Ryan Batt dips a bucket into the lake, and pulls up a quarter-gallon of… Gatorade? At the surface, Ward Lake is like any small bog: tall trees and sedges are reflected on the dark surface and beaver-gnawed branches stick out at odd angles. Looking down into the water, the lake doesn’t seem that remarkable. But …
“Alright. Who is ready to get messy?” Zach Lawson’s question is greeted with incredible enthusiasm. It is all-hands-on-deck in the wet lab and, today, everyone is sorting bugs. Ten undergraduate students crowd around two small tables, armed with small plastic sampling bottles and metal tweezers. They meticulously sift through plastic tubs of sand, muck and …
Over the last three years a group of CFL students, professors and staff have worked on an experiment near Trout Lake Station that, they hope, will eradicate rainbow smelt and restore populations of native fish, like yellow perch, bluegill and largemouth to Crystal Lake. The experiment is finally ready to go. As the early melt …