PELLSTON — Around 80 students moved in on Memorial Day Weekend for the spring term at the University of Michigan Biological Station to start the experience of a lifetime in northern Michigan.

“It’s super beautiful here,” said Claire Kostecki, who will be a senior at U-M in the fall. “I wasn’t expecting it. But it’s really, really nice. It’s super quaint. And it’s really inspiring to be surrounded by so many students who have been here before.”

“I was really nervous at first but now I’m pretty excited because everyone is really friendly and just excited to move in,” said Nicole Hammond, a senior at U-M. “I hope to make a lot of friends and learn a lot since this is my last class of U-of-M. After this, I’m graduating.”

Cabins and laboratories are tucked into more than 10,000 acres along Douglas Lake to support long-term global change research and education.

“I’m looking forward to taking both of my classes. I’m taking ecology and ethnobotany,” said Elio Ilagan, a freshman at U-M. “I’m really excited about taking those and doing field work as well because I’m not really experienced with field work.”

George Manson, who will be a senior in the fall, said his first impression is that the scientific field station is “very rustic.”

“I’m taking an ecology lab that’s supposed to have a lot of hands-on fieldwork and you can’t get anything like that in any course on campus at U-of-M so I hope to get some practical experience that I can carry with me for the rest of my life,” Manson said.

The new students at UMBS were fascinated by the scrawls on the historic cabin walls. The field station opened in 1909.

“I can see all the writing inside,” said Ilagan. “It looks fun and nice. I hope I’ll be good friends with my roommates.”

In what has been affectionately labeled Gnome Home, there are messages from 1940 and 1973. However, words from a student named Rob in 2018 touches Kostecki’s heart.

“I really like this one,” Kostecki said. “It talks about disconnecting from technology and reconnecting with nature.”

“It’s a lot cooler than I thought,” Hammond said. “Originally, I was worried. But it’s really cool.”

This is the start of the 115th session of UMBS. Watch the 2023 move-in video on the UMBS YouTube channel.