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Gillian Currie, a fourth-year biology honours student, as well as Miki Williston and Sophie Jahncke, two fourth-year biochemistry honours students, have worked with Matt Litvak’s sturgeon lab over the last two years as part of an independent student research grant. Throughout their summer placements and studies at the lab, the students have collected data that directly assists in creating conservation strategies, publications, and gene banking. Their dedication represents the valuable research of science students at ������ýapp. 
 
The Litvak Lab takes part in sturgeon research by exploring sturgeon movement, sex ratios, and spawning activities. As the most endangered vertebrate species in the world, these assessments are necessary to help create change. A fourth-year biology honours student, Currie worked on the Mississagi River. She outlined how her work “on the movement and distribution of lake sturgeon” adds to conservation efforts. “All of the fish I study have been tagged,” said Currie. “Over the course of two years, we pick them up as they move through the North channel of Lake Huron [...] and see where they are going.” 
 
Williston, a fourth-year biochemistry honours student, also worked on the Mississagi River last Summer, recalling her time as an “incredible experience.” “It is one thing to do your research on an area and talk about the Mississagi River, but it is a whole other thing being part of it,” said Williston. Her research examines the sex ratio of Lake Sturgeon during each day of their spawning cycles. Determining a sturgeon’s sex requires a non-invasive DNA collection through capturing blood and mucus samples, as well as fin clips. Because male and female sturgeons’ reproductive cycles struggle to coincide with one another, Williston’s work is vital in knowing why the sturgeon population is declining.  
 
Together, Currie and Williston’s research are done in collaboration with the Mississauga First Nation in Ontario. Currie credited their funding and leadership as allowing them to accomplish their research. She acknowledged a quote by Anishinaabe ecologist Kathleen Ryan, who wrote, “we should stop referring to ‘fish management’ because fish manage themselves. Instead, we should manage humans to care better for the fish.” Their work, such as tracking data, is shared back to the First Nation, which can allow the community to create conservation plans. Currie noted “the ability to potentially see your honours work actually implemented [...] is an exciting and rewarding prospect. 
 
Jahncke, a fourth-year biochemistry honours student, spent her Summer in Fredericton collecting data on the sex ratios of shortnose sturgeon. Similar to Williston’s work, Jahncke used a non-invasive process to limit the amount of harm done to sturgeons while collecting blood, mucus, and fin clips. From here, she amplifies DNA samples to find banding patterns, showing “which samples are male and which are female.” Jahncke emphasized the importance of this work, noting that birth patterns, poachers, industrial activity, and mass killing of sturgeons during the colonialist era severely diminished their population. This collection assists in creating positive change as it will “inform [conservation] movements.”  
 
One rewarding aspect of this research is its relevance to entering any field. Williston, who looks to enter the medical field, noted that the use of scalpels, ultrasounds, and drawing blood from sturgeons is “great practice for what I will be doing.” Aside from career experience, their work has also helped with personal growth. Jahncke noted that having independence in the lab allowed her to take ownership over her project, which she calls “a really nice feeling.”

As the group’s experience comes to an end, Currie touched on how this independence leads to confidence. “I have done the foundational [work], the theory work [...], and it is so important to go from there and [say] ‘I can do it. I have done it.’”