Professor uses new grant to explore biology under the sea in 3D on ‘MTSU On the Record’

Using digital technology to count fish and sponges and assess their differences was the topic of a recent “MTSU On the Record” radio program.

Dr. Anna Grinath

Host Gina Logue’s interview with Dr. Anna Grinath, an assistant professor in MTSU’s Department of Biology, first aired July 17 on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5 and online at www.wmot.org. You can listen to their conversation above.

Grinath is one of two recipients of the 2018-19 James E. Walker Library Digital Seed Grants. The university library allots stipends each year to faculty members who have imaginative ways to use technology to improve teaching methods.

For her project, Grinath will employ three-dimensional models of coral reef sponges and freshwater fish created on 3D printers in the library’s Makerspace area to explain population sampling and variation within populations.

“Oftentimes, we’re not going to be able to measure every single individual in a population,” Grinath said. “What we need to do is to collect a sample of individuals from a population, measure those and, then, we’ve got tools that allow us to make inferences about the entire population based on a sample.”

Variation within a population of creatures can be created by mutation of chromosomes, random mating and random fertilization, among other factors.

To hear previous “MTSU On the Record” programs, visit the searchable “Audio Clips” archives at www.mtsunews.com.

For more information about “MTSU On the Record,” contact Logue at 615-898-5081 or WMOT-FM at 615-898-2800.

Coral groupers and other species of fish swim above coral reefs and sponges in the waters of the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt in this photo by German photographer Joachim Kant. MTSU biology professor Anna Grinath, the guest on the July 17 and July 22 broadcasts of “MTSU On the Record” on WMOT-FM Roots Radio 89.5, is using grant funds to print 3D models of coral reef sponges and freshwater fish to explain population sampling and variation within populations. Ocean preservationists also are using 3D printed artificial coral on reefs in the Caribbean in hopes of preserving and rebuilding the natural coral. (Photo courtesy of Joachim Kant/Pixabay)