Summer Mudpuppies

CMNH Curator of Vertebrate Zoology Dr. Tim Matson and his interns spent a morning with the Future Scientists showing how they did their mudpuppy studies. One factor that they are tracking is the effect of lampricides (to get rid of non-native lampreys) on these aquatic salamanders.
Seining for salamanders.
Checking the haul.
Dr. Matson shows off a large crayfish.
Mudpuppy! The Future Scientists were extremely fortunate to witness the only adult that was found the whole day.
Mudpuppy in a tube. A science tube.
Injecting a tracking marker into the mudpuppy. Hence the science tube.
One nest of mudpuppy larvae was also found. Here you can see the yolk sac on the ventral side of one of the salamander babies.

Fossil Fish!

This summer the CMNH Paleontology team made some nice discoveries of fossil armored fish that Cleveland is famous for. The Future Scientists had brilliant luck and good timing to be able to check out the finds and even help chip out some of the pieces.
The Future Scientists march across river with gear (rock hammers, goggles, and sandwiches).
Scopin' out the cliff
Can you find the fossil?
How about here?
CMNH Paleontologist and team leader David Chapman explains the difference between hard dusty things that are rocks and hard dusty things that are bone.
Cutting stuff out of the cliff! Jad eats a sandwich.
Here is a large piece of what turned out to be a Dunkleosteus, one of Cleveland's famous armored fish. Field marks have been placed on the bone for orientation. These pieces will take several weeks to clean. More bone is still in the rock waiting to be harvested.

Click here to learn more about Dunkleosteus on the Cleveland Museum of Natural History website!

Follow the leader

The Future Scientists did more water quality sampling near the Grand River Terraces in Ashtabula County. This is a site that has not been surveyed in years due to difficulty of terrain. However, FS courageously braved the challenging landscape, reaching the designated testing location to do a fine job of collecting data. On the way back, some of the students chose to take the low road rather than the high road.
Note to future Future Scientists: follow the path that Jeff takes if you'd like to keep your underwear dry.

Water Q

The Future Scientists do some macroinvertebrate water quality surveys for the Ohio Scenic Rivers Program:
First we catch some stuff.
Then we look at it.
Then we get a lil' fanclub.

Archaeology article

Check out this great Cleveland Plain Dealer article explaining more history and theories about the Archaeology field site that the Future Scientists got to help out with!

Summer snake survey

The Future Scientists examined tins set out by the Geauga Park District at Observatory Park in an effort to document what species are in the area before the park is developed.
Marching out to find tins. Eli (in front) points to the right. Accordingly, Shaun (in back) tries to look in completely the opposite direction.
Checking a tin.
Many garter snakes were found. Frank makes his typical "I got musked" face.
Northern brown snake!
Milk snake!

Things to come

Many toadlets were found during the summer session of Future Scientists, this one still with tail. This tiny toad is just a small preview of pictures to come - keep checking back for more!

7-7-09 Sifting for Stardome

Here are some of the flint tool pieces that the Future Scientists found. More good stuff has been found at the archaeology site - check the Archaeology Field School blog for more!

7-7-09 The Art of the Dig

Today the Future Scientists attended CMNH's Archaeology Field School, where they learned the art digging the perfect hole. Specimens as old as 3000 years old could be found at the site (pictures in following post), but hey, you gotta dig a hole first! Follow along for a dramatic reconstruction of Future Scientists deconstructing the ground:

Looks pretty professional!

Follow along with Curator of Archaeology Dr. Brian Redmond's blog to see what they eventually find from this magnificent hole, as well as other great pictures, specimens and insights from the Heckleman site!