What lies beneath the sand

“It takes dedication to do this sampling! Dr. Kristine White of Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville, Georgia, visited UGAMI this past weekend to build on her lab’s research of amphipods on Nannygoat Beach, here on Sapelo. Amphipods are tiny crustaceans that occupy a tremendous number of niches within aquatic ecosystems, both marine and fresh water. The ones that Dr. White is after right now are infaunal, meaning they live within the sediment. Shovel in hand, Dr. White and her team braved record low temperatures to gather data on vertical distribution and species diversity of these key organisms. If you would like to learn more, Dr. White has a great Ted talk about amphipods available here , along with some great pictures.”