Greetings from Douglas Lake!
We are soaring into summer.
Students are stepping out of their comfort zones — with some even wearing harnesses and hard hats to scale heights in the name of science.
I want to give a shout out to John Lenters, senior research specialist at UMBS, for developing and leading a three-day tower safety training this month that allowed students in the new “Observation and Modeling of Climate Change Biology” course to safely climb to the top of the AmeriFlux tower.
Read the UMBS story about their brilliant view atop the trees and how the journey informed their class research.
One of those students is someone you should know. A skateboarding accident last year forced Nick Holcomb, a rising senior at U-M, to pause his academic journey in Ann Arbor. After a successful recovery from traumatic brain injury, Nick is back on track with an intensive return to classes in northern Michigan. Read his inspiring story.
Researchers from around the world are flocking to and from UMBS in nearly unbelievable numbers this busy season.
(When I say we’re at capacity, I mean our operations and maintenance teams are working hard, moving quickly and playing Schedule Sudoku to free housing space. Thank you to Maintenance Supervisor Renee Kinney and Operations Specialist Jumanah Saadeh!)
Of particular fascination to fellow scientists, a team from Michigan State University led by Dr. Christine Sprunger brought in a massive drilling rig from Illinois called a Geoprobe to gather deep soil core samples at UMBS as part of an ongoing study of soil carbon and nematode communities. We’re like kids with a new toy.
Scroll through our equally massive Photo Gallery to read about that project as well as 120+ community highlights from the spring season including line dancing, volleyball, trivia nights, class explorations, children (yes, children) research projects in our Nature Day Camp and summaries from our distinguished guest speakers.
This month’s feature story takes you behind the scenes of songbird migration research. We are grateful to everyone in the lab of Dr. Ben Winger in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (especially Ph.D. student Matt Hack) for pulling back the curtain on high-tech, lightweight technology that’s attached like mini-backpacks on a variety of species including warblers, vireos and thrushes and revealing amazing flights. Be sure to dig into the “why” behind their work.
Our 2025 artist in residence is already creating music with the community. Ricardo Lyra from Brazil brought his guitar to UMBS and a plan to create an album inspired by natural sounds. In fact, his first workshop with students and researchers resulted in a new song featuring the call of loons, instruments, and the voice and poetry of U-M senior Mikel Vaughan-Coston.
Speaking of loons, if you’re in northern Michigan in July, please consider joining us at UMBS for our Summer Lecture Series (view full schedule here).
This Wednesday (July 2) we’re focusing on the Common Loon with Dr. Jay Mager, a professor of biological sciences at Ohio Northern University.
We’re also taking the show on the road for the second year in a row in partnership with Charlevoix Public Library. Join us July 29 in Charlevoix for an evening with Sharon Shattuck, an award-winning documentary filmmaker and UMBS alumna, who is sharing her creative secrets in making science less stodgy and more playful and fun for all.
Read our Alumni Success story all about Sharon — including her attempt at training a chipmunk and what she wants everyone to know about microbes.
We are thrilled with the number of people who signed up to join us for Alumni Weekend in August. If you’re registered, expect to receive an email very soon with the schedule.
Enjoy your summer! Feel free to stop by and say hello to us along Douglas Lake. Read the full June 2025 newsletter. Sincerely, Dr. Aimée Classen
Director |
