PELLSTON, Mich. — Students taking courses during the four-week spring term at the University of Michigan Biological Station are conducting research from the lakes to the labs, and everywhere in between.
On the more than 10,000-acre research and teaching campus along the shores of Douglas Lake in northern Michigan, undergraduate students in Dr. André Green’s Eco-Evo-Devo course are using gene-editing technology in an attempt to engineer a specific mutation in monarch butterflies.
Green, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at U-M, studies the environmental and genetic basis of monarch butterfly migration and how migration has evolved.
“We are taking our monarch eggs and we’re using this technology over here to perform CRISPR on them, and so we will be injecting two different genes into their eggs,” said Emmaline Allen, who studies environmental science and will be a junior in the fall at Oakland University. “Once they hatch, we’re hoping to see certain genetic mutations [on the monarchs], like a different color or a different pattern.”
This year, UMBS added a larger classroom for Green's genomics class in Stockard Lakeside Lab due to the growing number of students who are interested in studying the interface of genetics and the environment.
“I’ve never done anything like this,” said Chloe Kimrey, who studies the environment and Spanish at U-M and will be a senior in the fall. “This is actually my first really intensive lab course at the University, so it’s lots of fun, lots of hands-on action.”
Dr. Jordan Price’s Ecology Lecture class traveled to Hartwick Pines State Park in the Grayling area on Thursday, May 30, in an effort to spot Kirtland’s Warblers, a threatened Michigan species. Students learned how to use binoculars and scopes to spot one of the rarest songbirds in North America.
“I’m a birder. I started keeping my life list of species a couple of weeks ago, and I’m so excited to add Kirtland’s Warbler to mine,” said Emma Johnston, who is a rising junior studying environmental science as well as ecology and evolutionary biology.
“I’m doing a presentation on Kirtland’s Warblers for my final project, and actually being able to see their habitat in person and see where they like to perch and where they like to nest is just something you can’t get if you’re just reading about it online.”
Students in Dr. Becky MacKay’s General Ecology Lab have traveled around the tip of the mitt and up over the Mackinac Bridge into the Upper Peninsula to collect data for their final research projects.
On Friday, May 31, they went to Bush Bay Trail in Cedarville.
“It’s more commonly known as Narnia, because it is the most magical place,” said MacKay, who teaches during the field season at UMBS and is an assistant professor of biology at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.
Students sampled aquatic environments for invertebrates, gathered soil samples and jumped off of boulders into Lake Huron to cool off.
“About a week ago, they chose a project—they pretty much had free reign—they just had to figure out a project they were interested in in ecology, and then for the rest of the semester we’re going all over to collect their same data at different habitats,” MacKay said.
Among the five research groups in MacKay’s class, three groups are focusing on collecting and comparing habitats of aquatic insect larvae; one is looking at surrounding species of cedar and pine trees as well as the presence of ferns, lichen and fungi on them; and one group is exploring how soil moisture and pH correlate with surrounding species of non-woody plants, such as ferns.
Isabelle Thyfault, a rising senior studying the environment and international studies at U-M, is part of the team doing a macroinvertebrate survey across different sites in northern Michigan.
“We’re going to see what sort of macroinvertebrates exist in what different conditions and associate that with water quality, and see what’s happening,” Thyfault said. “I’m excited about this project because it is introducing me to a brand new field of ecology that I’ve never had the chance to study—and also, I’ve gotten a lot better at touching bugs!”
Even students who were born and raised in Michigan are exploring new areas in the state they call home.
Kailey Koshorek is a rising senior studying biology, health and society.
“This experience has been super special,” said Koshorek, standing in the stream at the base of a waterfall at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore along Lake Superior where her research team collected macroinvertebrate samples. “I’ve lived in Michigan my entire life and I’ve been to the UP one time, so I’ve never seen anything like I have here.”
Standing In front of Miner’s Castle at Pictured Rocks on Friday, June 7, Jillian Bouse, MacKay’s teaching assistant, reflected on the importance of exploring northern Michigan as a part of UMBS curriculum.
“Michigan is such a beautiful place, and so it’s really been fun to travel around here and see all that there is to see,” Bouse said. “The big thing is you can do ecology anywhere. And as ecologists, we want to preserve the natural world and have that sense of understanding and respect for what the world is.”
“This is all very new to me,” said Allen, who used gene-editing technology in the Eco Evo Devo lab. “I’ve definitely gained a lot of experience and I’m just really excited for the last couple weeks of class.”
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Founded in 1909, the U-M Biological Station is one of the nation’s largest and longest continuously operating field research stations.
Laboratories and cabins are tucked into more than 10,000 acres along Douglas Lake to support long-term climate research and education.
