PELLSTON, Mich. — Looming above the canopy of trees stands one of the most iconic research pieces in the University of Michigan Biological Station catalog.
The AmeriFlux tower in northern Michigan provides one of the highest quality long-term datasets on forest carbon dynamics in the world.
Data from the AmeriFlux tower at UMBS is downloaded every day by scientists around the world to understand how ecosystems respond to climate change and improve the performance of models that predict climate change and interpret satellite-borne observations on the state of our ecosystem.
Dr. John Lenters, senior research specialist at UMBS, has climbed the tower 10 times since he started working at the more than 10,000-acre research and teaching campus along Douglas Lake three years ago.
“Climbing a flux tower is essential for ensuring accurate and continuous collection of data about the greenhouse gas exchanges between vegetation and the atmosphere — everything from device calibration to maintenance,” Lenters said. “But before you can take that first step, you need to undergo comprehensive education on climbing, rescue and general safety practices.”
Lenters led a three-day tower safety training class for staff and students at UMBS June 11, 12 and 14.
Over the course of the training, several UMBS staff and 11 students learned about tower climbing safety.
Thursday was classroom work, Friday featured harnessing in and conducting rescue drills in Stockard Lakeside Lab’s boat well, and Friday marked the participants’ first time making the trek up the tower, putting everything they learned into practice with oversight.
UMBS staff who went through the training included Resident Biologist Adam Schubel and Facilities Manager Scott Haley.
Students in the Observation and Modeling of Climate Change Biology course also took the tower safety training class.
“Climbing the tower was such an incredible experience,” said Alicia Dyer, a sophomore at U-M studying Program in the Environment (PitE) and ecology and evolutionary biology (EEB). “We learned that it has to be so tall in order to avoid roughness, and when we got up high enough, I could really feel the wind shift. It was so amazing to be able to feel and understand more about how the tower worked.”
During the first week of classes of the 2026 spring term, the class used a ladder to help build a much smaller but mobile flux tower along the Douglas Lake shoreline to measure atmospheric data and environmental conditions.
The class used data from their own machine as well as the AmeriFlux tower to do their modeling and coding.
Ellanor May, a student in the “Observation and Modeling of Climate Change Biology” class, said climbing the AmeriFlux tower helped her better understand the carbon data the tower collects.
“I think climbing the flux tower was the perfect way to complete the course,” said May, a junior studying psychology at U-M. “This experience allowed me to view the forest’s biodiversity and understand the carbon flux on a larger scale. I’m so grateful I had this opportunity to learn about the tools of climate change research in such a unique way.”
As someone who has climbed in the past, UMBS Resident Biologist Adam Schubel appreciated the opportunity to train and become more familiar with the equipment and safety procedures to improve his knowledge, skills and confidence. He also was impressed that he could see the Mackinac Bridge when he made it to the top.
“When you're standing on the ground or driving through the area, you're often surrounded by trees,” Schubel said. “The first time I climbed the tower, I was struck by how much water there is around us. In some directions there’s more water than land, which is not how I typically think of this place. This time, climbing through the tree canopy, my takeaway was that it looks like it's going to be a good acorn year.”
AmeriFlux is a network of instrumented eddy covariance sites in North, South and Central America that measure ecosystem carbon dioxide, water and energy fluxes as well as other exchanges between the land surface and atmosphere.
UMBS is one of AmeriFlux’s Core Sites where ongoing observations are updated regularly for more than 25 years.
The international network connects research on field sites representing major climate and ecological biomes, including tundra, grasslands, savanna, crops, and conifer, deciduous, and tropical forests.
The University of Michigan Biological Station serves as a gathering place to learn from the natural world, advance research and education, and inspire action. We leverage over a century of research and transformative experiences to drive discoveries and solutions to benefit Michigan and beyond.
Our vast campus engages all of the senses. Its remote, natural setting nurtures deep thought and scientific discovery.
Founded in 1909, UMBS supports long-term research and education through immersive, field-based courses and features state-of-the-art equipment and facilities for data collection and analysis to help any field researcher be productive. It is where students and scientists from across the globe live and work as a community to learn from the place.
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