Field Facilities Improvements for Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology at the Kellogg Biological Station

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

The W.K. Kellogg Biological Station (KBS) of Michigan State University (MSU) has been awarded a grant to enhance educational and research opportunities by renovating nine ponds at the Experimental Pond Facility, improving cyber-infrastructure connectivity to the pond site, and installing emergency backup power at the facility. KBS is the largest off-campus unit of MSU and is known worldwide as a premier field site for research, education, and outreach in ecology and evolutionary biology. KBS provides access to diverse natural and managed habitats, many suitable for experimentation, together with modern laboratory facilities, to conduct terrestrial and aquatic ecology. Research activity at KBS has grown to the point that some of our facilities are stretched to the limit. The increasing numbers of resident and visiting researchers working at the Experimental Pond Site, along with a growing diversity and number of educational and outreach activities using this and other KBS facilities, are putting increasing demand on infrastructure and require that we upgrade and improve the facilities. The nine ponds that will be renovated have undergone natural succession over the past 20+ years and have become unsuitable for many types of experimental studies due to low oxygen conditions and dense stands of submersed vegetation. Renovation of these ponds will allow KBS to continue to serve the needs of resident and visiting scientists, while ensuring flexibility for experimental design. Funds from this award also will be used to connect the Experimental Pond Facility to a 1Gb fiber optic backbone that now links KBS to MSU's main campus (fiber optic backbone installed in fall 2009 with MSU funds). This connection between the pond site and the KBS academic building will provide cyber-infrastructure support for data transfer between automated sensors at the pond site and other new instrumentation between the pond laboratory, the KBS main site, and MSU's campus. The backup electric generators to be installed at the Pond Laboratory with this award will ensure reliable temperature and air-supply to protect organisms (and experiments) during power outages.