University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS)

Spring and Summer Undergraduate Courses at the U-M Biological Station Immerse yourself in adventurous, field-based courses taught during four-week spring and summer terms. Most courses have a research component. All majors welcome.

Spring Photo Gallery: Life at a Field Research Station Scroll through 125 community highlights from May 2025 through the end of June at the University of Michigan Biological Station, the research and teaching campus along Douglas Lake in northern Michigan.

Sibling Success in Law and Medicine: ‘The Bio Station Shaped Our Values’ Seeta Goyal is an assistant attorney general in the environmental bureau of the Illinois Attorney General’s Office. Her brother Dr. Kiran Goyal is a third-year medical resident in vascular surgery at Ohio State University.

U-M Research Team Recaptures Songbird Sensors to Unlock Migration Mysteries Researchers at the University of Michigan Biological Station deploy and successfully recapture lightweight geolocators on a suite of migratory songbirds that breed in the boreal forests of northern Michigan.

U-M Biological Station Adopts New Strategic Plan to Guide Next Five Years Founded in 1909, the more than 10,000-acre historic campus in northern Michigan is targeting an expansion to year-round research and teaching operations by 2030.

Undergraduate Students at U-M Biological Station Co-Author Mite-y Research Paper in Scientific Journal The journal Ecology and Evolution published a paper co-authored by all students in the Insights From Trees class evaluating the abundance of mites — which play a mighty role in defending their host plant from invaders— on foliage from woody plant species.

From Chemistry Labs to Atmospheric Towers: World Class Research Facilities Interested in doing research at the Station or curious what we have to offer? Read all about our research facilities.

UMBS Students Build Flux Tower to Measure Climate Change Biology In their first full week in the 2025 spring term, students in a class at the University of Michigan Biological Station erected a tall metal structure that holds different sensors and computers to measure atmospheric data and environmental conditions.

New Study Finds Time is Not the Driving Influence of Forest Carbon Storage Research published in the journal Ecological Applications involved the effort of more than 100 scientists over many decades at the University of Michigan Biological Station and leverages historic data at the campus in northern Michigan.

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Recent News

Students Spot Kirtland’s Warbler in Jack Pine Barrens and Explore Old-Growth Forests in Northern Michigan

Students taking the Conservation Biology in Practice course at the University of Michigan Biological Station met people who are saving species and protecting habitats in northern Michigan and experienced first-hand their best practices for success.

Loon Raising Orphan Gosling as its Own on Douglas Lake in Northern Michigan

Marilyn Gates, the daughter of former UMBS director David M. Gates, used her 800 mm camera lens to capture an unusual moment on Douglas Lake on Sunday, June 7. A newly hatched goose rode on the back of its surrogate parent: a loon!

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