PELLSTON, Mich. — The University of Michigan Biological Station alters the way you see the world.
Laboratories and cabins are nestled along Douglas Lake in Pellston to support long-term climate research and education.
Undergraduate students of all majors and minors from colleges and universities from all over the globe are welcome to join the world of discovery during four-week spring and summer terms at the more than 10,000-acre research and teaching campus located about 20 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge.
“This is probably the most hands-on class I’ve ever had, and I love it so much,” said Emma Thomson, a UMBS student in 2023 and a sophomore at U-M, after she went snorkeling as part of a fish survey for the Rivers, Lakes and Wetlands course.
“It’s making us think a little deeper about organisms that aren’t humans,” said Naomy Diake, a UMBS student in 2023 and a senior at U-M, as she built an artificial bird’s nest out of grass and twigs during a general ecology course that conducted a wildlife experiment to catch nest-raiding predators using camera traps.
In its second century of research and education, the thriving U-M campus in northern Michigan is home to cutting-edge, field-based experiential learning. More than 10,500 students have been shaped by the place and world-class programs since 1909.
“They’re immersed here in northern Michigan in a landscape that’s dynamic, that’s changing, that also is representative of the region,” said Dr. Chris Gough, a UMBS researcher and associate professor of biology at Virginia Commonwealth University.
“I love the setting of the Biological Station. We see and appreciate the biodiversity that’s around us at the station. But we get to think a bit more deeply about: How does that biodiversity come to be?” said Dr. André Green, a UMBS instructor and an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at U-M.
UMBS is one of the nation’s largest and longest continuously operating field research stations. Together, students and scientists live and work as a community to learn from the place. They help forecast how organisms, populations, communities and ecosystems will function in the future under conditions that humans have never seen before.
No prior field experience is required for undergraduate students.
“Don’t be intimidated by the ‘field’ and outdoorsy aspect of it,” said Austin Melancon, a UMBS student and RA in 2023 who took field botany and forest ecosystems courses. “A lot of people here have never done things outdoors and there’s a lot of people to help.”
Melancon, who is from Texas, is a transfer student to U-M. He chose to pursue plant biology after serving in the military in intelligence and linguistics. Based in Augusta, Georgia, Melancon translated several languages as a cryptologic technician interpretive, his official title, until 2022.
“It’s been really awesome to see the community within the Michigan community and how welcoming they are of not just undergraduate students from Michigan but other schools as well,” Melancon said. “Everyone helps each other out here and looks out for each other. And the classes here are unique. You’re not going get that experience on central campus or really most other campuses.”
Cutting-edge curriculum includes CRISPR gene-editing in the classroom. “Eco-Evo-Devo: How Genome and Environment Affect Organismal Development” combines field-based research and modern technology to explore the resiliency of monarch butterflies.
“It’s a great hands-on experience. Almost no students are going to get an experience like this, you know,” said Dorian Campillo, a UMBS student in 2023 and a senior at U-M who took the Eco-Evo-Devo course at the field station. “I’m learning new things. I’m doing things that not many people in the world have done.”
The remote field station in the Northwoods offers courses ranging from English and art to biology and botany — courses vary every year.
“It’s not in a textbook or picture on a computer you’re looking at,” Melancon said. “You’re able to interact with them, take a flower apart, and look at the pieces of it.”
“Being able to get into the UP or being able to get into these spectacular wetlands is really accessible from our location,” said Dr. Susan Fawcett, a UMBS instructor and a research botanist at the University of California, Berkeley.
Scholarships are available to all students, including guest and international students.
Alumni around the world proudly give back and support the next generation of problem solvers.
“We’re creating a sort of drum beat and a continuing cadence of developing young people into the sorts of environmental scientists and advocates that we know that we need in order to impact the change that now has become that much more urgent,” said Dr. Linda Greer, an environmental scientist and impact advisor based in Washington, D.C. and UMBS alumna from the 1970s.
After five summers at UMBS, Greer pursued a career in advocacy, applying science as a lobbyist to environmental decision makers. She became famous as an international sustainability scientist for her work fighting pollution and waste in the fashion and clothing industry.
Greer is one of the founders of the CLEAR Fellowship, a student fellowship at UMBS that mixes aquatic research, advocacy and public outreach.
Indira Sankaran, a senior at U-M, was the 2023 UMBS CLEAR Fellow. CLEAR Fellows take a course at UMBS and intern at the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, an environmental nonprofit based in Petoskey.
“I think I’m understanding more about what it means to be in the conservation field. And how although it is surveying and protecting species, it’s also connecting with the public,” said Sankaran, as she waded knee-high in the Maple River looking for an endangered water beetle. “I’m talking to a lot more people that are researching and doing a lot of cool stuff here. It’s an amazing experience.”
The historic field station is about a three-and-a-half-hour drive north from Ann Arbor.
Applications are open for 2024 courses and scholarships.
The Spring 2024 Term is from May 21 through June 20. The Summer 2024 Term is from July 2 through Aug. 1.
Learn about available courses, review schedule structure and apply on the UMBS course website.
The 2024 line-up includes the debut of “Insights from Trees: Science, Art, and Observation in a Noisy World.”
The priority deadline for course applications and scholarships is March 15, 2024.
UMBS offers undergraduate student research fellowships. Applications are due by Feb. 15, 2024, for the CLEAR Fellowship (aquatic ecology and advocacy) and the Bach-Hazlett Fellowship (ecology and behavior).
WATCH VIDEO: Earn Credits. Do Research. Explore Northern Michigan.