Uncovering the Missing Crayfish

Forest Service fellow finds 1940s documentation of crayfish introduction in Montana.

It takes an interdisciplinary team to unravel the numerous questions science brings to the table, and even disciplines outside of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) serve an important role in answering those questions. For Hampton Kennedy, that discipline is history, and environmental history offered him a combination of two things he enjoys deeply: learning about the past and the great outdoors.

Kennedy earned his bachelor’s degree in history and social studies education from Appalachian State University and his master’s in American history from Norwich University. He believes history could make a real change in the world, so he became a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service (FS) Research Participation Program fellow. Alongside his mentor, Susan B. Adams, and other interdisciplinary collaborators, Kennedy became a part of a research project looking to discover the origins of a species of crayfish in Montana, called signal crayfish.

*Excerpt from Oakridge Institute for Science and Education story on Hamp Kennedy.

READ FULL STORY at the Oakridge Institute for Science and Education.