PELLSTON — The University of Michigan Biological Station welcomes our Douglas Lake neighbors to help find and identify as many species as possible in our community during a three-day period in late July.

The 2023 BioBlitz from Friday, July 21, to Sunday, July 23, is focused on Douglas Lake and aquatic species, in particular.

UMBS is partnering with the Douglas Lake Improvement Association, researchers at UMBS, the U-M Museum of Zoology and Herbarium, the State of Michigan EGLE and local watershed councils to achieve an overall tally of the plants, animals, fungi and other organisms that call this specific part of northern Michigan home.

We encourage families to search in and around the lake and upload observations to the iNaturalist Project app, which is free.

“The University of Michigan Biological Station is excited for scientists and citizens to work together to conduct a 72-hour ecological sampling of the Douglas Lake area to log as many species as possible to assess biodiversity and ecosystem health,” said Dr. Helen Habicht, lab manager at UMBS. “We’ve been a proud member of this community for 114 years and appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with our neighbors through our BioBlitz.”

To participate, set up an iNaturalist account either online or through the app. After you set up your account, join the UMBS 2023 BioBlitz Project. After you submit observations to this project, your data will be recorded in the overall UMBS Summer 2023 Observations Project.

“iNaturalist is a fun and powerful data and learning tool used by naturalists at all levels, from curious beginners to expert scientists,” said UMBS Resident Biologist Adam Schubel. “It includes astounding image recognition software. There is no need to know what you are looking at to record observations.”

If you’re not available Friday, Saturday or Sunday during the focused effort, the iNaturalist project will be open and accepting observations Thursday, July 20, and Monday, July 24, too.

The BioBlitz will close with a UMBS Open House from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, July 23, which all local community members are invited to attend.

Please visit and tour our main research and teaching campus at 9133 Biological Rd., located off of Riggsville Road.

Guests will be able to explore the historic field station and learn about the field courses we teach every spring and summer.

Families will have the opportunity to view biological samples on display under the outdoor tent such as insect collections, mammal skulls and bird skins as well as plant, rock and soil samples. Researchers will be available to discuss their areas of expertise.

Sunday’s event at UMBS is free and open to the public. Please note that pets are not allowed in the station because of our research and experiments.

For more information about the Open House, read the UMBS story.