MSU students have pulled bicycles, trash cans, radios and manhole covers from the Red Cedar river in an attempt to clean up the campus landmark.
But fisheries and wildlife graduate student Jo Latimore was looking for something else in the water Thursday - fish.
Latimore hopes she can determine the condition of the river by measuring its fish population.
She said by knowing the age, size, and variety of fish in the river, she can tell the cleanliness of the water.
“MSU wants to do what they can to help the river and reduce the university’s impact on the river,” she said. “And before we can know what we’re doing, we have to know what the state of the river is now.
“We just want to know what lives here, because we don’t even really know that.”
Latimore’s study is part of a project dubbed MSU-WATER, or Watershed Action Through Education and Research.
The project, which includes various university departments, is in its second year and is supported with $1.4 million from MSU.
In May, researchers poured green dye into the river to test the flow of contaminants through the system.
Thursday’s project involved using electrical pulses to stun and collect fish in various areas of the river.
Latimore and three undergraduate students waded in the river pushing a barge rigged with an electrical generator.
The generator emitted a low impulse of electricity into the water.
“When they’re stunned, they tend to roll, so we see their shiny bellies,” Latimore, said.
“We’re able to net them up real quick and by the time we get them in our cooler, they’re swimming around again.”
The fish were later released back into the river.
Another reason for doing this, Latimore said the study also should help dispel beliefs about what’s in the Red Cedar.
The group found brook lampreys, northern hog suckers, blue gills, creek chubs and more.
“I’m impressed by the collection we’re getting,” she said.
“Especially when you look at the perception that a lot of the university community has, they’re surprised to see any fish coming out.”
Fisheries and wildlife senior Cassandra Meier, zoology senior Kelly DeGrandchamp and fisheries and wildlife senior Aaron Shultz helped with the study.
The undergraduates have been testing tributaries of the Red Cedar for several months.
DeGrandchamp said that even though people joke about the river, the common perception most people have is incorrect.
“It’s not as bad as people think,” she said.
Shultz agreed.
“It’s not just couches and shopping carts,” he said.
