The University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) is located on the ancestral land of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians. After the Band’s forced relocation, logging and fires destroyed the landscape. UMBS was established in 1909 on land acquired from lumber barons.

UMBS is now an interactive community where students, faculty and researchers come together to learn about the natural world, to examine environmental change, and to seek solutions to the critical environmental challenges of our times.

Welcome to UMBS

Resident biologist Adam Schubel describes how the U-M Biological Station supports visiting researchers. The Biostation’s facilities include a stream lab, a chemistry lab and two flux towers that measures Co2 exchange with the atmosphere.

 

A Century of Research

The UMBS is located at the “tip of the mitt.” For over a century, researchers and students have gathered to study human impact on the environment in this unique setting.

 

The Value of Longterm Data

As the oldest continuously running field station in the nation, UMBS researchers have collected an immense and diverse dataset. This invaluable information is carefully stored and managed so scientists will be able to access it well into the future.

 

Learning Outdoors

U-M alum and UMBS faculty member Amy Schrank, PhD, is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota. At UMBS, she uses the unique setting to expose students of all types to field work in her specialty, the biology and ecology of fishes.

 

The Forest Laboratory

Phoebe Aron, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan. Focusing on hydrology and climate sciences, her research at UMBS looks at the role of forest structure in water regulation.

 

Student Life

Every year, UMBS welcomes U-M students to its campus for summer courses. For many, the hands on learning in the field can be a life changing experience.

Karie Slavik is Associate Director, UMBS and Jumaah Saadeh is Student Coordinator, UMBS.

 

Collaborations

The living-learning community at UMBS makes it easy to connect with other students and researchers. Sometimes, the best science collaborations begin from a simple conversation.

 

 

 

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