Louis Agassiz was an early prominent ichthyologist (someone who studies fish) at Harvard in the mid-1800s. When one of his graduate students, Samuel Scudder, showed up for his first day, Agassiz told him to take a preserved fish specimen and look at it – then left for several hours. Scudder ended up sitting and looking …
Last fall, as I moved in to a new house, I asked my parents (who are regular patrons of rummage sales) to look for a taxidermied fish. When they scrounged up a musky, with its mouth wide open to reveal pointy teeth, I was ecstatic. My roommates were less enthusiastic – one even claimed to …
by Emily Hilts So far this summer, I’ve either stayed below the surface of Mendota’s waters or perched on top of the lake in a boat. Which means, of course, that I’ve been missing big pieces of the overall puzzle of this aquatic ecosystem. To fill in some of the gaps, it was time to …
by Emily Hilts While walking along the lakeshore to my first day of work, I spotted a smallmouth bass hanging out in the rocky shallows of Lake Mendota. After watching for a minute, it finally struck me … the water was clear. I could see the bottom! So much for the scummy cesspool I’d imagined. …
This summer, UW-Madison undergrad, Emily Hilts, will be exploring Lake Mendota and the other Yahara lakes and writing a running diary of sorts detailing what she finds. Stay tuned for more great posts from her about the history and ecology of the lake, as well as closer looks at the animals and plants that call …