ANN ARBOR, Mich. — This fall the University of Michigan launched its most ambitious and innovative fundraising campaign to date, with a goal of raising $7 billion—the largest effort in U-M history and the largest known campaign goal of any public university.
It’s called the Look to Michigan campaign — and the life-changing, immersive experience for students and researchers at the University of Michigan Biological Station is featured prominently.
Students at the research and teaching campus in northern Michigan can be seen in a commercial that started airing during the Michigan game against MSU on the Big Ten Network Oct. 26 and on other promotional materials on display throughout Main Campus.
Karin Rand, a UMBS researcher and manager of the Classen Lab, can be seen on a digital sign outside the Big House as well as in the printed Look Book for the campaign.
The Look to Michigan digital ad shows Rand taking soil measurements in a field at UMBS, with these words on the photo: “For Transformative Discoveries that disrupt the status quo."
The Look Book also includes a photo of Rand working in the field at UMBS as well as a summary of the field research station’s rich history along Douglas Lake: “For more than 100 years, the U-M Biological Station has hosted scientists and students to explore and examine the natural world while addressing issues related to organisms and the environment in Michigan’s Northern Lower Peninsula. Visiting students are challenged to develop their own research projects as they learn from the land, instructors, and each other.”
UMBS Director Aimée Classen spoke at a Look to Michigan campaign launch event on Friday, Oct. 25, called Serving Up Knowledge.
“It was thrilling to share the UMBS story with Ann Arbor stakeholders and inform them about our sustainability plan to go carbon neutral and offer year-round educational programming,” Classen said. “When you look to Michigan, you need to look beyond the surface of our beautiful Ann Arbor campus and find the experiences that transform lives. If we are to solve some of our most pressing problems, we need to look to the Biological Station.”
Look to Michigan supports the university’s Vision 2034 and Campus 2050 plans, announced earlier this year, to live out its mission of serving the public good by making an impact in four areas where U-M is uniquely positioned to impact global challenges:
- Life-changing education
- Health and well-being
- Democracy, civic & global engagement
- Sustainability & climate action
“We know that the world is calling on us to answer the most urgent questions of our time—to be the defining public institution that inspires all that is possible,” said President Santa J. Ono. “The deeply collaborative, university-wide priorities of Vision 2034 have been years in the making and set the stage for Michigan to be that institution. And the Look to Michigan campaign will bring this ambitious vision to life.”
Classen is asking UMBS alumni and U-M donors who care about natural resources to keep the U-M Biological Station in mind as they plan end-of-year and year-round philanthropy.
“Science and discovery are critical,” Classen said. “Our researchers are working to solve some of humanity’s most pressing issues, such as how disease shapes ecosystems. Further, we offer life-changing experiential learning that immerses the next generation of environmental problem solvers in nature and research.”
Consider giving to the Biological Station Discretionary Fund to support the Biological Station’s expansion to year-round educational and research programming.
The goal is to offer “Semesters Up North” in the fall and winter to reach more students in Ann Arbor and beyond. Right now, UMBS is home to four-week courses in the spring and summer terms.
“The time is paramount to invest in our highly successful, rigorous academic and research operations and help us evolve into the field station of the future,” Classen said. “Look to Michigan’s Biological Station as we harness the power of our historic place-based understanding and lead the effort to build a more sustainable planet. And it starts with carbon neutrality.”
Founded in 1909, the U-M Biological Station is one of the nation’s largest and longest continuously operating field research stations.
Laboratories, classrooms and cabins are tucked into more than 11,000 acres along Douglas Lake to support long-term science research and education.
