Biologist migrates north at snails pace

Biology Professor John Havel is on sabbatical during the 2009-10 academic year, doing research on biological invasions at the Center for Limnology, University of Wisconsin (http://limnology.wisc.edu). While at Trout Lake Research Station, he has sampled invasive snails in lakes and streams in the northern highland district and developed experiments to examine their dispersal capacity. Havel first tested the tolerance of exotic Chinese mystery snails to desiccation. Later, at the main campus in Madison, he began experiments with the snails in flow chambers to examine the conditions that lead to dispersal through streams. John will continue these experiments and surveys later this spring and summer during further research in Wisconsin. Havel has already published eight papers detailing his research, several in collaboration with former Missouri State graduate students.