The coolest thing I’ve been involved with the last month is helping UT-Tyler biologist Dr. Neil Ford with his mussel surveys on the Neches River. These surveys are part of the ongoing All-Taxa Biodiversity Inventory at Big Thicket NP. 50% of my time as an intern has been helping the ATBI researchers in the field, the other 50% has been spent in the office mapping their findings. Helping out with the ‘Mussel Guys’ has been by far my favorite field activity. A typical day of musseling involves taking an outboard motor fishing boat with a small crew down the river and jumping in the water at 5-6 different locations to comb the bottom of the river with our hands looking for mussels. I had no idea how much mussel diversity exists at the bottom of a river. It’s like a relaxing float trip down the river, only you’re doing science along the way!