Field Season Has Begun!

Now that we are into June, all of our field work is well underway. Scroll down to see various aspects of field work in the Roth lab!
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Looking into Biological Control: Checking the Diets of Native Predator Fish for Red Swamp Crayfish!

Aaron Sullivan, a master's student in the Roth lab will be out at field sites through fall looking at the diets of native fish in ponds infested with red swamp crayfish. He hopes to catch plenty of fish and find lots of crayfish in their diets! Pictured above, you can see Aaron with undergraduate technicians Adam and Larissa performing a gastric lavage on a fish to puke up its stomach contents (left) and looking at the sample in a jar to be analyzed at a future date (right).
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Slicing into Great Lakes Diets!

Throughout the summer, field crews will be out at Great Lakes fishing tournaments each weekend to collect fish stomach donations. Stomach contents will be analyzed back in the lab at MSU to determine changes in Great Lakes fish diets over the years. Pictured above are research technician Makenzie (left) and post-doc Elvita (right) running a donation table at a tournament (center).
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Catching Crayfish: Continued Monitoring at Invaded Sites!

Crews will be out all summer and fall working at ponds invaded by red swamp crayfish to continue to monitor them for any changes and work to eradicate the invasive species. Monitoring efforts include trapping and macroinvertebrate surveys. Pictured above undergraduate technician Ellie and research technician Mackenzie (left) check traps (center) and undergraduate technician Zach holds a captured red swamp crayfish.