Macalester faculty member Kelly MacGregor and James (Mac) Doherty (’19) spent the summer of 2017 snorkeling in Minnesota rivers examining the role of sediment in native mussel population dynamics. Mac, who received a summer research stipend from the MnSGC, focused on quantifying bed sediment grain size, and found that fine sediment (silt and fine sand) is correlated with the presence of fewer mussels (individuals and species). He presented the results of his research in October 2017 at the St. Croix River Research Rendezvous.
Kelly MacGregor and Mac Doherty (back row, black and white shirts) and the rest of the native mussel research team.