University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS)

06/02/2026

WEDNESDAY: Examine an environmental and public health crisis of epic proportions in the French Caribbean islands with the University of Michigan’s Dr. Bénédicte Boisseron, who bridges Global Black Studies and the Environmental Humanities. From 1972 to 1993, a highly toxic pesticide was sprayed on weevil-infested banana plantations in the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, despite known health risks. The resulting health impact on the population has come to symbolize how the colonial is often inextricable from the ecological. But what about the weevil? This talk at the U-M Biological Station responds to environmental scholar Malcolm Ferdinand’s call to also look at the weevil in this dramatic story.

Join us June 3 at 7 p.m. for this free public lecture along Douglas Lake, followed by an ice cream social.

Event Details: https://myumi.ch/G7WrJ

Full Summer Lecture Series schedule: https://myumi.ch/79zyr

05/29/2026

New researcher enlists AI to reveal insights hidden in our historic field station’s ‘dark data.’ Meet Dr. Anshuman Swain from the University of Michigan who believes more than a century of researchers who have come and gone still have more to teach us. Plus, the secret life of pine cones. Read the May newsletter: https://myumi.ch/QMNWq

05/28/2026

Cute Culprit: Director Aimée Classen caught a porcupine in the act of trying to eat the Biotron underground soil science facility at the University of Michigan Biological Station.

05/27/2026

What’s living inside a red pine cone? A crossover between two classes at the University of Michigan Biological Station opens a new line of research into tiny forest homes. Read how undergraduate student curiosity sparked a lead into an intriguing miniature ecosystem featuring ants, pine cones and the microbes inside them. https://myumi.ch/7JAN2

(Video from Dr. Nate Haan, instructor of the Field Studies of Insects course at UMBS)

05/26/2026

WEDNESDAY: How can training in environmental science drive real-world change? UMBS alumna Linda Greer, an environmental toxicologist, will discuss her global advocacy career working to strengthen environmental protections and reduce corporate pollution. Join us May 27 at 7 p.m. for this free public lecture along Douglas Lake, followed by an ice cream social.

Event Details: https://myumi.ch/wwq5G
Full Summer Lecture Series schedule: https://myumi.ch/79zyr

05/22/2026

The adventure begins! From move-in day to first steps into the field, students in the spring term are settling into life at the University of Michigan Biological Station. For the next month, they’ll study northern Michigan ecosystems up close while building community along the way. Meet some of the students: https://myumi.ch/DWkNE

05/21/2026

LOVE SONGS: Listen as toads sing their hearts out along Douglas Lake at the University of Michigan Biological Station. Maintenance Supervisor Renee Kinney captured the chorus on May 19 during spring mating season.

05/20/2026

MLive.com features the University of Michigan Biological Station’s Summer Lecture Series and Director Aimée Classen: “These are the kinds of conversations we need right now.” With topics ranging from beavers’ role in climate resilience to monarch butterfly migration, join us on Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

Ten weeks of presentations cover forest ecology, global pollution, biodiversity genomics, and other environmental topics at the University of Michigan facility.

05/20/2026

Blankets of trillium, a pair of loons, bright sunshine and heavy rain all welcomed new students to the University of Michigan Biological Station on move-in day today. A fitting start to the wild adventure!

05/19/2026

WEDNESDAY: The 2026 Summer Lecture Series kicks off May 20 at 7 p.m. with a simple but important question about plant and animal life amid habitat loss and climate change: When forests are broken into pieces, can biodiversity be maintained across the broader landscape? Join us along Douglas Lake for the free, public event — followed by an ice cream social. All the details: https://myumi.ch/jV4jP

View the full summer schedule: https://myumi.ch/79zyr