PELLSTON, Mich. — Gathering together on Independence Day is a beloved tradition for the historic field station in northern Michigan.

The University of Michigan Biological Station held its annual Fourth of July celebration this week. Students, staff, scientists, teaching faculty, alumni and their families enjoyed food, fun and games along Douglas Lake. The picnic included tug-of-war, water balloon toss and relay races.

Children who live on campus during the summer while their parents work at the field station decorated their own bikes for a parade. 

Watch the video of UMBS festivities on July 4, 2024, and scroll down to view the photo gallery.

Founded in 1909, the U-M Biological Station is one of the nation’s largest and longest continuously operating field research stations. For 116 years, students, faculty and researchers from around the globe have studied and monitored the impact of environmental changes on northern Michigan ecosystems.

The core mission of the Biological Station is to advance environmental field research, engage students in scientific discovery and provide information needed to understand and sustain ecosystems from local to global scales. In this cross-disciplinary, interactive community, students, faculty and researchers from around the globe come together to learn about and from the natural world and seek solutions to the critical environmental challenges of our time.

Dr. Chris Gough, a UMBS researcher and professor of biology at Virginia Commonwealth University, wore a rock star wig and carried a loudspeaker to provide music for the Fourth of July parade.
Gough rode along with children who spend the field season on campus.
They festively decorated their bikes, helmets and faces for the annual parade.
The children's families as well as UMBS students and staff cheered along the parade route. 
The UMBS campus community paired up to compete in the water balloon toss. Teams started close together. On the right wearing butterfly wings, 8-year-old Hazel Freeman successfully threw a water balloon to her mom Avril Wiers, who leads the children's nature day camp. 
Eight-year-old Hazel Freeman closed her eyes to prepare for a splash. 
UMBS student Makeda Dandridge made it to the final round of the water balloon competition.
Isabel Gil, the UMBS science communications intern this field season who will be a senior at U-M in the fall, hung on to the rope and yelled "Pull!" as she started to slide toward the center line.