Oh, The Places You'll Go: Aggie Undergrads Meet Fish Where They Live

Did you know that an energetic little fish called the Mudskipper can walk on land and actually spends more time outside water than in it? Did you know that the blood of some fish swimming in icy Arctic and Antarctic Oceans contains antifreeze that allows them to live in water as cold as -2 degrees Celsius? Or that the tropical Pearlfish lives inside other organisms, such as oysters and sea cucumbers?

Guests of the annual Watershed Sciences 3100 Poster Session learned about these intriguing creatures and more as they gathered to hear undergraduate presentations Dec. 6 in the Natural Resources building atrium.

“Students of WATS 3100, Fish Conservation and Diversity, have been holding this poster session for several years now,” says Chris Luecke, head of USU’s Department of Watershed Sciences. “This is a communications course, so it’s appropriate that these students have an opportunity to present what they’re learning in an interactive way. It’s always informative, always surprising and always fun.”

Based on the Dr. Seuss-inspired theme, “Oh, The Places You’ll Go: Extremes of Fish Habitat,” students chose such topics as “In Hot Water” (fish in geothermal habitats), “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” (fish in extremely cold habitats), “Fish Out of Water” (amphibious fish), “Life in the Fast Lane” (fish in mountain rivers) , “Life in Darkness” (deep sea fish) and “Marco Pol-agic” (fish living at the Earth’s poles.)

The class, led by faculty member Phaedra Budy and taught, this semester, by doctoral student Tracy Bowerman, includes fisheries and aquatic sciences majors as well as students from other disciplines.

Students Joshua Gilbert and Chance Broderius presented on the little known catfish species Toothless Blindcat, Widemouth Blindcat and Blind Mexican Cavefish that live in an aquifer under the city of Houston.

“A surprising feature we learned about these fish is they retain the genetic ability to regain their eyesight,” says Gilbert, a fisheries and aquatic science major. “So, if moved to a habitat with light, they’ll regain their sight within a few generations.”

His classmate Broderius, who earned a bachelor’s degree in telecommunications from Weber State and is now studying fisheries and aquatic sciences at USU, says finding out how varied species adapt to changes in their environment was one of the most interesting aspects of the class.

“We looked at ecosystem balance and applied principles we learned to a variety of systems,” he says. “One of the challenges for fisheries managers is how to develop management plans to keep ecosystems in balance.”

Presenter Gaia Nafziger, an environmental studies major, and her partner Natalie Gibson, an interdisciplinary studies major, investigated rare fish that live in thermal springs of Nevada’s Humboldt Valley.

“Fishes that live in these extreme environments have adapted cell membranes and enzymes that allow them to survive,” Nafziger says.

For participant Randi Ransom, an accounting major, learning and presenting about fish is a distinct departure from her usual studies.

“It’s a nice break from number-crunching,” says Ransom, who enjoys recreational fishing and adds that her husband proposed to her while the couple was steelhead-fishing near Challis, Ida.

Bowerman says the class affords students the opportunity to hone their skills in written, visual and oral communications.

“We ask students to synthesize a lot of information and learn to speak about it in a succinct manner,” she says. “It’s a fun way to get students of varied disciplines to share what they’ve learned with each other and to gain experience in speaking with the public about science.”

Related Links

USU Department of Watershed Sciences

USU College of Natural Resources

Contact: Phaedra Budy, 435-797-7564, phaedra.budy@usu.edu

Writer: Mary-Ann Muffoletto, 435-797-3517, maryann.muffoletto@usu.edu