Aquatic biology isn’t all traipsing through beautiful mountain streams or diving on colorful tropical reefs. Sometimes, scientists have to venture into uncomfortable, smelly or just plain ugly places to collect the data they need.
Recently, scientists from the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute braved sub-freezing conditions in an urban stream as part of a multi-year effort to map out existing populations and search for new spawning sites of the colorful, federally threatened Trispot Darter. Sure, it was cold, but they’d definitely say it was worth it.
