PELLSTON, Mich. — The University of Michigan College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) has reappointed Dr. Aimée Classen as the director of the U-M Biological Station for an additional five years.
Classen, an ecosystem and global change ecologist and a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at U-M, will continue to lead the historic research and teaching campus in northern Michigan through June 30, 2030.
She joined the Biological Station in 2020 and is the first woman to serve as director since its founding in 1909. Alumna Linda Greer served as interim director from 2016-2017.
Dr. Rosario Ceballo, dean of LSA, made the announcement to college leadership and staff as well as UMBS researchers and teaching faculty from around the world.
“Professor Classen will have the full support and cooperation of the dean’s office and the college as she continues in this leadership role, and I trust that she will also have yours,” Ceballo said. “Thank you, Professor Classen, for your ongoing commitment to the BioStation, the college, and the university.”
The U-M Biological Station — the largest of U-M's campuses — is one of the nation's largest and longest continuously operating field research stations, located about 20 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge.
Laboratories, classrooms and cabins are nestled along Douglas Lake’s South Fishtail Bay, making up a small portion of the more than 10,000 forested acres surrounded by rivers, lakes and bogs.
“I am honored to steward such a special place and hold deep respect for its rich history of discovery and transformational experiences immersed in nature,” Classen said. “The Biological Station has been home to high-quality, field-based research and learning for 116 years, now spanning science, arts and the humanities in its second century of operations. I am excited for what we will accomplish together in the next five years at a critical time in human history amid a changing landscape.”
“I am grateful for the support from the college and University and especially want to thank the Biological Station’s staff who do outstanding work to support our mission every day.”
Under Classen’s leadership, UMBS has strengthened the connections between main campus in Ann Arbor and UMBS campus in Pellston through faculty, student and researcher recruitment as well as program alignment for academic courses. Notably, the reduction in the length of the spring and summer terms to four weeks resulted in an increase in student learning outcomes.
Thanks to a renewed focus on alumni, donor and community engagement, UMBS was able to support more students and scientists from around the world through an increase in scholarships and fellowships. For example, Classen created the Biological Station Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, which debuted this year with 10 students. Each undergraduate student research fellow received a $5,500 stipend, on-campus housing, meals and a research mentor.
Classen’s team also created and launched a Strategic Plan to guide the next five years of enhanced field-based learning, research discovery, historic data sharing, and community engagement.
One of the major goals includes an expansion to year-round academic operations so UMBS can offer semesters up north in the fall and winter.
“Time and time again, I hear from UMBS alumni — doctors and lawyers and high school teachers and fellow scientists — that their summers spent at this place changed their life,” Classen said. “By winterizing more buildings on campus and creating innovative educational and research opportunities year-round, we can welcome so many more students, faculty and researchers from around the world. I look forward to continued success, sustainability, curiosity and inspiration.”
Prior to joining U-M, Classen was a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Vermont, associate professor at the University of Copenhagen, associate professor at the University of Tennessee and a staff scientist at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
She serves on the executive committee of the U-M Graham Institute and as a board member of Collaborative Earth. Classen also is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Ecological Society of America, an editorial committee member for the “Annual Reviews of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics,” and a member of the science advisory board for the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Classen received her Ph.D. in biology from Northern Arizona University in 2004 and her bachelor’s degree in biological science from Smith College in 1995.
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.
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