In this episode we hear from Alec Lackmann who will very soon wrap up his Ph.D. work at North Dakota State University. While there Alec studied tundra pond ecology in the high arctic region of Alaska, specifically a variety of projects studying chironomids. We discuss those topics and his research before moving on to one of his side projects back in the Midwest. Alec, out of curiousity, began aging some more overlooked "rough" fish, one of which being the Bigmouth Buffalo. The first fish he aged was much older than he first thought which led him down a path of collaboration and validation. How old were these fish? You'll have to listen to find out!

Main Point: Bigmouth Buffalo are not carp! They are native to North America and are now the oldest freshwater teleost species!