PRESQUE ISLE COUNTY, Mich. — A muddy walk alongside a creek filled with Petoskey stones brings a group of students to a hollow hill that’s home to a natural wonder.

The hollow mound was originally created by deposition, but now erosion is what makes it so special. The Little Underground Ocqueoc River has spent centuries eroding the soft limestone under the ground, creating a one-of-a-kind ecosystem where an above-ground stream vanishes and flows beneath the earth and later reappears on the surface out of a hillside.  

Class field work at Underground Little Ocqueoc River on Wednesday, June 3. From left, Michael Stam, a senior studying ecology, and evolutionary biology (EEB) at U-M, Avery Schestag, a senior studying EEB at U-M, and Alyssa Pitsch, a sophomore in Program in the Environment (PitE) at U-M, look at leaf litter area cover and its impact on nitrogen in the soil.

The site is one of many sampling locations for the University of Michigan’s Biostation’s (UMBS) General Ecology Lab, a four-week course based at the Pellston campus focused on giving students hands-on scientific experience while exploring the diverse environments of northern Michigan.

UMBS is one of the nation's largest and longest continuously operating field research stations. With cabins, classrooms and laboratories nestled along Douglas Lake, the research and teaching campus is situated on more than 10,000 forested acres.

The class splits into groups to engage with the scientific process from start to finish: students create their own question, propose a hypothesis and then sample a variety of sites to reach a conclusion.

The Ocqueoc excursion on Wednesday, June 3, marked the first field research experience for many of the students in the 2026 class including Avery Schestag. The senior studying ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB) at U-M, was part of a group that explored dead leaf and plant material — or leaf-litter cover area — and if dead-plant cover is related to soil nitrogen, a nutrient that is an important building block of life.

“I didn’t have any research experience, so going out in the field with our own question, it was really cool,” Schestag said. “I figured out how much work goes into research: our ability to research something in a short time, field conditions and changing our plans to ensure they were accurate at each site. I had heard about it, but I never experienced it until I went to the Biological Station.”

Ese Izirein, on the left, a senior studying PitE at U-M, and Konstantin Olsen, a senior studying EEB at U-M, identified plants in their quadrat on Tuesday, June 9, at Beavertail Creek. They studied how soil moisture impacts species composition at different distances from water.

Data collected from each group's class research projects are stored permanently in the UMBS research portal, so that other students and researchers can follow up their studies years later to see if the observed relationships between things like dead leaf litter area and soil nitrogen change over time.

“The goal of the class is to have ownership of your research. Students get to pick the question, students get to decide how they’re sampling, students get to decide how to communicate their results,” said Dr. Corey Monks, the General Ecology Lab course instructor for the spring 2026 term.

For students, this means traveling around northern Michigan’s diverse landscapes and sampling, allowing them to see Michigan's wilderness while learning about the successes — and failures — of the scientific process.

“It’s important for students to have as much of an authentic research experience as possible. In the field, things rarely go how you plan,” Monks said. “Building in time to address the challenges and work together to get through problems is a major emphasis of the ownership of student’s research.” 

Dawn Jula, left, and her group created and measured out their transect in the river to sample macroinvertebrates in order to study patterns in species compositions as flow rate changes at the Ocqueoc River on June 3..

One group sampled macroinvertebrates in aquatic ecosystems in order to study patterns in species compositions as flow rate changes. Another chose to focus on species composition at different distances from water.

The hands-on work of the independent research project in the General Ecology Lab course at UMBS was an eye-opening experience for Laurie Planter, a senior in the Program in the Environment (PitE) at U-M.

“Growing up, you hear about the scientific process, but there has never been a time I carried it out myself: sampling, running the statistics and then communicating it with the class in an understandable way,” Platner said, “It felt like I took the information I gathered over what felt like a long time, and was able to actually put it to use.”

Kavya Krishnan, a junior studying EEB at U-M, enjoyed the sense of camaraderie created by days working together in the field.  

Joey Hane, a senior in PitE at U-M, sampled soil for nitrogen content at Beavertail Creek on June 9. His group’s project was focused on how leaf litter cover impacts nitrogen content in the soil.

“This is the first time I’ve seen something from the beginning to the end. It's our group, we made everything, did everything and presented everything at the end. It was fulfilling,” Krishnan said. “It was also amazing to see more of Michigan. The furthest north I had been is Ann Arbor, and traveling with someone like Dr. Monks who knew a lot about it was amazing.”

The class sampling journeys around northern Michigan culminated in groups presenting their work in a scientific paper and a final presentation. While the paper gave students experience with academic writing, the presentation took many forms.

Platner and Krishnan chose to make children’s books.

“For our presentation, I thought of a younger me and how I would want the information to be told,” Platner said. “For our group, we created a book where a porcupine did our experiment. I really had to think about what we found and how to say it, and it made all of the presentations more interesting than the formal, ‘We did this in R, these are the results we got.’’”

Krishnan’s book rhymed to explain the group’s results and told the story of how a trillium named Trilly could use their results to grow. 

As a community service project, UMBS students in the General Ecology Lab course taught by Dr. Corrine Monks, helped Resident Biologist Adam Schubel do several projects at the Gorge on Monday, June 15. They put pipes underneath a beaver dam to keep creek water flowing, cleared hiking trails, and installed safety posts on a boardwalk.

“Putting everything in simpler terms helped me understand our experiment more. I thought of the books my mom would read to me as a kid and make me care more and ask more questions,” Krishnan said. “When did that ever stop?”

Every year, the Ecology Lab course at UMBS gives students an opportunity to own their research project, and upload it to the extensive history of science at the station. From drafting a question, to sampling, to presenting results, the class allows students to be in control of it all. 

While the final paper gives students the ability to formally finish their research project, other projects like the science communications element allow students to deeply engage with complex topics while allowing their creativity to shine.  

“When we enable students to ask real questions in their courses, they discover,” said Dr. Aimée Classen, director of UMBS. “Inquiry-based courses lead to learning unlike anything you can get inside a classroom. The living laboratory that is the University of Michigan Biological Station is an inspiring place for researchers of all ages to immerse themselves in nature and let that experience change their understanding of the world.”

 

The University of Michigan Biological Station serves as a gathering place to learn from the natural world, advance research and education, and inspire action. We leverage over a century of research and transformative experiences to drive discoveries and solutions to benefit Michigan and beyond.

Our vast campus engages all of the senses. Its remote, natural setting nurtures deep thought and scientific discovery.

Founded in 1909, UMBS supports long-term research and education through immersive, field-based courses and features state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for data collection and analysis to help any field researcher be productive. It is where students and scientists from across the globe live and work as a community to learn from the place.

Subscribe to the UMBS monthly e-newsletter and follow the field station on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and X (formerly Twitter).

A student project at Underground Little Ocqueoc River focused on species composition at different distances from water. Pictured on June 3, from left, Emily Anger and Josh Levine, both seniors in PitE at U-M, identified species close to the river.
Zafir Maker-Agha, a senior studying business administration and PitE, sampled nitrogen from the soil on June 9 as part of his General Ecology Lab research project.
During a community service project at UMBS on June 15, students in the General Ecology Lab course installed posts on the boardwalk portion of the Gorge trail to maintain public safety and accessibility.
Dawn Jula, a senior double majoring in sociology and PitE at U-M, stopped to smile for a photo on June 15 while working to keep flow moving under a beaver dam at the Gorge as part of the community service project in the General Ecology Lab class. Students helped put pipes underneath the dam and clear out foliage to preserve flow rates of the Carp Creek ecosystem.
Ese Izirein, a senior in PitE at U-M, cleaned up the trail along the Gorge paths as part of class volunteer work to give back to UMBS and the community as the spring 2026 term neared its end.