On Friday, 18 October 2025 we hosted approximately 500 high school students at
In the news: Scott France among researchers that spot rare sea dandelion 8,300 feet beneath the ocean surface.
Wed, 09/13/2017 - 8:58am
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Fall 2025 Student Research Presentation and Reception
On the evening of Thursday, 16 October 2025, we celebrated the research activities of our undergraduate and graduate
Scott France of our biology department and is quoted in a recent Daily Mail article (with photos and video).
Thousands of feet beneath the ocean's surface, scientists have spotted a mysterious glowing creature hovering above the seafloor amid a 'spider web' of tentacles.
This is the deep-sea 'dandelion animal' - and, despite its solitary appearance, experts say the pulsating orb is not one organism but 'loads and loads' of individuals living and working together.
The dandelion animal is a type of siphonophore in the family Rhodaliidae, explains Okeanos researcher Scott C. France of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, in a recent mission log.