ITASCA BIOLOGICAL STATION & LABORATORIES CEDAR CREEK ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE RESERVE COUNCIL OF RESEARCH ASSOCIATE DEANS FEBRUARY 18, 2010 ROBERT ELDE The University of Minnesota Field Stations

What are field stations? “Field stations are places where we can read the book of life in the language in which it was written.” James Kirchner, U. C. Berkeley “Scientists working at field stations and laboratories strive to understand natural processes at every scale, from the molecular to the global, from milliseconds to eons.” From the Organization of Biological Field Stations’ mission statement,

EDUCATION Student evaluations of field courses regularly use such phrases as “best class ever” or “life-changing.” They often come away with strong friendships and a new perception of the world. Lessons learned at field stations remain with students throughout their lives. They carry with them a deeper appreciation for the importance of natural systems, and some find a new focus. Many of today’s working scientists look back on a class or a summer spent a field station has a key event that determined their career path. Source: OBFS brochure 3

RESEARCH Just as research hospitals are critical for medical breakthroughs, and telescopes essential for extending our knowledge of the universe, field stations provide the critical, real–world laboratories environmental scientists need to further our understanding of the Earth and its processes. Source: OBFS brochure 4

RESEARCH Field stations provide protected environments in which researchers can conduct the long-term studies required for making fundamental discoveries. They serve as meeting places where scientists from different disciplines – ecologists, geologists, or engineers – can come together to share their expertise and provide valuable new perspectives for approaching environmental questions. They also furnish a supporting environment where veteran researchers can extend their legacies by mentoring new generations of young scientists. Source: OBFS brochure 5

An Example Marine Biological Laboratory Founded in 1888 International center for research and education in biology, biomedicine and ecology Coastal setting – Woods Hole, MA 53 MBL affiliated scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize 6

Coastal Field Stations – other examples Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories Friday Harbor Laboratories (University of Washington) University of California Natural Reserve System 7

Inland Field Stations – other examples Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve (Stanford) University of California Natural Reserve System 8

UC Natural Reserve System (n=36) 9

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories Field Stations University of Minnesota 10

Minnesota Seaside Station 1900 – 1907 Josephine Tilden, Professor of Botany 11

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories 1930s – initial land acquisition 1942 – transferred from Minnesota Academy of Sciences to the UofM 1909 Forestry station within Itasca State Park 1935 Expanded to Biological Station History 12

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories The Trophic Dynamic Aspect of Ecology, 1942, Raymond Lindeman Telemetry for animal tracking, John Tester, et al Role of biodiversity in the services that ecosystems provide, David Tilman “… the site is rapidly becoming one of ecology’s classic localities.” Nee and Lawton, Nature 380:672–673 (1996) Bio-geological history of MN since the last ice age, Regents Professors Emeritus Herb Wright, Margaret Davis Acid Rain, Regents Professor Emeritus Eville Gorham Management of natural ecosystems, John Tester RESEARCH - Historical 13

Attract the world's most capable scientists to our field stations. The experiments they conduct will contribute significantly to solving the grand challenges facing life on planet Earth. GOAL 14

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories See poster Metagenome of the Mississippi Watershed Long-term, dynamic monitoring of ecosystems (wireless remote sensing) – National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) RESEARCH - Current 15

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories Summer undergrad internship program (~80 students) Graduate student research Intense summer seminar program Undergraduate  Field biology (eg, ecology, limnology, telemetry)  Nature of Life (all CBS freshmen)  NSF REUs Graduate “boot camps”  Neuroscience  BMBB/GCD  Plant Sciences NSF IGERTs EDUCATION 16

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories K-12 Education Community Itasca State Park (~500,000 visitors/year) School Districts  HHMI-funded program OUTREACH 17

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories 28 buildings  2 Classrooms and Laboratories  11 Student/faculty/staff housing (2450 bed nights) 12 Staff (March – November) $448K expenditures 59 buildings  8 Classrooms & Laboratories  21 Student housing  17 Faculty/staff housing  10,038 bed nights 14 Staff (March – November) $532K expenditures FACILITIES & OPERATIONS 18

Direction of ecosystem science

Direction of ecosystem science

Direction of ecosystem science

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories Infrastructure requirements  Buildings (year-round use)  Bandwidth and computation RESEARCH 22

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve Itasca Biological Station and Laboratories Lindeman Research & Discovery Center New and anticipated facilities 23

ITASCA BIOLOGICAL STATION & LABORATORIES CEDAR CREEK ECOSYSTEM SCIENCE RESERVE PROVOST’S RESEARCH COUNCIL DECEMBER 16, 2009 ROBERT ELDE The University of Minnesota Field Stations