Franchesca Ruiz, a junior in the School of Renewable Natural Resources, worked as an ASPIRE intern during the summer of 2024 with Dr. Garrett Hopper to write Freshwater Mussels of Louisiana: A Field Guide. This field guide was created with the purpose of providing a resource for people to learn more about freshwater mussels and why their conservation is so important. The guide contains visuals, general descriptions and a species account for all 65 of Louisiana’s native mussel species. The guide will undergo peer review and be published as a pocket guide by the AgCenter. A diagram of mussel shell morphology and outlines is included in the guide.

Franchesca Ruiz samples mussels in the Bogue Chitto River.