Paddlefish (Polyodon Spathula)
The Paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) is a species of fish unlike any other freshwater fish in the world with its elongated, paddle like rostrum.
Matt Sarver, June 5th, 2023
Water Quality Surveys Work Wonders
Stream monitoring is an important part of tracking the health of streams and is done through a combination of water quality, fish, and macroinvertebrate surveys.
Emily Crow, Emma Roberts, Preston Smith Otterbein University, August 2nd, 2022
Growing Native: Our Family’s Journey
Although my mother reports that, as a baby, I would cry when placed barefoot in the grass, I think this was more about my disdain for monocultures than an aversion to plants.
Mark Dilley, Guest Writer, October 21st, 2021
Plant Perception
At first, the recently planted row of pepper plants appeared submerged in a sea of grass and weeds. My job was to weed the bed.
Emily Frechette, March 14th, 2021
Freshwater Mussels in the Midwest – Part 2, Weird Facts about Mussels: Siphoning
I’ll cover the fish-host weirdness in another article, but this one will describe something that must come before a mussel gets around to reproduction – feeding itself.
Anthony Sasson, August 26th, 2020
Admin Day in the Field II
One day, management asked if I was interested in getting out from behind the front desk and helping our fish crew in the field. Yes!! I jumped at the chance.
Emily Frechette, February 26th, 2020
The Role of Citizen Monitoring in Protecting Stream Biodiversity
The Clean Water Act, passed in 1972, is charged with protecting the chemical and physical health and biodiversity of the Nation’s waters, including streams and rivers.
Edward T. Rankin, September 26th, 2018
Disco Wasn't the Only Bad Thing about the 70s
Disco Wasn't the Only Bad Thing about the 70s
Jack T. Freda, October 31st, 2017
Tree Biodiversity in Green Lawn Cemetery
In his 2010 book Cemeteries, author Keith Eggener “discusses the value of cemeteries as liminal space — space at the joining together of different states.
Tamara James, March 1st, 2017
Spring and Vernal Pools
Spring is slowly sneaking up on us again. Thankfully, it's time to switch our attention to the changes going on as the snow melts and everything begins to defrost.
Pete Precario, November 16th, 2016
Restoring River Herring in Maine
MBI has sampled the fish assemblages in the lower Kennebec and Sebasticook Rivers in central Maine since 2002.
Chris Yoder, November 16th, 2016
Facing the Fear of Midges
Midges have a notable reputation among biologists. Like that one difficult family member you dodge at gatherings, many biologists (myself included) do not look forward to encounters with midges.
Cynthia Bauers, November 16th, 2016
Autumn Wetlands
It’s fall and wetlands have transformed in response to the reduced hours of sunlight and lower temperatures that come with the changing season.
Mick N. Micacchion, November 16th, 2016
A Snapshot of “Ancient” Mussels in Central Ohio
Jack Freda and field technician Ashley Smith were used to encountering new species, but what they found just a short distance from downtown Columbus was an unexpected surprise.
Jack Freda and Anthony Sasson, March 17th, 2023
First Records of Freckled Madtom in Ohio
Two new Ohio localities for the Freckled Madtom (Noturus nocturnus Jordan and Gilbert, 1886) were recently discovered.
Matt Sarver, February 11th, 2022
What’s Happening To Our Bees?
I’ve had beehives off and on since I was a kid. Until recently, I’ve never had any serious problems or lost an entire hive over the winter.
Pete Precario, June 4th, 2021
Ohio Darter Diving
The public often is not aware of these little fish but are quite familiar with their larger cousins the Yellow Perch, Walleye, and Sauger.
Paul DeRolf, February 4th, 2021
Freshwater Mussels in the Midwest - Part 1
Are the mussels in this photo just “living rocks?” Or are they perhaps excellent indicators of the long-term health of our streams and rivers?
Anthony Sasson, June 1st, 2020
Training is Important... Very Important!
MBI will offer a variety of training classes in aquatic bioassessment ranging from professional level courses to training for those who are interested in what has become known as “citizen science”.
Chris Yoder, February 6th, 2020
Where are Ohio's Vernal Pool Amphibians in Winter?
It is winter, very cold, snow covers the ground, and ice is on lakes, streams, ponds, and wetlands, including vernal pools.
Mick N. Micacchion, January 22nd, 2018
Intimidating Beauty
I find things like the Black and Yellow Garden Spider (Argiope aurantia) fascinating and beautiful. I admit that the idea of having one crawl up my arm does not appeal to me...
Jim Lane, November 22nd, 2016
Streams in Winter
As we are seated in our well-heated homes or by a roaring fire-place this winter, we may wonder what is happening in our local small streams and in particular to the fish and other organisms...
Edward T. Rankin, November 16th, 2016
MBI Releases New Primary Headwater Data
Analysis of the Probabilities of the Classification of Small Headwater Streams as Primary Headwater Habitat (PHWH) and Warmwater Habitat (WWH) in Southwest Ohio
Edward T. Rankin, November 16th, 2016
National Rivers and Streams Assessment 2013-2014
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), states, and tribes are conducting a nationwide survey of the condition of the nation’s rivers and streams.
Zach Amidon, November 16th, 2016
Round Goby Introduction and Range Expansion in the Highly
The Round Goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is an invasive species of fish introduced to the Great Lakes drainage in the early 1990s.
Matt Sarver, November 1st, 2022
Range Expansion of the Channel Shiner
The Channel Shiner is a small minnow with subdued physical features that makes identification difficult due to the similar morphological characteristics of several other species of shiners.
Matt Sarver, November 30th, 2021
Earth Day 2021 is April 22nd!
Are you looking for ideas on how to celebrate Earth Day? We've put together a short list of some suggestions for events and activities!
Allison Boehler, April 7th, 2021
A Few Summer Favorites
As we move on from summer to fall, we thought we would share some photos from Jim Lane, our Board President.
Jim Lane, September 30th, 2020
A Few Words from our Board: Life is Good
Now freed from the endless treadmill of getting grants and writing papers so that I could get more grants and write more papers, I have retired to life on the farm.
Susan Fisher, March 10th, 2020
A Collaborative Effort to Assess the Health of Our Nation’s Rivers and Streams
Aquatic ecosystems, particularly rivers and streams, are amongst the most dynamic and diverse habitats found on the planet.
John Dattilo, May 28th, 2019
A Retrospective on the Clean Water Act in Ohio: Is Today As Good As It Gets?
The quality of Ohio’s rivers and streams has improved tremendously from the grossly polluted conditions that were commonplace in the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.
Chris Yoder, November 29th, 2017
Earth Day is this Saturday, April 22 !
Earth Day is this Saturday, April 22nd !
Allison Boehler, April 19th, 2017
New England Rivers Fish Assemblage Study Completed!
MBI with support from U.S. EPA conducted an assessment of the fish assemblages in the rivers of New England during 2002-9.
Chris Yoder, November 16th, 2016
GIS Tool Used to Identify High Quality Vernal Pools
While working for Ohio EPA, Brian Gara and I developed a GIS-based tool to locate existing high quality vernal pools and locations most suitable to vernal pool restoration efforts...
Mick N. Micacchion, November 16th, 2016
Top Notch Field Sites for Training Courses
Most of our courses involve training in the use of different assessment methods: QHEI, IBI, ICI, ORAM, VIBI, AmphIBI, HHEI, HMFEI or others.
Mick N. Micacchion, November 16th, 2016
Electrofishing
“Electrofishing” is one of the basic techniques MBI uses to sample fish in rivers and streams. It is one of several tools that MBI employs to assess the aquatic biota.
Chris Yoder, November 16th, 2016