Tiny but Mighty:
Sea butterflies as a marker for oceanic climate change

PhD candidate Lisette Mekkes got inspired to study sea butterflies (planktonic snails) because of their wonderful shell shapes, incredible diversity and significance in the marine environment. Despite their cheerful appearance, the future might be rather grim because their existence is considered to be threatened by changing ocean chemistry, driven by increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere. By unravelling the secrets their shells withhold Lisette aims to understand how vulnerable pteropods are to ocean acidification.