Scientist & Industry Collaborations

Wood Environmental Lab, San Diego

In our Kelp Forest lessons that explore the living organisms from habitat, we partner with Chris Stransky and his team at the Wood Environmental Lab in San Diego. He and his lab team help us obtain and house living organisms that we bring in to classrooms for our students to observe, and learn from during our hands-on labs. During our teaching we keep the local invertebrate animals (sea urchins, turbin snails, hermit crabs, kelp crabs, sea stars and more) in coolers with air bubblers and blue ice packs. After each day of teaching we bring the organisms back to Wood Environmental lab where they are kept in a salt water system. Thank you for your partnership!

Dr. Mike Latz - Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Dr. Latz's research involves the bioluminescence of dinoflagellates. These microscopic organisms are amazing in their ability to produce light through a chemical reaction. In various lessons ranging from topics in chemistry, botany, and behavior we have brought these bioluminescent dinoflagellates from Dr. Latz's lab to classrooms for students to investigate. When these algal blooms occur in our area it can be stunning to see in the waves at night. These tiny phytoplankton are an amazing example of how much we have to learn about how organisms survive in a habitat.