Although my work spans from the Arctic to the Antarctic, my continuous studies of the arctic coastal ecosystem have spanned three decades. My research also includes measurements that can help identify processes that are sentinel indicators of global change.	Benthic buddies & Seagrass survival in a super salty lagoon
Carleigh Engstrom	Biotechnology High School & Monmouth University	I teach Molecular and Agricultural Biotechnology to tenth graders in New Jersey. I hope to instill my love for biology with all of my students, and one way I do that is by staying current. During the summer of 2018, I participated in a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) program at Monmouth University's Phifer-Rixey lab. This research experience allowed me to get involved with a striped bass project, where we determined the stock populations for striped bass that were sampled off the NJ coast. I truly enjoy sharing this experience with my students, as a way to show them all that science has to offer.	Fishy origins
Meredith Everett	University of Washington & NOAA	My research explores how organisms interact with and adapt to their environments on a genomic scale, and how knowledge of these interactions can be applied to conservation and management solutions. During my time in the Seeb Lab I worked on SNP discovery, developing novel genomic maps for Pacific salmonids, and using these maps to discover the genomic regions associated with ecological traits through QTL and association mapping. I was also involved in a project using SNPs to track sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska. I currently work at NOAA on the phylogenetics of deep-water corals.	Salmon in hot water
Ilka (Candy) Feller	Smithsonian Environmental Research Center	I am a mangrove ecologist. I was the Principal Investigator in the Animal-Plant Interaction Laboratory at the Smithsonian Environment Research Center from 1999 until 2018, when I retired and transitioned to an emeritus appointment at the Smithsonian Institution. My research is focused on the biology of animal-plant interactions in mangrove ecosystems. I maintain a lab at SERC and plan to continue to work on mangroves for the foreseeable future.	Mangroves on the move
Michael Finiguerra	University of Connecticut-Avery Point	My PhD dissertation investigated the evolution of tolerance to toxins. Today I am a professor at the University of Connecticut, Teaching is my passion. I love interacting with students and coaching them through complex problems. To me, science is more than intellectual content. It is a lens through which to teach critical thinking. Helping my students become independent critical thinkers is my goal. I use my research as a tool for teaching; it connects the real-world to classroom lectures and gives student much needed hands-on experience, in both laboratory and field-settings.	Dangerous aquatic prey: can predators adapt to toxic algae?
Susan Finkbeiner	University of California, Irvine & Boston University	I spent my childhood chasing butterflies and collecting insects in Illinois, with the dream of studying butterflies in the tropical rainforest. As an undergrad at Cornell I did a semester abroad in Costa Rica where I was introduced to Heliconius butterflies. For my PhD I worked with these butterflies to examine how natural and sexual selection drive the evolution of butterfly wing patterns. I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at Boston University (Mullen Lab) working with Adelpha butterflies to understand the ecological and evolutionary processes that shape patterns of biodiversity.	Why are butterfly wings colorful?
Erika Foster	Colorado State University	I strive to answer complex questions about soil productivity and to inspire the next generation of soil ecologists. I aim to work with diverse communities from farmers to students, to discover best land management practices, and to ignite curiosity and passion for science. Broadly, I hope to continue serving as an interpreter in my field of soil ecology, delving into the mechanisms that build healthy soils. I want to dig deep into the science, and connect my work to management practices for climate-smart agriculture.	Can biochar improve crop yields?
Daniel Fraser	University of Texas Marine Science Institute & Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems LTER	As a member of the Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystem - Long Term Ecological Research (BLE - LTER) program, I am studying the spatial and temporal variation in community composition and structure of benthic macrofaunal communities of Alaskan Arctic Lagoons.	Benthic buddies
Sarah Frey	Oregon State University	My research is in quantitative population ecology, with a focus on understanding how environmental patterns at different scales affect biodiversity in both temperate and tropical forest systems. Specifically, I study how land-use and climate changes in montane forest landscapes influence species distributions, abundance trends, and community composition. I apply novel analytical tools to address my research questions.	Trees and bushes, home sweet home for warblers
Becky Fuller	University of Illinois	I grew up in a small town riding horses in 4-H and working in a veterinary clinic. I’ve always been interested in biology, but two key experiences lead me to my career. I took courses at Cedar Point Biological Field Station. There I met Dr. Tony Joern who hired me onto his field crew to study grasshopper community ecology. I caught the “science bug” and never looked back. After undergrad I worked with Dr. Anders Berglund on pipefish on the west coast of Sweden. There I developed my love for fish and aquatics. I feel very fortunate to have a job where I can do science and teach young, enthusiastic students.	Why so blue? The determinants of color pattern in killifish Part 1 & Part 2
Iniyan Ganesan	Michigan State University	I am interested in the pore size of the chloroplast TOC and TIC protein translocons as well as the degree of folding present in proteins as they pass through chloroplast outer and inner membranes. My area of specialization is Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Genomics.	Cheaters in nature – when is a mutualism not a mutualism?
Ali Gephart	Bayfield High School	I graduated from Bayfield High School in 2012. After graduation, I attended UW-La Crosse for 2 years and then transferred to UW Madison where I graduated in 2016 with a degree in Communication Arts - Film/Radio/TV. I spent 5 years in Los Angeles trying my best to avoid the sun before moving back to the Midwest. I now live in Chicago and work as a Studio Mechanic (Local 476) on TV shows such as Chicago Med, The Chi and Force. I much prefer the climate here in Chicago, Southern California is simply too hot. Not to mention I couldn’t stand living so far away from one of the Great Lakes.	Lake Superior rhythms
Gena Gephart	Bayfield High School	After graduating from Bayfield High School, Gena attended UW-Madison where she got her degree in Communication Arts and Gender & Women’s Studies. After college Gena moved to Chicago to pursue standup comedy which people think is an art but is actually a science.	Lake Superior rhythms
Eben Gering	Michigan State University	One of the most exciting things I learned as a college student was that natural populations sometimes evolve very quickly. Biologists used to think evolution was too slow to be studied “in action”, so their research focused on evolutionary changes that occurred over thousands (or even millions) of years. I study feral animal populations to learn how rapid evolutionary changes help them survive and reproduce, without direct help from us.	Feral chickens fly the coop
Anne Giblin	Marine Biological Laboratory & Plum Island Ecosystems LTER	My major research interest has been on the cycling of elements in the environment, especially the biogeochemistry of nitrogen, sulfur, iron, and phosphorus. Much of my work has been focused in soils and sediments where element cycling takes place under different conditions of oxidation and reduction. Much of my current research focuses on the nitrogen cycle and has been centered on understanding how ecosystems respond to high nutrient inputs from wastewater and fertilizer.	Keeping up with the sea level
Cara Giordano	University of Virginia	My research in sexual selection focuses on the dewlap, a secondary sexual trait in the brown anole lizard. I investigate if variation in the characteristics of this ornament relates to the fitness of the individual expressing it. I am interested in how ecological relationships change over time, particularly under pressures of environmental transition, as well as the physiological mechanisms that underlie conservation concerns.	Is it dangerous to be a showoff?
Laura Gough	Towson University	When I was young, I was always happiest when I was outside. I loved to walk in the woods and observe insects, birds, and mammals and think about how they could live with the plants I encountered there. I trained to be a plant ecologist and am still interested in how plants interact with other organisms in the same habitat. I have been studying the arctic tundra for many years and love thinking about how arctic organisms survive and thrive and how they are responding as climate change progresses and the Arctic warms.	Which tundra plants will win the climate change race?
Kristine Grayson	University of Richmond, Victoria University of Wellington	I am an Associate Professor in the Biology Department and an HHMI BioInteractive Ambassador and facilitator with the Quantitative Undergraduate Biology Education and Synthesis (QUBES) project. My work on tuatara was conducted during a postdoc at Victoria University of Wellington funded by an NSF International Research Fellowship. One of my claims to fame is capturing the state record holding snapping turtle for North Carolina – 52 pounds! To read more about my interest in science from a young age, check out this article.	When a species can’t stand the heat
Skye Greenler	Colorado College & Purdue University	As a child I was always asking why; questioning the behavior, characteristics, and interactions of plants and animals around me. This love of discovery, observation, questioning, and experimentation led me to pursue a career in science. As a graduate student at Purdue I study the factors influencing oak regeneration after ecologically based timber harvest and prescribed fire. While my primary focus is ecological research, I love getting to leave the lab and bring science into classrooms to inspire the next generation of young scientists and encourage all students to be always asking why!	Is chocolate for the birds?
Stanley Gregory	Oregon State University	I am a professor emeritus. My research focuses on the analysis of processes and patterns that shape aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems at landscape scales. I am particularly interested in the influence of human activities on ecosystem structure and function. My work evaluates patterns of historical change as a basis for developing restoration strategies and design future human development.	All washed up? The effect of floods on cutthroat trout
The Haddad Lab	Kellogg Biological Station, Michigan State University	We study the application of ecological principles to the conservation of biodiversity - from individual rare animals, to all species living within a community, to species effects on ecosystems and people. We focus on strategies like habitat corridors that are intended to overcome the negative effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, and the effects of land use intensity in diversified agricultural landscapes that increase ecosystem services such as pollination.	Little butterflies on the prairie
Natasha Hagemeyer	Old Dominion University	I got an early start with bird research, and banded my first bird at 12 years old. Since then, I've worked with a variety of species and questions, looking at song sharing in orchard orioles, foraging behavior in black-backed woodpeckers, window strikes in migratory passerines, and social behavior in acorn woodpeckers. My true love, however, is movement ecology, and my PhD research focuses on the pre-dispersal movement patterns of the cooperatively breeding acorn woodpeckers, using a novel automated telemetry system with solar-powered radio tags.	Deadly windows
Travis Hagey	Michigan State University, BEACON	Ever since I was a kid, I've been interested in animals and wanted to be a paleontologist. I even had a bunch of dinosaur names memorized to back it up! In college I discovered evolutionary biology, which drove me to apply for graduate school and become a scientist. There, I fell in love with comparative biomechanics, which combines evolutionary biology and mechanical engineering. Today I study geckos and their sticky toes, which allow them to scale surfaces like glass windows and tree branches.	Sticky situations: big and small animals with sticky feet
Mark Hammond	Michigan State University	I am the research technician for the Lau lab and the resident natural history, lab, and greenhouse guru! I manage all projects in the lab, and am a resource for grad students and mentor for summer researchers. Research in the lab focuses on community ecology and evolutionary ecology. We study how plant populations respond to human-cased environmental change, the ecology and evolution of species interactions, and natural selection in the wild.	Invasion meltdown & Springing forward
Chris Hawn	University of Maryland, Baltimore County	The most vulnerable populations in society overlap with critical concerns in human-modified systems. I explore the relationships between human activity and ecological systems through conservation ecology, citizen science, and environmental justice.	Spiders under the influence
Courtney Heath	Florida International University	I am an environmental chemist interested in water quality and science communication through photojournalism. I have completed my masters in Environmental Chemistry and have published in the Miami Herald. Here is my portfolio to see more about my photography and articles!	PFAS: Our forever problem
Adam Heck	Colorado State University	I am a graduate of the University of Sioux Falls with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Chemistry and Entrepreneurial Studies. Currently, I am continuing my education as a PhD graduate student at Colorado State University in Cell/Molecular Biology en route to a career in biomedical research.	Gene expression in stem cells
Jennifer Hellmann	The Ohio State University & University of Illinois	It is becoming clear that past and current environmental influences can cause even genetically identical individuals to behave in very different ways. I use field and laboratory experiments, molecular tools, and modeling to understand behavioral differences among individuals and the mechanisms that permit individuals to plastically adjust their behavior given social and environmental pressures (e.g. predation risk). To do this, I study a variety of marine and freshwater fishes.	Clique wars: social conflict in daffodil cichlids
Raisa Hernández Pacheco	University of Richmond	I am interested in understanding the drivers shaping population dynamics. In 2013, I obtained my PhD from the University of Puerto Rico after assessing the effects of mass bleaching on Caribbean coral populations. Right after, I joined the Caribbean Primate Research Center and the Max-Planck Odense Center to study the long-term dynamics of the Cayo Santiago rhesus macaque population. At the Grayson lab, I am studying the population of red-backed salamanders in Richmond; its density, spatial arrangement, and space use. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	What big teeth you have! Sexual selection in rhesus macaques
Richard Holmes	Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest & Dartmouth College	I am a Research Professor of Biology at Dartmouth College, where I am also a Harris Professor of Environmental Biology Emeritus. I live in Grantham, NH.	The birds of Hubbard Brook, Part 1 & Part 2
Jared Homola	Michigan State University	I am a conservation geneticist focusing on questions that influence natural resource management. I grew up in Michigan, attended Michigan State University to earn a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife before going on to graduate school at Grand Valley State University and the University of Maine. I then worked as a postdoctoral scholar back in the Dept. of Fisheries and Wildlife at MSU. Currently, I am the Director of the Molecular Conservation Genetics Lab at University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point where my lab does research to addresses information needs of fisheries managers using genomic, bioinformatic, and statistical tools.	Round goby, skinny goby
Charles Hopkinson	University of Georgia & Marine Biological Laboratory	I have been studying estuaries since graduate school and in collaboration with colleagues from around the world, but especially here at Georgia and in Louisiana and Massachusetts (MBL). Estuaries are the most productive natural ecosystems of the world because they receive nutrient and water subsidies from every land use upstream and because of tidal pumping. It’s their location relative to land inputs however that also makes them vulnerable to N-enrichment and eutrophication.	Urbanization and estuary eutrophication
Forrest Howk	Bayfield High School, OneEnergy Renewables	I grew up in Bayfield, Wisconsin. In high school, I partnered with various local organizations and my science teacher to complete an independent project looking at long-term boat traffic data as a proxy for changing ice seasons in the Bayfield Harbor of Lake Superior. After high school I went on to study conservation biology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and received a Master’s degree in public policy from the University of Washington-Seattle. I am now an associate in project development at OneEnergy Renewables, a company that helps with solar projects around the United States.	The end of winter as we’ve known it?
Jerry Husack	University of St. Thomas (Minnesota)	I grew up in southeast Texas, went to college in west Texas, and did his graduate work at Oklahoma State University. My work combines physiology, behavior, and life-history theory in an evolutionary framework to understand how form and function evolve. I am interested in how and why organisms allocate limited resources to different aspects of their form and function, as well as what trade-offs occur with those ‘decisions’.	Size matters - and so does how you carry it
Alexandria Igwe	University of California-Davis	I am a microbial ecologist and study how microbial communities impact plant phenotypes. There were two reasons I became a biologist: interest and money. First, I enjoyed science. I grew up participating in science fairs and most of my topics dealt with nature: surveying insects, growing plants, growing crystals, etc. I was set to become a medical doctor when I was introduced to research as a career which led to my second reason I became a biologist: money. I was excited to pursue a career where I could, essentially, get paid to learn and explore topics of interest. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Getting to the roots of serpentine soils
Jake Jungers	University of Minnesota	The objective of my research group is to improve the profitability and sustainability of cropping systems. Our highly-collaborative team relies on the principles of plant ecology, field experiments, and statistical modeling to achieve these goals. Key components of our strategy include 1) improving the management of perennial crops in crop rotations, and 2) enhancing crop diversity at local, watershed, and regional scales.	Collaborative cropping: Can plants help each other grow?
Adrienne Keller	University of Minnesota	I am an ecologist and climate change scientist. I do research and work with land managers to use scientific knowledge when deciding how to manage ecosystems in a changing climate. I collect data in the field, do analyses in the lab, and conduct experiments in the greenhouse. I also synthesize data other researchers have collected to look for general patterns across studies. A lot of my research focuses on understanding what’s going on under our feet, exploring the many important roles of soils. I am passionate about making science accessible to people from all walks of life and applying good science to equitable land management policies.	Trees and the city
Carly Kenkel	University of Texas at Austin & University of Southern California	Environmental variation is ubiquitous in natural systems. I am interested in understanding the mechanisms marine organisms use to cope with environmental variation at multiple scales, from changes in the relationship between intracellular symbionts and their host environment, to the mechanisms enabling local populations to persist in different habitats. I also have a strong interest in “translational ecology”: turning scientific findings into tools for conservation management.	Coral bleaching and climate change
Traci Kennedy	Milwaukee Public Schools	I am a science teacher who enjoys doing research during the summer. I participated in a research experience for teachers program for two summers at University of California-Santa Barbara looking at urchin responses to marine heatwaves.	Do urchins flip out in hot water?
Hankyu Kim	Oregon State University	I study how bird population response to climate change and land-cover change, focused on conservation of migratory and common bird species. I am interested in how dynamic changes in human use of land and climate change interact with bird population dynamics throughout their annual migratory life cycle. I have worked in various ecosystems, from temperate coniferous rainforests in the Pacific Northwest to temperate deciduous forests in South Korea and marine ecosystems in western Antarctica. I think leaving records of biodiversity is very important for biodiversity conservation and understanding its impact on human life.	Trees and bushes, home sweet home for warblers
Lauren Kinsman-Costello	Kent State University & Michigan State University	I am an ecosystem ecologist interested in the effects of hydrology on aquatic nutrient biogeochemistry and ecosystem function. My research aims to inform larger questions about the resilience of ecosystems faced with environmental change and the ability of humans to manage, restore, and create ecosystems. A recurring theme in my research is the role that sediments play in freshwater ecosystem function (mud matters!). As a grad student I was part of the original team of scientists who helped develop Data Nuggets!	Marvelous mud
Melissa Kjelvik	Michigan State University & Data Nuggets	I am a postdoctoral researcher and co-founder of Data Nuggets. I completed my PhD in Zoology and EEBB at the Kellogg Biological Station as a member of Gary Mittelbach’s Lab. For my research I work with juvenile bluegill sunfish. I am interested in how fitness tradeoffs may lead to the maintenance of individual-level biodiversity, particularly in the behaviors of fish.	Dangerously bold
Gabe Knowles	Kellogg Biological Station LTER	I am an elementary teacher and Research Experience for Teachers (RET) fellow at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. I conducted research on monarch butterfly ecology and conservation with scientists from the Landis Lab at Michigan State University. I love bringing my experiences back to the classroom to share with my students. <"https://projectbiodiversify.org/2024/09/10/gabe-knowles/">Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Mowing for Monarchs, Part 1 & Mowing for Monarchs, Part 2
John Kominoski	Florida International University, Miami	I opt to be outside. I am an ecosystem ecologist whose research integrates spatial and temporal scales of biogeochemical cycling and organic matter processing. My research focuses on the interface (ecotone) between ecosystems where community transitions and exchanges of materials occur. I use theory to test fundamental questions in ecology, enabling me to study diverse ecosystems ranging from the mountains to the sea. I am passionate about field-based research and teaching, and I maintain long-term research in the southern Appalachian Mountains, Gulf Coast of Texas, and the Florida Everglades.	The case of the collapsing soil
Bob Kuhn	Centennial High School	I have been an educator for 22 years, mostly at Centennial High School in Roswell, Georgia where I have taught freshman biology and AP biology for 19 years. I am a proud graduate of the University of Georgia (BS/MS) with degrees in paleontology. In addition to teaching biology, I mentor students in independent research.	Hold on for your life! Part 1 & Part 2
Matt Kustra	University of Virginia	I am a senior at the University of Virginia majoring in Biology and Computer Science. My research interests are in post-copulatory sexual selection as well as how social environment affects animal physiology and behavior. I am currently working on my distinguished major’s thesis in the Cox lab, looking at how spatial distributions of lizards change throughout the year. After graduation, I plan on pursuing a PhD in evolutionary biology.	Is it better to be bigger?
Alycia Lackey	Michigan State University & Murray State University	My research lies at the intersection of evolution, ecology, and behavior. I am interested in how populations evolve in response to the environment, especially in cases of environmental change. I study what generates, maintains, and erodes diversity within and between populations. For my PhD I explored the evolution of reproductive isolation between species of stickleback fish. I studied how divergent sexual and natural selection maintained distinct species and how environmental change facilitated hybridization between one species pair. I am enthusiastic about teaching, mentoring, and outreach.	Which guy should she choose? & Fish fights
Doug A. Landis	Michigan State University	I am an entomologist and have been a professor at MSU since 1988. My research focuses on how agricultural landscapes influence plant-insect interactions. Together with my students, I study insect ecology and management, particularly in regard to biological control of insects and weeds. I hope to use these insights to help design sustainable landscapes that promote the benefits we get from insects, such as pollination and pest suppression for crops. I am also interested in invasive species ecology and management, and more recently in the conservation and restoration of rare species and communities.	Mowing for monarchs, Part 1 & Mowing for monarchs, Part 2
Ashley Lang	Indiana University	I am interested in the ways that microbial communities influence the response of ecosystem carbon dynamics to climate change and shifts in plant species composition. My previous work has been focused on New England forest ecosystems. When I'm not in the lab, you can find me hiking, making art, and hanging out with my family.	Going underground to investigate carbon locked in soils
Wesley Larson	University of Washington	My graduate research is focused on the use of genotyping by sequencing to acquire data from Chinook salmon populations in western Alaska; these data will provide conservation options and new insights into local adaptation. I am also interested processes influencing variation in the genes of the major histocompatibility complex.	Salmon in hot water
Jen Lau	Michigan State University & Indiana University	I am an evolutionary ecologist interested in understanding the full range of ways that plant populations respond to changing environmental conditions. Much of my work focuses on how rapid environmental changes (e.g., biological invasions, rising CO2 concentrations, and global climate change) impact population dynamics, species interactions, and the evolution of plant populations.	Invasion meltdown & Springing forward
Kevin Lee	University of Texas - Austin	My research uses sound to study the underwater environment, including ocean boundaries, aquatic life, and objects in the ocean. Many of my interests focus on the seabed: marine sediments, seagrass and aquatic vegetation, infauna (worms and other invertebrate animals that live in the seabed sediment), and carbon burial. I also study the acoustic effects of gas bubbles in the sediment and in the water, as well as how sound interacts and bounces off underwater objects (both natural and human-made). Another application of my research is finding ways to reduce human-made underwater noise pollution.	The sound of seagrass
Laura Lilly	Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego	My research focuses on zooplankton responses to El Niño events in the California Current. I completed a joint B.S. and M.S. degrees at Stanford University in Earth Systems, with an oceanography focus. In conjunction with those degrees, I researched tuna physiology. Prior to graduate school, I completed a California Sea Grant Fellowship with the West Coast Governors' Alliance and Ocean Observing Systems to connect oceanographic data to policymakers. In my non-research time, I love to surf, ride horses, run, travel to Baja California, write poetry, and promote low-waste lifestyles.	Crunchy or squishy? How El Niño events change zooplankton
Michael Martin	University of Maryland, Baltimore County & University of Arizona	I started my college career as an engineer, but after taking a zoology class I was hooked on biology. I was amazed by the millions of different types of animals that have lived, and currently live, on Earth. I needed to know how so many different types of animals evolved, and so I decided to study the process of speciation. I am currently working in a group of stream fish, called darters, to try and learn how differences in mating behavior might lead to new animal species. This work has led me to a more general interest in animal behavior that I now study in fruit flies as well.	Are you my species?
Erin McCullough	University of Western Australia	I am fascinated by morphological diversity, and my research aims to understand the selective pressures that drive (and constrain) the evolution of animal form. Competition for mates is a particularly strong evolutionary force, and I study how sexual selection has contributed to the elaborate and diverse morphologies found throughout the animal kingdom. Using horned beetles as a model system, I am interested in how male-male competition has driven the evolution of diverse weapon morphologies, and how sexual selection has shaped the evolution of physical performance capabilities.	Beetle battles
Remington Moll	Michigan State University	I am currently a graduate student. My research uses cutting-edge technologies such as GPS collars and camera-traps to study predator-prey interactions between large carnivores and their prey. I am excited about evaluating how ecological theory developed in "natural" areas like national parks applies to urban contexts. I grew up in the city and fell in love with nature and ecology in city parks. Although it comes with challenges, I believe that humans and large predators can peaceably coexist, even in and around cities. It is my goal to use the lessons learned from my research to help make that belief a reality.	City parks: wildlife islands in a sea of cement
James Morris	University of South Carolina	My research spans the basic and applied aspects of the physiological ecology of plants adapted to wetland habitats and the biogeochemistry and systems ecology of wetlands, primarily salt and freshwater intertidal wetlands. We take an approach that combines field work, analytical chemistry, and numerical modeling.	Is your salt marsh in the zone?
Bill Munger	Harvard University	The Harvard Forest Environmental Measurement Station began measurements in the fall of 1989. The objectives at this site are to make long-term measurements of net carbon exchange, canopy-atmosphere exchange of selected trace gases, and regional atmospheric chemistry. My emphasis has been on the regional atmospheric chemistry and nitrogen deposition, and long-term trends in carbon storage.	Are forests helping in the fight against climate change?
Alyssa Novak	Center for Coastal Studies, Boston University	I am a coastal ecologist who uses a combination of theoretical and empirical approaches to understand how coastal ecosystems experience and respond to stressors. The ultimate goal of my research is to provide information that facilitates initiatives to enhance ecosystem resilience. I have worked extensively in seagrass systems. Recently, I expanded my work to salt marsh systems and am investigating marsh-edge subsidence and its relationship to the invasive European green crab.	Green Crabs: Invaders in the Great Marsh
Alison O’Donnell	University of Western Australia	I have a broad research interest in biogeography and landscape ecology in relation to climate variability and fire regimes. I am particularly interested in utilising dendrochronology (tree ring) techniques to understand past climates and fire regimes of arid and semi-arid regions in Western Australia. I also have an ongoing interest in improving understanding of the interactions between climate and fire and vegetation, topography and ecosystem processes.	What do trees know about rain?
Erik Olson	Northland College	I currently study a wide-variety of topics focused on predator ecology and conservation. Some of my recent projects include: wolf management and ecology in the Great Lakes region, island biogeography theory in the Apostle Islands wildlife community, grey fox climbing behavior, monitoring of jaguars and other wildlife in two National Parks of Costa Rica, factors influencing nest site selection and reproductive success in American kestrels, and the habitat value of old-growth white pine canopies.	Candid camera: Capturing the secret lives of carnivores
John Orrock	University of Wisconsin-Madison	I am an ecologist who works at the intersection of behavioral ecology, global change, and ecological interactions. I study terrestrial plants and animals, often focusing on research to promote conservation and restoration, and often using behavior as a foundation. Current projects include linking climate, behavior, and physiology to understand large-scale variation in zoonotic disease, large-scale experiments to inform restoration of forest ecosystems, examining the effect of invasive shrubs on forest ecosystems, and exploring how plants utilize cues of herbivores to optimize defense.	A burning question
Logan Pallin	Oregon State University & Palmer Station LTER	Populations of humpback whales in the Southern Hemisphere are recovering after intense commercial whaling during the last century. Along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) this recovery is occurring in an environment that is experiencing the fastest warming of any region on the planet. For my master’s research, I will employ a suite of genetic, biochemical, and photographic techniques to assess the demography of humpback whales along the WAP and how these demographics change with the onset of climate change. Specifically, I will measure changes in sex ratios and quantify pregnancy rates.	When whale I sea you again?
Jessie K Pearl	University of Arizona	I am a postdoc with the U.S. Geological Survey in Seattle, WA studying the recurrence and impacts of large mega-thrust earthquakes along the Cascadian subduction zone. I use dendrochronology, dendroecology, geochronology, and sedimentology to describe and analyze past landscapes, extreme events, and climate. I am interested in regional climate dynamics, and how knowledge of the past can inform our understanding of current global change and future hazards.	A window into a tree’s world
Neil Pederson	Harvard University	I am an ecologist at the Harvard Forest studying climate-forest dynamics and disturbance ecology. I was born and raised in Volney, NY. Throughout my career I have been a forester, professor, and research professor. My research focuses on the ecology of climate change of temperate, mesic forests including the eastern US, Spain, east Asia, and the Colchic Temperate Rainforest in Turkey and the Republic of Georgia.	A window into a tree’s world
Damián A. Concepción Pérez	Wilder Middle School	I am a middle and high school Science and Math teacher. I have always been searching for innovative ways to get my students engaged in the science classroom and to connect their new knowledge with the real-world. In thinking of ways to help my students learn, I engaged my self with the scientific community collaborating in scientific projects and creating hands-on, interactive, and inspiring teaching lessons. It is my main interest to develop ideas that could positively contribute to any student’s STEM education.	What big teeth you have! Sexual selection in rhesus macaques
Julia Perrone	Kent State University, Michigan State University	I grew up in Michigan and have a love for all things nature, which led me to pursue a BS in Environmental Biology/Zoology at MSU. After graduating, I worked as the lab manager for an entomology lab researching insects and landscape ecology. I am passionate about connecting people with science and nature. I got my Master of Library and Information Science at Kent State University. I specialized in youth engagement with the goal of building science literacy in my community through effective and engaging programming and collaborations with community organizations. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Blinking out?
Kaylie Plumb	University of Texas Marine Science Institute & Beaufort Lagoon Ecosystems LTER	I am a marine scientist specializing in biological oceanography with experience in the lab, on the open ocean, and in the estuary. My research interests include studying the interactions between the physiology of marine photosynthesizers and their environment, developing strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change on coastal ecosystems, and the intersections between science and policy.	Benthic buddies
Richard Rachman	Boise State University	I am a Ph.D. student in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior at Boise State University. I have a Master’s degree in Biology from California State University, Northridge, where I studied post-wildfire vegetation succession. I also have a lot of experience in plant ecology, invasive species management, and remote sensing research, and have led community science workshops and media outreach initiatives. My activism spans from queer representation in science, to expanding science to individuals not typically seen as scientists. My free time is spent playing with my puppy and writing poetry.	Too hot to help? Friendship in a changing climate
Shannon Rankin	National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southwest Fisheries Science Center	I am a wildlife research biologist at NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Center, where we use sound as a tool to study marine mammals. Sound travels exceptionally well in the ocean, and marine mammals have evolved to use sound for communication, foraging, navigation, and finding mates. Their reliance on sound as their primary means of interacting with the world means that we can learn a lot about these species just by listening!	Eavesdropping on the ocean
Desray Reeb	U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management	I am a Marine Biologist with BOEM. As a subject matter expert for the last decade at BOEM, I was tasked with assessing the impacts of offshore renewable energy on marine mammals and sea turtles. In my new position as the Science/Studies Coordinator for the Office of Renewable Energy Programs, I expand on these efforts by overseeing and supporting research directed at improving our ability to accurately assess the potential impacts of offshore renewable energy on the environment. I have been working with marine mammals for over 25 years, with a particular interest in right whales.	Eavesdropping on the ocean
Robert Reed	Cornell University	My research focuses on the question of where butterfly color patterns come from - how they originated and how they change over time. My work examines this question using multiple approaches, ranging from developmental genetics to behavioral ecology. I became interested in butterflies as an undergraduate at U.C. Berkeley. I later earned a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology at University of Arizona, where I characterized several genes involved in wing patterning and pigmentation. I am currently an Associate Professor at Cornell University where my lab works on many different types of butterflies, including Heliconius.	Why are butterfly wings colorful?
Aaron Reedy	University of Virginia	I lead field research in Florida, where I'm conducting my PhD research on the quantitative genetics and genomics of intralocus sexual conflict in brown anoles. Before grad school, I taught biology at Thomas Kelly High School in Chicago, where I pioneered the new model of teacher-scientist collaboration and classroom experimentation that is the centerpiece of our Evolution Education program.	Is it better to be bigger? & Is it dangerous to be a showoff?
Evelyn Reilly	University of Minnesota	I grew up in the city of Minneapolis and became interested in agriculture when I was in high school. I was surprised to learn that it has a huge impact on soil, water, and air quality, as well as wildlife habitat and biodiversity. I wanted to do something to help protect the environment, so I do research on nitrate under different crops. One project involved working with cities and organizations in rural Minnesota to plant Kernza above drinking water that had high levels of nitrate. I saw how farmers, city officials, water managers, and scientists were all working together to find solutions to the problem.	Nitrate: Good for plants, bad for drinking water
Gal Ribak	Tel-Aviv University, Israel	My field of research covers comparative biomechanics and ecophysiology of locomotion in animals. I study the biomechanical, physiological and evolutionary mechanisms that shape the diversity of animal abilities to move (e.g. fly, swim jump) through their natural environment.	The flight of the stalk-eyed fly
Clare Rittschof	University of Kentucky	I am broadly interested in the evolutionary consequences and mechanistic underpinnings of behavioral plasticity, particularly in the context of social interactions. I have addressed this topic to-date with studies of alternative reproductive strategies and tactics in the spider Nephila clavipes, and more recently in the context of socially-induced variation in aggression in the honey bee. My research combines perspectives from behavioral ecology, behavioral genomics, and neuroscience.	To bee or not to bee aggressive
Nick Robertson	Northland College	My research group focuses on using synthetic chemistry to reduce the environmental impact of society. We work to develop new biorenewable and/or biodegradable materials as well as developing methods for reducing the quantity of waste materials heading to landfills. All of the lab work for these projects is performed by Northland students. I have two young daughters who keep me on my toes and constantly entertained. When I am not spending time with my family, I love silent sports—cross country skiing, biking (road, mountain, cyclocross and snowbiking) and paddling.	Working to reduce the plastics problem
Ashlee Rowe	University of Oklahoma	I am interested in sensory and motor systems and their role in the evolution of adaptive behavior, particularly traits that mediate interactions between animals. My ultimate goal is to understand how animals adapt to their environment. My research program is integrative and focuses on understanding the biochemical, molecular, genetic and physiological bases of adaptive behavior. To address these questions, I study traits that are at the interface of species interactions.	A tail of two scorpions
Matt Rowe	University of Oklahoma	My research in behavioral ecology uses integrative approaches to study coevolution between predators and prey. These dynamic interactions show remarkable sophistication, from ground squirrels using rattling they provoke in rattlesnakes to assess the body size and temperature of their reptilian enemies, to grasshopper mice capable of feeding on highly neurotoxic scorpions because of subtle modifications in the mouse’s peripheral nerves. My conservation biology research examines habitat selection and habitat requirements in vertebrates.	A tail of two scorpions
Kale Rougeau	Louisiana State University	I have always been interested in science and nature, leading me to study Animal Science and Wildlife Ecology at Louisiana State University for my undergraduate degrees. As a graduate student, I now study disease ecology in fall armyworms with a particular interest in how climate change and cannibalism can affect disease transmission. My main hobby is participating in dog sports with my Dalmatians (Jake and June), which include tricks, obedience, agility, scentwork, and much more. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Does the heat turn caterpillars into cannibals?
Leilei Ruan	Michigan State University & University of California, Berkeley	I study the effects of nitrogen fertilizers on greenhouse gas emissions, a project that will help to maximize crop productivity while reducing emissions. In another research project, I examine biofuel crops. Most people think that if we use biofuel crops, what we burn doesn’t increase or decrease carbon in the atmosphere, and my research studies that question.	Fertilizing biofuels may cause release of greenhouse gasses
Gregg Sanford	GLBRC, University of Wisconsin-Madison	I am responsible for the management of a 40 acre intensive biofuel cropping systems trial located at the UW agricultural research station in Arlington, WI. I was involved in the design and implementation of 3 new bioenergy cropping systems trials in WI. I conduct independent research related to the sustainable production of dedicated bioenergy crops with an emphasis on soil quality metrics such as carbon pools and dynamics.	Growing energy: comparing biofuel crop biomass
Karina Scavo Lord	Boston University	I am a marine ecology PhD candidate interested in the population demographics and genomics of reef corals living in marginal, non-reef environments, such as mangroves and seagrass meadows. As coral reefs decline worldwide, scientists are looking beyond the reef to coral communities growing in these non-reef environments, which may serve as climate refugia or as reservoirs of resilient or hardy coral individuals. To better understand if these habitats are important to reef recovery, I use empirical, theoretical, and molecular approaches.	Corals in a strange place
Doug Schemske	Michigan State University	The goal of my research is to characterize the mechanisms of adaptation. This requires information on both the ecological significance of putative adaptive traits as well as an understanding of their genetic basis. Such comprehensive studies are extremely difficult to accomplish; thus it is perhaps not surprising that our current knowledge of adaptation is inadequate. A central theme of my work is the link between temporal and spatial variation in ecological conditions and the adaptive differentiation of populations and species. I rely on ecological and genetic approaches to investigate the origin and maintenance of biological diversity.	Winter is coming! Can you handle the freeze?
Elizabeth Schultheis	Michigan State University, KBS LTER, & Data Nuggets	I am the Education & Outreach Coordinator for the KBS LTER and co-founder of Data Nuggets. For my PhD I studied invasive plants in Michigan and whether release from enemies, like herbivores and disease, could drive their success over native plants. My work on Data Nuggets includes science education research, curriculum development, and running workshops for teachers and scientists. My current research explores the effects of Data Nuggets on the students who use them, and the scientists who create them.	Do insects prefer local or foreign foods? & Do invasive species escape their enemies? & Springing forward
James Screen	University of Exeter	My research examines climate varaibility and change in the polar regions, and the effects these changes on the global climate system. My research utilises a combination of observational analyses and numerical modeling to elucidate the physical drivers of climate variability on seasonal and longer timescales, and the two-way interactions between polar and lower-latitude regions. Currently, my research focusses on exploring how the inexorable retreat of Arctic sea ice effects extreme weather in Europe and the U.S.	The Arctic is Melting – So What?
Jim Seeb	University of Washington	My research focuses on identifying genetic differences that distinguish one Pacific salmon population from another. My current work uses genetic markers to track the migration of adult salmon in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. My wife, Lisa Seeb, and I run the program which provides an important intersection between the Alaska Salmon Program and the SAFS Molecular Ecology Research Laboratory to conduct both basic and applied research. We want to better understand the genetic mechanisms underlying how salmon respond to environmental change.	Salmon in hot water
Shelby Servais	Florida International University, Miami	My research focuses on how soil microbes are affected by environmental stresses and subsidies. I work in the Everglades where carbon-rich soils are threatened by climate change and land management practices. Microbial communities influence biochemical cycles, and microbial function is controlled by environmental conditions. I am testing how soil microbial function is affected by changes in salinity, inundation, and phosphorus. I am also passionate about science communication and outreach.	The case of the collapsing soil
Iurii Shcherbak	Michigan State University	I am a crop modeling scientist, experienced in programming and statistics. I have a strong interest in developing improved crop models with emphasis on limiting complexity while representing features sufficient for model to be widely applicable. I also want to understand ways to enhance efficiency of farm management and achieve sustainable crop production.	The ground has gas!
Arial Shogren	Michigan State University & The University of Alabama	I am a stream ecologist - and I like to say that I literally fell in love with river research. As part of a high school outdoor education course, I fell into the St. Croix River in Northern Wisconsin! While I briefly floated downstream, I realized that I wanted to know more about how rivers work, sparking my early interest in aquatic ecology and hydrology. My research focuses on how rivers move and transform material as they cross the landscape. I work primarily in the Arctic. I am interested in how physical and biological variables interact to drive the signals we see in river water. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Streams as sensors & Limit by limit
Natalia Soares Quinete	Florida International University	I’m an analytical chemist with expertise in the environmental chemistry area, and my research focuses on assessing and understanding the sources, distribution, and fate of persistent emerging contaminants, particularly per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), in the different environmental and biological compartments and their potential impacts to humans and animals. I’m currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Institute of Environment at FIU where I’m leading the Emerging Contaminants of Concern (ECC) research lab.	PFAS: Our forever problem
Hannah Stoll	University of Minnesota	I am a plant breeder dedicated to applying my expertise in plant biology and genetics to enhance the sustainability of our agricultural systems. I am passionate about educating learners from all backgrounds and firmly believe that meaningful change requires collaboration across scientific disciplines. In addition to my research focused on improving crop traits such as yield and end-use quality, I actively collaborate with agronomists, soil scientists, social scientists, and more to understand the broader context of our work and to collectively implement sustainable cropping systems on our landscape.	A plant breeder's quest to improve perennial grain
Paula Stoller	Valparaiso University	I am a hardworking and dedicated person who is personable and enjoys interacting with others. I am also a public speaker. My biggest academic goal is to graduate from Valparaiso University with a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology and Environmental Science. I would like to go onto graduate school and pursue a Master's in Entomology. I am very passionate about the environment as well.	CSI: Crime Solving Insects
Nora Straquadine	Michigan State University	I am currently an undergraduate getting my B.S. in Zoology with a concentration in Zoo and Aquarium as well as a minor in Marine Ecosystem Management. Although aquatic life is my main interest, I think it’s important to appreciate other animal groups and take a break to play and explore the nature around you. That curiosity was how I was able to volunteer in labs on campus from entomology to genetics, and how I came to spend a summer at the Kellogg Biological Station in Michigan.	Which would a woodlouse prefer?
Lantao Sun	University of Colorado at Boulder & National Center for Atmospheric Research	I am currently a research scientist at Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado at Boulder and NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL).	The arctic is melting – so what?
Tomomi Suwa	Michigan State University & Chicago Field Museum	I am broadly interested in population, community, and evolutionary ecology in agricultural and natural systems. I work on topics including plant-insect interactions, biological invasions, and plant-microbe symbiosis. I completed my PhD in Plant Biology and EEBB at the Kellogg Biological Station as a member of Jen Lau’s Lab. My dissertation research examined the role of resource mutualisms in plant adaptation to abiotic environments. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Does a partner in crime make it easier to invade?
John Swallow	University of Colorado, Denver	My research focuses on how morphology, physiology, and behavior evolve together as an integrated phenotype. I use stalk-eyed flies as a model system to investigate how evolution, driven by sexual selection (e.g. ornamentation that serves as secondary sexual signals), conflicts with locomotor performance and, ultimately, fitness. Sexual selection provides a selective engine with the ability to drive large changes in suites of behavioral, physiological and morphological characters with the potential for rapid speciation. Research in my lab includes ecological, organismal, biomechanical and behavioral approaches.	How to escape a predator, The flight of the stalk-eyed fly, How do brain chemicals influence who wins a fight?, Ant wars! & more!
Jeff Taylor	Konza Prairie LTER	I am a field biologist at the Konza Prairie LTER. My roles include monitoring plant community composition across the site and managing the bison herd. I am interested in how grazing shapes plant communities, as well as the ways that plant communities affect grazers. This fascinating interaction becomes even more interesting when combined with the effects of fire and climatic variability. My work provides unique insights into tallgrass prairie ecology, but not only that, it’s also fun!	Does more rain make healthy bison babies?
Casey terHorst	California State University, Northridge	I am an evolutionary ecologist, studying how rapid evolution alters interactions between competitors, mutualists, and predator and prey. My lab is also interested in how evolution occurs in communities, where any species lives with many other types of species in a complicated web of interactions. When I'm not in the lab, I spend too much time consuming pop culture and playing pub-trivia with friends.	Testing the tolerance of invasive plants & Too hot to help? Friendship in a changing climate
Robin Tinghitella	University of Denver	Work in our lab centers on the roles of ecology and behavior in rapid evolutionary change. We work with real organisms in their real habitats, and also use laboratory experimentation and genomic tools to understand the forces that shape diversity in animal communication and their consequences for divergence and speciation. Recently, we’ve been thinking a lot about the consequences of anthropogenic change for sexual selection. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	How the cricket lost its song Part 1 & Part 2 & Purring crickets: The evolution of a new cricket song
Biz Turnell	Cornell University & Technische Universität Dresden	I study how sexual selection drives evolution, and the interplay between pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection. For my PhD I studied a Hawaiian cricket, measuring the different stages of sexual selection in the field and developing a mathematical model of strategic sperm allocation. As a postdoc I investigated how sperm metabolism changes in female sperm storage organs, and whether these changes can explain the differences in sperm use patterns we see in different species of Drosophila fruit flies. Currently I’m working as a scientific editor. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Bon Appétit! & Stop that oxidation!
Tony Vorster	Colorado State University	I am a PhD candidate in the Graduate Degree Program in Ecology. My research addresses natural resource management questions related to managing beetle-killed forests, forest carbon and invasive species. I have taught at both the elementary and undergraduate level and continue to enjoy taking science to K-12 classrooms.	Tree-killing beetles
Bonnie Waring	Imperial College London	Bonnie is a climate change researcher. Her current research focuses on how the ecology of plant and soil microbial communities influences the carbon cycle and its feedback on climate change. Bonnie Waring received her PhD in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior from the University of Texas at Austin in 2013. Her research currently focuses on land-based negative emissions technologies.	Sink or source? How grazing geese impact the carbon cycle & Poop, poop, goose!
Marjorie Weber	Michigan State University	I am an evolutionary ecologist, interested in how ecological interactions impact phenotypic evolution and diversification across evolutionary scales. My research focuses on interactions between plants and arthropods, and evaluates hypotheses that link plant-arthropod interactions with macroevolutionary patterns. I work in many systems, including ant-plant and ant-mite mutualisms, plant defense, and plant-pollination interactions. I also have a passion for promoting social justice and equity in STEM, and work to understand and implement change through education. Find out more about me by visiting my scientist profile!	Buried seeds, buried treasure
Martha Weiss	Georgetown University	My research focuses on the role of behavior, by both plants and insects, in mediating interactions among the two groups of organisms. The sensory and behavioral attributes of insects, including vision, taste, smell, and touch, as well as a capacity to learn and remember, ultimately shape the insects' ability to interact with and exert selection on plants and on other insects. Similarly, the active behavior of plants allows them to take advantage of insects' sensory and behavioral capabilities.	Shooting the poop
Danielle Whittaker	Michigan State University, BEACON	My current work focuses on avian chemical communication, addressing the following questions: what information is present in a bird's odor, what can birds detect, and what are their preferences when it comes to choosing a mate?	Sexy smells
Caroline Williams	University of California, Berkeley	An organism’s task is to get nutrients from the environment, and divide those nutrients among competing demands in the way that best enhances the passing on of its genes. This task is complicated by the fact that environments vary in concentrations of nutrients, and in abiotic factors that impact the acquisition and processing of those nutrients. My research combines field-based natural history and experiments with laboratory-based biochemistry and physiology. Research in my lab focuses on linking detailed biochemical and physiological measurements to life history and fitness consequences.	Beetle, it’s cold outside!
Amy Worthington	Creighton University & Washington State University	I strive to help my students attain a broader scientific literacy that will serve them long after their formal education is complete. Specifically, I want my students to learn how science works, why it is an ever-changing field, what the scientific method is and how to use it, how to critically evaluate science in the news, and how to effectively communicate science to both peers and laypeople. I particularly enjoy engaging with the general public about science and I frequently seek out unique opportunities to interact with people of all ages.	How to escape a predator
Jazmine Yaeger	University of South Dakota	My interests surround the neurophysiology of stress-related responses and aggressive behaviors. While my early work focused on aggression in invertebrates, including mantis shrimp, I currently use rodent models to explore the development and progression of stress-induced affective disorders, like depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Specifically, I consider how stress reshapes neural circuitry and if pharmacological intervention can reverse these changes. My research may help uncover novel treatments for mood and anxiety-related disorders.	Ant wars!
Gary Yoham	Miami Senior High School	I am an AP Biology teacher. I hold a B.S. in Molecular Biology and a master's in science education from FIU. My passion for science and desire to share knowledge led me to pursue a career in education. To further enhance my understanding and teaching of real-world scientific issues, I joined the CE-BIORET program at FIU. As part of this program, I conducted research on PFAS contamination in Biscayne Bay. I am now committed to raising awareness about the environmental impact of PFAS, both locally and globally, by educating my students and encouraging them to become informed environmental stewards.	PFAS: Our forever problem
Jay Zarnetske	Michigan State University	I am a hydrologist, which means I spend my days observing, quantifying, and advancing our understanding of how water interacts with human and ecological processes. In other words, I ask “How does the physics of water regulate ecosystems?” I have the opportunity to develop measurements, models, and methods that are relevant to a wide range of stakeholders dealing with climate change, sustainability, hydrology, biogeochemistry, aquatic ecology, and landscape ecology issues. This work has taken me from my roots in the Adirondack region of New York, to school, research, and jobs around the world.	Streams as sensors: Arctic watersheds as indicators of change
Lydia H. Zeglin	Kansas State University	I worked and played outdoors a lot growing up, and always wondered about how all the pieces of nature fit together. Eventually in college I figured out that ecological research could be a job, and that the microorganisms were the most interesting and invisibly intriguing players that regulated nutrient cycling in every ecosystem. Now I lead a microbial ecology research laboratory, where my students and I learn about ecosystems together. We focus primarily on soil and stream-dwelling microbes and how they influence soil and water quality, and consequently the rest of the ecosystem.	Fertilizer and fire change microbes in prairie soil