Dr. Daelyn Woolnough (CMU- Biology and Institute for Great Lakes Research) will provide a hands-on evening about her lab’s research and expertise on freshwater mussels. She will explain the importance and diversity of freshwater mussels and describe what species are found in the Chippewa River. She will bring a shell collection and you will be able to learn, and ask questions, about these elusive creatures that live on the bottom of the Chippewa River. What do they eat? What eats them? How they filter? How are they indicators of water quality? This should be a fun evening to learn about these understudied organisms. Meet at the Visitor Center.

A part of Central Michigan University, the Institute of Great Lakes Research (IGLR) takes a multidisciplinary approach to understand the complex environmental issues affecting the Great Lakes basin. IGLR faculty members are nationally and internationally recognized as experts on coastal wetlands, conservation genetics, fisheries, invasive species, limnology, aquatic population modeling, microbial ecology, landscape ecology, and geographic information sciences. To learn more about IGLR and their research, please visit them at www.cmich.edu/academics/colleges/college-science-engineering/centers/institute-for-great-lakes-research

Free | Ages: 15+, under 18 w/adult