Barnes credited the Michigan City Port Authority and harbormaster John Rudisell for supporting his research, giving him the right to dive in the marina basin and Trail Creek and providing grant funds and equipment including an underwater camera. Using photographs taken over the years, he can dramatically illustrate the changes that are taking place under the surface. Not all of the students in the class are working on the zebra mussel project. Some students are assisting Camp and another graduate student on a survey of Russia gobies, another foreign species proliferating in the lake. Already known for its strong biology program with its opportunities for undergraduates to participate in significant research, Purdue North Central is quickly building a reputation for marine and aquatic research.
Students work with faculty on a variety of projects ranging from botany to zoology.
A field station opened this month near Central Avenue Beach in the National Lakeshore will give students and faculty convenient access to the lake and dunes area. Barnes, who lives in Valparaiso, began college as an adult and completed PNC's biology bachelor's degree program this summer. He is working on his master's degree through Purdue West Lafayette, doing research and teaching at the North Central campus. He hopes to teach a marine biology course during the fall semester, and he and Camp have plans to develop a course that includes a diving trip to the Florida Keys. PNC's biology baccalaureate degree program has concentrations in general biology, ecology, microbiology, predentistry, premedicine and preveterinary medicine.