In 2015, a group of undergraduates from the University of Wisconsin, Madison launched boats into Lake Mendota at the edge of campus, ready to put lessons from the classrooms to the test in hands-on field research activities. As they moved through research protocols, a student brought a metal pole from the soft bottom to the surface of the lake.

Vince Butitta, the graduate student teaching assistant, noticed a small bivalve attached to the end of the pipe, and his stomach dropped. The undergrads had just discovered the first recorded Zebra Mussel in Lake Mendota.

Read the rest on the LTER Network Site!