Different species of deep-sea shrimp have evolved to have different-sized eyes to best see one another.
INNOVATION & DISCOVERY The Economics of Sustainable Coffee As part of the National Science Foundation’s support for convergence research, five universities and two organizations have collaborated to investigate an innovative and sustainable approach to coffee farming, called integrated open canopy cultivation, in Honduras. Cameron School of Business Professor Peter Schuhmann, with his vast experience using choice experiments as tools for determining non-market valuation, provides economic expertise to the interdisciplinary team. His contribution will highlight how a variety of factors affect adoption of sustainable practices and how coffee production characteristics affect wholesale coffee prices.
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Discovering New Knowledge
Eye Size of Deep-Sea Shrimp Reveals Secrets of the Deep New research by Lorian Schweikert, assistant professor in the Department of Biology and Marine Biology, published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, shares the discovery that deep-sea shrimp have evolved to have different eye sizes to better see the bioluminescence of their own species. The multi-institution collaboration determined that more than other ecological factors, like habitat, migration patterns, depth and even sunlight level, bioluminescence was the strongest indicator for how big the shrimp’s eyes are. This finding emphasizes the connection between vision and bioluminescence and provides more evidence that making light is, in fact, a deep-sea form of communication.
Million Dollar Club The James F. Merritt Million Dollar Club is a university honor and recognition for faculty and staff who have received $1 million or more in external research funding. 2021 Million Dollar Club inductees:
Patrick Carroll, Aquaculture Program
Patrick Erwin, Biology and Marine Biology
Jeremy Morgan, Chemistry and Biochemistry
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Leah Mayo, Center for Healthy Communities
Blake Ushijima, Biology and Marine Biology
Heather McWhorter, Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Sridhar Varadarajan, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Ron Vetter, Computer Science ($5M)
