The University of Michigan Biological Station is the perfect location for conducting your research. Founded in 1909, UMBS leverages over a century of research and features state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for data collection and analysis to help any field researcher be productive.
In 2023 alone, 37 research labs representing 23 institutions from around the world came to UMBS to conduct field-based research on our 10,000+ forested acres surrounded by lakes. We also have:
- More than 100 years of place-based data and information
- Fellowships to help support researchers — graduate students, faculty, early career researchers, post-docs
- Fully funded summer camp for children of researchers and students
The research opportunities are limitless.
Follow the links below to learn about examples of the work other researchers are doing, the resources UMBS makes available to researchers and steps to take to start your research project at UMBS.
Research Projects
UMBS attracts researchers working on a wide variety of topics ranging from disease ecology and animal behavior to plant community ecology and changing winters. To name only a few, there are scientists tracking carbon storage and fluxes through successive forest systems and to the atmosphere; others are monitoring mating habits and nesting sites of the endangered Great Lakes Piping Plover; and still more are assessing the impacts of dam removal on animal and plant populations in local rivers and wetlands.
Research Fellowships
We invite research scientists and graduate students from any institution to apply to conduct their research at the University of Michigan Biological Station. UMBS offers an optimal location for research in ecology and evolutionary biology. We have a variety of habitats on or near Biological Station property and state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for data collection and analysis. For many research sites, we have long-term or historical data sets for baseline or reference points. Additionally, alumni gifts and University sources have provided limited funding to assist graduate students and who are working toward their degree while in residence at the field station and research PIs starting research programs at the Biological Station or experiencing a gap in funding.
Project Proposal and Renewal Application
Apply today! We are actively recruiting new research teams. Click here to join our engaged science community and get your project started.
Life at the Station
Laboratories, cabins and classrooms are nestled along Douglas Lake at the remote field research station — the largest of U-M’s campuses — located about 20 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge. Students and scientists live and work as a community to learn from the place at UMBS, which is one of the nation’s largest and longest continuously operating field research stations. Explore the Life at the Station website to learn more about housing, dining, laundry and more.
