PELLSTON, Mich. — Scroll through highlights from the 2024 spring term from Tuesday, May 21, through Thursday, June 20, at the University of Michigan Biological Station, the research and teaching campus in northern Michigan.

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.

Move-in day for students taking courses in the spring term was full of smiles, volleyball and s'mores on Tuesday, May 21, 2024.
Emma Morterud, a rising senior at the University of Michigan, carried shoes and a fan into the cabin that will be her home for the next few weeks.
Kaitlyn Wilson will be a junior at the University of Michigan in the fall. The Program in the Environment (PitE) student enjoyed reading the scrawls on the walls after hauling her bags into her cabin.
Thank you to the team led by UMBS Academic Program Manager Candice Everett, right, for welcoming students at the volleyball court and navigating them through the move-in process to launch the 116th season of discovery at the University of Michigan Biological Station.
Dr. Jordan Price’s General Ecology Lecture course traveled to Hartwick Pines State Park in the Grayling area to see Kirtland’s Warblers, a threatened species, on Thursday, May 30. UMBS students used binoculars to spot the gray-and-yellow bird, one of the rarest songbirds in North America.
Students in the Ethnobotany course and TAs take a break from plant work along Lake Huron at Cheboygan State Park on Thursday, May 30. Pictured: Isabella Shehab, left, TA for Ethnobotany and a Ph.D. student in the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), talks with Emma Baird, TA for the Limnology course, who tagged along on her day off.
Dr. Tadashi Fukami, a community ecologist from Stanford University, visited UMBS and shared his investigation revealing the hidden story behind pollination during the Bennett Lecture in Mycology and Plant Biology on Wednesday, May 29. Our community was captivated by the connection between sticky monkey flowers, hummingbirds, and the colonies of microbes that live in the nectar of these flowers. We learned that whether yeast or bacteria is dominant in the plant’s nectar — yeast is more attractive to hummingbirds — can have big consequences on the evolution and resilience of the floral species locally and regionally.
While at the field station, Fukami visited the new terrestrial mesocosms, or mini-forest soil ecosystems, with Dr. Jean Phillipe-Lessard, right, a professor of biology at Concordia University in Montreal. Lessard’s research team is building an ant experiment outdoors in cattle tanks on Hilltop Road to manipulate the abundance of ant colonies, which are crucial for seed dispersal and decomposition and expected to decline with climate change. Lessard’s first four mesocosms survived the winter, and he said mini-ecosystems are forming as expected. Next, they’ll build another 36 and add some ant colonies.
Researchers and technicians in U-M Ornithologist Ben Winger’s lab set up equipment on Saturday, May 25, for their work to capture and deploy geolocators on songbirds. The study aims to use geolocator tracking technology to track the seasonal migration of a suite of migratory songbirds that breed in the boreal forests of northern Michigan.
Dr. Marcin Dziuba’s Limnology: Freshwater Ecosystems class toured two fish hatcheries on Wednesday, May 29. Oden State Fish Hatchery in Alanson rears brown trout and rainbow trout for both inland and Great Lakes waters.
Dr. Becky MacKay, bottom row wearing a cap, joins students and the TA in the General Ecology Lab for a class photo at Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula on Saturday, May 25.
It’s affectionately known as Narnia. MacKay’s class also visited the Bush Bay Hiking Trail in Cedarville, located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, on Friday, May 31. Students sampled aquatic environments for invertebrates. Students sampled aquatic environment of Lake Huron for invertebrates.
For their group research project, UMBS students Analeigh Majewski and Sarah Bayne take the temperature of soil surrounding non-woody plants in “Narnia,” while using the iNaturalist app on their phones to identify plant species.
Following a long day of data collection, UMBS students in Dr. Becky MacKay’s ecology class jump into Lake Huron to cool off. They are in Cedarville along Bush Bay Trail, which is affectionately known as "Narnia."
From left, undergraduates Aseel Akhdar, Isabelle Thyfault, and Kenya Hall collect and record macroinvertebrates found in “Narnia” for their final research project.
The annual square dance at the U-M Biological Station is a cherished tradition dating back at least 50 years. On Saturday, June 1, local caller Larry Dyer led dancers through traditional steps for an evening of fun for all.
The live band featured John Richey and Maureen Scott on fiddles, Dale Scott playing guitar and harmonica and Ron Fowler strumming a five-string banjo. They played a selection of high-energy, old-time fiddle tunes with some Irish reels and hornpipes and a couple of waltzes.
On Thursday, June 6, UMBS students tie-dyed clothing on the volleyball court.
Guoxiang Gao, who will be a senior at U-M in the fall majoring in ecology and evolutionary biology, is a student in Dr. André Green’s Eco-Evo-Devo course. The class was busy doing CRISPR injections as part of a research project on Wednesday, June 5. They’re using the 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.
UMBS Student Annabel Roder peers through a microscope at monarch butterfly eggs, on which she is performing CRISPR in the Eco Evo Devo class. This year UMBS added a larger classroom for Green's genomics class in Stockard Lakeside Lab due to the growing number of students who want to study the interface of genetics and the environment.
Emmaline Allen, a UMBS student and rising junior at Oakland University, lines up monarch eggs in a petri dish in preparation for CRISPR in Eco-Evo-Devo class.
As part of its study of people and plants and the interactions that have evolved together in northern Michigan, the Ethnobotany class made birchbark medallions on Thursday, June 6, guided by Dr. Steven Naganashe Perry, a guest lecturer. He has been working for decades to ensure that native traditions, history, culture, art and the languages (Anishinaabemowin) are preserved.
On Friday, June 7, students in the Ethnobotany class used porcupine quills to make birchbark medallions and hair ties. Sweetgrass was sewn around the edges. This one shows a heron.
A video crew from Michigan Media in Ann Arbor joined Dr. Paul Moore’s General Ecology Lecture class on Tuesday, June 4, when they went to the Jordan River Valley — what Moore calls, “the most beautiful system I go to” — located south of Petoskey.
Moore's class explored the habitats, waded through the water, sampled for organisms and gained a deeper understanding of how each of the habitats are interconnected.
Gavin Purnell, a UMBS student and rising junior, uses a microscope in Dr. Marcin Dziuba’s Limnology: Freshwater Ecosystems class on Monday, June 3. Students observed zooplankton samples they gathered from Douglas Lake earlier that day to compare species composition and abundance of Cladocerans, Copepods and Rotifers in open water and vegetation zones.
Hundreds of people joined us as "Brave the Wild River" Author Melissa Sevigny brought the adventurous history of two legendary U-M botanists to life in northern Michigan this past week in Pellston and Charlevoix. Pictured is the UMBS crowd of about 130 people on Wednesday, June 5.
Sevigny gave a presentation featuring Dr. Elzada Clover, on the left of the slide, and Dr. Lois Jotter, right. Sevigny praised their deep courage and determination to do science in 1938 in the face of life-threatening danger and widely publicized critics as they mapped the botany of the Grand Canyon.
A nine-year-old girl named Annabelle, who wants to be a science writer, attended Sevigny’s lecture with her grandmother who lives in Cheboygan. They talked one-on-one before the event started. Annabelle said she likes writing about all kinds of science, specifically mentioning astronomy and recently going to see the total solar eclipse in Ohio.
Dr. Keith Groty, right, who lives in the U.P., was a student in Clover’s class at UMBS in the summer of 1961. On Wednesday, June 5, he returned to the research and teaching campus along Douglas Lake to meet Sevigny and tell her about his own experiences with the botanist. He was thrilled to watch Clover’s video of the trip down the Colorado River again. Groty said Clover showed the film to her UMBS classes when she taught botany.
Vera Ting, an artist in residence at UMBS, led a bird-drawing workshop on Sunday, June 2, in Nichols Lab.
Using the field station's avian specimen collection, Ting taught UMBS students the use of lines and shapes to structure a bird as well as ways to use lines to define and shade a drawing.
UMBS students in Dr. Becky MacKay’s ecology class swam in Mud Lake Bog on Thursday, June 13. Kailey Koshorek, middle front, who will be a senior in the fall at U-M, said, “It is wild. It’s almost like a once in a lifetime thing. When are you going to go jump in the mud where it’s all squishy and weird? I would definitely do it again.”
Julia Frayne, a U-M student, hangs up her natural indigo dye project at Three Pines Studio and Gallery in Cross Village with the Ethnobotany class on Saturday, June 8.
Gage Larson dyed a shirt using a walnut dye at Three Pines Studio and Gallery with the Ethnobotany class.
In Limnology on Tuesday, June 11, UMBS student Costa Sideratos collected aquatic plant samples from the bottom of Douglas Lake using the rake method.
Dr. Marcin Dziuba, instructor of the Limnology: Freshwater Ecosystems class, teaches on a pontoon boat on June 11 as his students collect aquatic plant samples from the bottom of Douglas Lake using the rake method.
Teaching Assistant Jillian Bouse snaps a 0.5 selfie of the Ecology Lab class in front of Miners Castle at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Friday, June 7. Per class tradition, a selfie is snapped during each adventure.
Dr. Becky MacKay’s Ecology Lab class takes a break from research to visit Miners Castle, an iconic viewpoint of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore along Lake Superior.
UMBS student Allison Smith, right, listens to Artist in Residence Vera Ting teach a workshop on nature journaling with watercolors on Sunday, June 9.
Using a photo on her phone for reference, Allison Smith paints a yellow lady's slipper during the art workshop.
The summer lecture on Wednesday, June 12, was extra special for UMBS Researcher and Lab Manager Karin Rand, right. The speaker was her dad. Dr. Matthew Rand, left, is an associate professor of environmental medicine at the University of Rochester in New York. He has done innovative work regarding environmental mercury toxicity and the developmental effects of mercury exposure on animals.
In his talk, titled "Environmental Mercury Toxicity: Lessons from History, Hair, Microbes and Flies,” Rand talked about his research on methylmercury (MeHg), a ubiquitous environmental contaminant and high-priority toxicant of great concern to human and wildlife health. His overall approach has been to investigate the underlying molecular, genetic and developmental mechanisms that give rise to traits of resistance and susceptibility toward MeHg.
Rand called hair a great biomarker. “We’re making a ticker tape of how much mercury is in your body over time,” he said. Rand also explained how antibiotics can slow MeHg elimination and that individual differences in clearing MeHg out of the body are dependent on the gut microbes. In the future, the gut microbes responsible need to be identified as well as an understanding of the involvement of muscle in methylmercury toxicity.
Karin Rand, left, also volunteered at the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council’s Mobile Boat Wash Unit on Saturday, June 8, at the Douglas Lake boat ramp. Rand talked to boat owners about aquatic invasive species and the need for clean waters and boats. She represented UMBS alongside Mary Ellen Sheridan with the Douglas Lake Improvement Association, middle, and Emily Johnson, right, water resources specialist with Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, outside Douglas Lake Bar and Grill. Photo is courtesy of Kory Alaniz.
The Ethnobotany class hosted a home-cooked "foraging feast" of local delights on Saturday, June 15, to celebrate the end of the term. UMBS students Eva Bugnaski, left, and Clare Connelly fill their plates.
Dr. John Benedict, instructor of the Ethnobotany class, prepared smoked fish, the only meat at the foraging dinner, in the dormitory kitchen.
Pictured from left, Isabel Gil, Costa Sideratos, Gavin Purnell, Collin Gregersen and Allison Smith. Ahead of meal preparation, students gathered ramps, mushrooms, spruce tips (for tea and dessert), cranberries, cattails (you can eat the bottom, sautéed, said Benedict) and more.
Costa Sideratos, a UMBS student, eats at the foraging feast. Pesto was made with sunflowers, sunflower oil and ramps, said Benedict. Soup was made with wild rice, mushrooms and ramps.
A team from the University of Minnesota Itasca Biological Station (IBS) visited UMBS as part of an exchange program funded by the Organization of Biological Field Stations. Pictured, Dr. Aimée Classen, director of UMBS, talks about UMBS history while leading a campus tour along Douglas Lake on Tuesday, June 18. The IBS team explored laboratories and research sites at UMBS and met with our Pellston staff to discuss administrative processes, facilities, and research and education programs. In August a subset of our UMBS team will be going to the Itasca field station to learn from their operations.
From left, Eric Sather, facilities lead at IBS, Karie Slavik, associate director of UMBS, Dr. Emily Schilling, associate director of IBS, Scott Haley, facilities manager at UMBS, Heather Kokesh, operations associate at IBS, Victoria Simons, station scientist at IBS, Adam Schubel, resident biologist at UMBS, Dr. Aimée Classen, director of UMBS, and Dr. Jonathan Schilling, director of IBS.
Nearly 40 people from communities across northern Michigan attended a free, public training workshop at UMBS for the Michigan Bumble Bee Watch Program. The event started indoors on Sunday, June 16, with Dr. Mary Jamieson from Oakland University explaining why it’s important to enlist citizen scientists to monitor bumble bees and contribute to conservation as part of a statewide community science project.
UMBS students turned Gates Lecture Hall into a dance floor for a Pride Dance on Saturday, June 15.
From left, Anya Renzi, Claire Duguet, Jordan Knight and Andrea Hassig pose for a photo at the Pride Dance.
From left, Kaitlyn Wilson, Eliot Ferki and Emma Thomson pose for a photo at the Pride Dance.
Wearing glow sticks, from left, Kaitlyn Wilson, Emma Thomson and Rae Zosel all pose before taking the dance floor.
Jumanah Saadeh, operations specialist at UMBS, handed out slices of ice cream cake on Monday, June 17, during the community celebration of Eid al-Adha.
UMBS student Ethan Devereaux holds a poster presentation on Thursday, June 20, during Ecopalooza, the celebratory showcase of learning in spring term courses over the past four weeks.
G Harrison, TA for Eco-Evo-Devo, signs a student shirt during Ecopalooza as members of the community said good-bye before departing campus.
Dr. André Green, right, instructor of Eco-Evo-Devo and an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at U-M, shows 6-year-old Charlie Billau, a ninja turtle enthusiast and son of a UMBS staff member, mutant caterpillars engineered by the class during the spring term using CRISPR. The goal was to make very precise changes to the monarch butterfly’s genome in order to assess how that affects behaviors such as migration.
Revealed during Ecopalooza, the 2024 Eco-Evo-Devo undergraduate cohort is the first group of students to successfully validate induced phenotypic mutations with genomic DNA sequencing at UMBS. Stay tuned to UMBS social accounts for a story in the coming weeks.