TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Richard Fidler holds fond memories from all four years he spent living and learning at the University of Michigan Biological Station as both a U-M undergraduate student and graduate student in the early 1970s and again in 1985.
But he’s most proud of an unconfirmed record he believes he may hold.
“I think I am one of very few — or maybe the only one — who has received a master’s degree in biology from the University of Michigan with all courses taken at the Biological Station,” Fidler said from his home in Traverse City, located about two hours southwest of the research and teaching campus along Douglas Lake in Pellston. “It was a terminal master’s, meaning it would not lead to a Ph.D. I am quite proud of it, more than the Ed.D. I got later in science education, which was also from Michigan.”
Fidler said the immersive influence of the Biological Station community has lived within him for more than 50 years, enriching his daily life, teaching and writing.
Fidler was a ninth-grade biology teacher for 31 years. Since retiring from Traverse City Area Public Schools, he has published eight books.
Fidler took courses at UMBS in 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1985. He holds several degrees from U-M including two bachelor’s degrees — one in education with a concentration in science, and one in East Asian Languages and Literatures. He holds a master’s degree in biology and earned a doctorate in science education in 1987.
Fidler and his wife, Sharon, have two children, James and Anna, and four grandchildren (“three of whom are avid UM fans”).
Fidler’s wife lived with him at the field station one momentous year of their marriage.
“Beginning labor for our first child, Sharon walked the woods to gather mushrooms for my class final,” Fidler said. “Although my performance on the test was mediocre, hers was extraordinary!”
In his own words written on Oct. 29, here are Fidler’s reflections about UMBS memories and impact:
“I was a ninth-grade biology teacher for 31 years, retiring from the Traverse City Area Public Schools in 2003. My four-year experience at UMBS enriched my teaching in more ways than I can count, but, beyond that, it fostered a love for the natural world that burns bright to this day. Yesterday I enjoyed sauteed Shaggy Mane mushrooms that fruited in my yard, that identification made possible by my enrollment in Dr. Shaeffer’s Higher Fungi class; this summer I watched log perch spawning in the shallows of a nearby river, that experience connecting to UMBS’s fish class; I joyously count the isopods that cross my path as I take my morning walk, Dr. Edgar’s Biology of the Invertebrates giving life to my observations. A mink frequents my backyard, its furtive movements reminding me of Fred Test’s Biology of Terrestrial Vertebrates class; gorgeous Pink Lady Slippers delight in June, one of the many orchids brought to my attention in Ed Voss’s Boreal Flora; thalloid liverworts spook me out as they spread over a mossy bank—thanks, Howard Crum.
Beyond formal learning, UMBS provided me with a sense of belonging to a scientific community, a body of persons young and old, male and female, racially diverse, embedded in the academic world or not, all interested in questions that jump out at them as they meet the natural world hands-on, eyes-on, ears-on. What a joy to be around persons that share my interests! After all, in this digital age, away from the influence of higher education, there are not so many of us as you might think. The Biological Station brings us together.
Then there was the fun of it all: the picnics, mushroom feasts, campouts done in service of finding some rare species, Ocqueoc stew made of mollusks from the Ocqueoc River, folk dances on the volleyball court, swimming (yes, once in the nude) in Douglas Lake, trips to the Douglas Lake bar, and on and on. This is education the way it should be—study mixed with engagement with people you care about.
After retirement I became a writer, specializing in the local and natural history of the Grand Traverse area. I have published eight books as of this moment, two about topics UMBS members might be interested in: ‘Of Things Ignored and Unloved: A Naturalist Walks Northern Michigan’ and ‘Out of the Corner of Your Eye: Seeing the Things that Matter’. Though my hands and face are wrinkled, my hair gone, I have more ideas about new books, even an exploration of fiction. And, yes, the influence of the Biological Station will live in them, too.
So I write this remembrance of UMBS, hoping it might trigger a flood of memories from others. With all my heart I offer my thanks to everyone connected with the Station: maintenance folks, kitchen workers, those that kept the store, teachers, TAs, and directors. May this special place continue to enrich lives as it has enriched mine.”
Founded in 1909, the U-M Biological Station is one of the nation’s largest and longest continuously operating field research stations.
Laboratories, classrooms and cabins are tucked into more than 11,000 acres along Douglas Lake to support long-term science research and education.
If you are a UMBS alumni and would like to share how your experience at the field station in northern Michigan impacted your life, please email Chrissy Billau at [email protected].
