The University of Michigan Biological Station 1909 - 1983

Abstract

The University of Michigan Biological Station occupies a position of distinction among biological institutions. It is of singular importance among biologists, for it was here that a large number of biologists received their first experience with field biology. A decade ago, when I first assembled a listing of the mailing addresses of former students and staff, I found scarcely an institution of higher learning in America without at least one faculty member who had studied at Douglas Lake. For large numbers of former students, the Biological Station experience was the most important formative event of their college careers. Former students occupy positions of great distinction throughout the world in government, industry and academia. Their contributions to our knowledge of the biosphere are enormous and their influence on other scholars as amplified through their teaching has been immense. Beyond that, large numbers of individuals who had the good fortune to take classes at the Biological Station have had their lives enriched through a sharpened ability to understand and appreciate the incredible beauty of the natural world. An excellent history of the Biological Station was written by LaRue (1944). Further elaboration of the history is contained, as reminiscences by former administrators, professors, and students, in the Semicentennial Celebration Proceedings of the University of Michigan Biological Station, June 16-19, 1959. Here, I shall highlight some of the early history, a goodly amount recorded for the first time, and then describe developments of the most recent 25 years. The importance of the Biological Station is as great or greater today than it ever was as the human species continues to exploit and degrade the global ecosystem. The necessity for a thorough understanding of natural and disturbed ecosystems is increasingly urgent. Not withstanding the great advances being made in molecular biology and in genetic engineering, the necessity to understand thoroughly the biological composition, form, and function of the world in which we live, remains of paramount importance. Failure to balance this understanding against the advances of technology can only lead to human catastrophe. The Biological Station today continues its central role with educating each class of young disciples of biology and of promoting the scholarship of knowledge concerning all aspects of the living world. The University of Michigan must never withdraw from this obligation.