For the past year, I have been working with several colleagues to completely redesign our first year biology program at the University of Guelph. One of the aspects of the new "Discovering Biodiversity" course (which complements courses in human health and molecular and cellular biology) that I am most excited about is the use of inquiry cases to introduce major concepts in evolution, ecology, and organismal biology.

As part of one inquiry case, we will be exploring the issues surrounding freshwater mussels in the Great Lakes region, including the native diversity and the impacts of invasions by zebra mussels and quagga mussels.

Last week I was in Michigan with my friend and colleague Dave Zanatta of Central Michigan University filming vignettes about mussel research. Here is just a sample (note: unedited and unannotated) of the footage we shot.