Public Invited to Free Summer Lecture Series at U-M Biological Station
The free, public talks in 2025 are on Wednesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. in Gates Lecture Hall at the University of Michigan Biological Station on Douglas Lake, located at 9133 Biological Rd. in Pellston.
- May 21: “A Life Aquatic: 40 Years Revealing the Underwater World of Odors.” Dr. Paul Moore, an instructor of the General Ecology Lecture course at UMBS, has been doing research at the UMBS Stream Lab for 28 years. He also is a professor at Bowling Green State University.
- May 28: “Restoration Toward Robust Native Fisheries in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron.” Dr. Scott Koenigbauer is a fish biologist with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service at the Alpena Conservation Office. He is focused on the conservation of Great Lakes native fishes. Koenigbauer also is an alumnus of UMBS. He studied at UMBS in 2017. His talk will address multiagency efforts to restore degraded rock reef spawning habitat and re-establish a once abundant native mesotrophic fish, cisco (Coregonus artedi), in Saginaw Bay.
- June 4: “What Can We Learn About Sex from Studying Fungi?” Dr. Timothy Y. James teaches the Field Mycology course at UMBS and is a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Michigan, the curator of fungi at the University Herbarium, and the Lewis E. Wehmeyer and Elaine Prince Wehmeyer Chair in Fungal Taxonomy. James will examine how fungi display a bewildering diversity in reproduction, from bizarre spore morphology to unusual sexual strategies, such as mating type and mate switching. He also will review patterns of evolutionary change and explore some of the unanswered questions in evolutionary biology regarding sex and why it is so widespread in all eukaryotes.
- June 11: Pettingill Lecture in Natural History. “Manoomin – The Good Berry.” Frank Zomer is the inland fisheries biologist for the Bay Mills Indian Community and leads the manoomin, or wild rice, restoration program for the tribe. Zomer will discuss the importance of manoomin to Anishinaabe people, the history of manoomin in Michigan, reasons for its loss/decline across the state, and where we are now.
- June 18: Pettingil Lecture in Natural History. “The Long-Term Maintenance of Regenerative Agriculture Enhances Climate Resiliency and Supports Soil Biodiversity.” Dr. Christine Sprunger is an associate professor of soil health at Michigan State University and is currently serving as interim associate director at the W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS). Sprunger will examine how soil carbon and free-living nematode communities shift through time, demonstrate how nematodes are critical bioindicators of drought events within agroecosystems, discuss the socio-ecological aspects of regenerative agriculture, and present ways to engage farmers on climate resiliency topics.
- June 25: “Climate Change and Human Health.” Larry Junck, MD, is a neurologist studying how brain health is compromised by climate change. The researcher and professor emeritus of neurology at the University of Michigan will discuss air pollution from fossil fuels, the effects of air pollution on human health, infections related to climate change, other health consequences of climate change, and what we as citizens and scientists can do.
- July 2: Hann Lecture in Ornithology. “A Little Looney: Lessons Learned as a Loon Biologist.” Dr. Jay Mager is a professor of biological sciences at Ohio Northern University. Mager will provide an overview of the life history of the Common Loon, share insight into the past work considering behavioral mechanisms by which loons select and defend breeding territories, and discuss current conservation practices by scientists and citizens to preserve and protect loon populations, including more recent work considering the behavior of loons during the non-breeding season.
- July 9: Pettingil Lecture in Natural History. “Mutualism: What do we know, and where do we go from here?” Dr. Judith L. Bronstein is University Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Arizona, with a joint appointment in the Department of Entomology. She also is an alumna of the U-M Biological Station. She studied at UMBS in 1978. Mutualism is cooperation among different species. Bronstein will discuss her recent work on pollination.
- July 16: “Decoding Biological Invasions: Impacts and a New Approach to Management.” Dr. Mariano Rodriguez-Cabal is a researcher and instructor of the General Ecology Lecture course at UMBS. He also is a research assistant professor at the University of Vermont in the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources. The field ecologist’s research focuses on understanding how species and ecosystems respond to the rampant loss of biodiversity, climate change, and the spread of invasive species.
- July 23: Bennett Lecture in Mycology and Plant Biology. “Cascades in Corn Cover Crops and Milkweeds that Make Migrating Monarchs: Chemical Ecology at the Intersection of Pest Management and Conservation.” Dr. Jared Ali at Penn State University is the director of the Center for Chemical Ecology, acting director of Penn State’s Ecology Research Institute and associate chair of the Ecology Graduate Program at Penn State. Ali will discuss how different milkweed species impact monarch butterfly flight, shedding light on the chemical cues that shape migration. He’ll also highlight ways to support both agricultural sustainability and insect biodiversity.
- July 30: “Nitrogen as a Driver of HABs in the Great Lakes.” Dr. Silvia Newell is the director of Michigan Sea Grant and a professor at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability. Harmful algal blooms (HABs) can cause fish kills, foul up nearby coastlines, and produce conditions that are dangerous to aquatic life, as well as humans. Newell is a nutrient biogeochemist and microbial ecologist who researches the effects of excess nutrients from fertilizer and wastewater on inland and coastal waters, with a focus on harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie. She engages stakeholders to develop realistic pathways for nutrient reduction.
