Matt Hennes, a junior Biology major from Davenport, is developed a conservation study investigating the status of Blanding's Turtles, Emydoidea blandingii, at Nahant Marsh.  Blanding's Turtles are a threatened species in the state of Iowa.  They prefer sandy areas as nesting sites, and a small fraction of the Nahant preserve is sand prairie.  There have been a few sightings of this species at Nahant, including observations by Sheri Pennock, a former SAU student who surveyed turtle populations at Nahant Marsh.  Matt's work created a predator exclusion zone in the principal turtle nesting zone at Nahant to see if nesting success for Blanding's and other local freshwater turtles could be improved. You may access his proposal here. Matt did his field work over the summer of 2008 and early into the fall with dates for the study postponed by late Mississippi River flooding that affected the study area.  Matt's final report is available online.

Hillary Johnson, a junior Psychology major and Biology minor from Louisiana, is interested in the area of evolutionary psychology.  Hillary is interested in how sexual selection in humans plays out in affecting the development of clothing choices.  In particular, developed a study about whether a gender's choice for particular non-utile clothing styles is driven by the selective agent of mate choice preferences.  Her proposal describes her study of how wearing of high heels may affect male perception of leg-torso ratio, and consequently male rating of female attractiveness.  Hill's final report is available online.