Biodiversity of Freshwater Mussels of the Upper Sangamon River (Illinois): Community Science in Action

Freshwater aquatic plants and animals are among the species most at risk for extinction worldwide, and mussels are the most imperiled of the freshwater animals in the United States. This Living Earth Collaborative seed grant will help initiate a long-term study of freshwater mussels in the Sangamon River basin in Illinois.  The project is envisioned as a collaboration between institutional researchers and citizen scientists who will work together to determine how many mussels and what kinds of them live in the basin; how the mussels grow and how far they spread; the genetic relatedness of different populations of mussels; and how various stressors may be affecting mussels in the watershed. Collaborators will also develop instructional materials that can be used in education and outreach efforts.

This grant led to the creation of an award winning, educational film, Mussel Grubbing: A Citizen Science Treasure Hunt. The film was financed by a grant from CUAHSI’s “Let’s Talk About Water” program.

Visit the project’s ArcGIS StoryMap to learn more about this project: Mussels of the Sangamon River.

Research Team

Danelle Haake, National Great Rivers Research and Education Center
Sarah Douglass, Illinois Natural History Survey
Christy Edwards, Missouri Botanical Garden
Bob Coulter, Missouri Botanical Garden
Ed Spevak, Saint Louis Zoo
Bruce Colravy, Upper Sangamon River Conservancy