But to 34 CLU students, the idea of going to the islands of Maui and Lanai means battling 20-foot waves and spending endless hours surveying coral reefs, collecting plankton from marine sediments and studying the intricate swimming mechanics of fish. In January, the student researchers, led by Dr. Andrea Huvard, associate professor of biological sciences, and Jim Wolf, a marine and environmental biologist, boarded a vessel in Oahu and journeyed to their living laboratory filled with humpback whales, sea turtles, exotic reef fishes and invertebrates.
Marine research is hard to replicate in a classroom lab.
By studying plankton and marine sediments as well as larger marine life, CLU students are bringing us all a little closer to understanding our own planet.