Good tidings to you, wherever you are, this season.
Working with the staff at the U-M Biological Station is a gift every day of the year. Those festive faces at the top of this newsletter are the heart of our field station family. In the fall and winter, we split our operations between Pellston and Ann Arbor. But as Douglas Lake started to freeze over, we reunited our team (along with some of their loved ones and UMBS staff alumni) in the Northwoods to celebrate a successful year. These talented people are dedicated to this special place and our mission of research, education, community engagement and preservation. Cheers to everyone who makes UMBS such a wonderful field station!
A quick reminder: To celebrate your connection to UMBS this season, you can order UMBS swag from the new UMBS online store. Use the Promo Code AATCSANTA10 to take 10% off in December.
This month we have several examples of the outstanding opportunities available for experiential learning and undergraduate student research here at the Biological Station.
I am proud to report that large-scale, long-term UMBS research regarding the removal of a dam on the Maple River was published in the journal Science of the Total Environment this month. The 10-year study describes changes to the Maple River’s habitat as a result of removing the Lake Kathleen Dam. Read the UMBS story detailing how hundreds of UMBS students were involved in the environmental monitoring and analysis before, during and after the dam’s removal. It's amazing that a decade of UMBS students and faculty played a critical role in helping guide land managers and conservationists across the country as they take on river restoration and recovery efforts.
Also, thank you to Stewards Magazine and U-M SEAS for writing a fascinating story about bird conservation research conducted by master’s student Isaac Smith and undergraduate student Mark Ziebell at UMBS earlier this year. Read all about their nest-warming experiment.
Applications are open for the 2024 spring and summer terms. Please encourage students in your network to take a look at our field-based courses. UMBS welcomes all majors and accepts U-M students as well as students enrolled at other universities.
As we approach the end of 2023 and ramp up our efforts to take UMBS operations year-round and carbon neutral, please consider targeting your end-of-year philanthropy at the Biological Station Discretionary Fund. In our second century, your generosity will immediately strengthen our evolution into the field station of the future during this urgent time in human history that calls for a focus on sustainability and the need for more environmental problem solvers who can pursue careers in all institutions and industries around the world.
Read our full December 2023 Newsletter to read more stories and see photos of ice of Douglas Lake.
Sincerely,
Dr. Aimée Classen
Director
