Lab Members (Grad Students + Sierra)
Adriana received her undergraduate degree from this public land-grant research university in the Midwest that competes in the Big 10 Conference. (Hint: it is NOT the University of Michigan.)
What is Purdue University?
This class of mollusk has the second most number of distinct species, second only to the class Insecta.
What is Gastropoda (gastropods)?
What are (bur) oak trees?
Ocean acidification is widely attributed to the large influx of this greenhouse gas into our global oceans.
What is CO2?
Florida is responsible for producing roughly 70% of this fruit in the nation.
What are oranges?
Alex is currently competes in a duos bowling league with his partner Tara - one day, he wishes to score a perfect game, which consists of this number of strikes in a row.
What is 12?
The largest invertebrates on Earth come from this class of mollusk, which became prominent during the Ordovician period.
What are cephalopods?
The Huron River flows southeast through Ann Arbor on its way to this major body of water.
What is Lake Erie?
Ice sheets can modulate climate for many reasons, with one prominent reason being that they have a large number in this parameter - the proportion of incident light that is reflect by a surface.
What is albedo?
As of 2025, these are the 5 most populous cities in Florida (for this question, name 3).
What are Jacksonville, Miami, Tampa, Orlando, and St. Petersburg?
The initials of the first names in Sierra's immediate family (i.e., her + spouse + children) spell out the cardinal directions of a compass; fittingly, her spouse's name is Eric and her children have these two names.
What are Warren and Naya?
Mollusks first appeared in the fossil record following this major geologic 'event', which introduced many forms of complex life to Earth.
What is the Cambrian explosion?
This U.S. president, who served the country from 1974-1977, played as center and linebacker at the University of Michigan.
Who is Gerald Ford?
The findings put forth in Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring are widely attributed to the creation of this federal government agency.
What is the EPA?
This drink manufactured by PepsiCo was originally developed in 1965 by a team of researchers at the University of Florida.
What is Gatorade?
Erin used to sing in an a cappella group in undergrad - "a cappella" is an Italian phrase that translates to "in the style of" this feature.
What is a chapel?
This is the name for the thin, organic coating that lines the shells of all mollusks, which acts as a framework from which the outer carbonate layers are suspended.
What is the periostracum?
On the steps of the Michigan Union, President John F. Kennedy announced the plans to create this government agency whose broader mission includes assisting developing countries.
What is the Peace Corps?
Researchers are learning how to utilize the matter from recently living organisms for energy production, which is otherwise known by this term in the environmental sciences.
What is biomass?
The greater Miami area is the only metropolitan area in the US home to two national parks - name these two.
What are Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park?
Lucas and our lab friend Cameron are training for a marathon coming up this May, which consists of 26.2 miles or this equivalent number of kilometers. (You must be within 1 to be correct.)
What is 42.2 km? (41.2-43.2)
Instead of blood, mollusks bathe in this fluid which permeates throughout their open circulatory systems.
What is hemolymph?
Ann Arbor was once inhabited by several Native American tribes - most notably, the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Potawatomi peoples, who belong to this larger group of indigenous peoples.
Who are the Anishinaabe?
Major types of these rivers are found in the Amazon Basin and the Southern US, characterized by their slow movement through forested swamps or wetlands.
What are blackwater rivers?
Islamorada, settled by Spanish explorers, can be found in the Florida Bay and roughly translates to these two words.
What is "purple island"?