Aimee Classen

We hit a milestone! The MI Biological Station’s research bibliography is over 3,500 entries. In this newsletter, I spotlight classic papers that changed how we look at the natural world & celebrate the researchers who built a powerhouse foundation & an ever-growing body of knowledge: myumi.ch/R38G5

Issues of the Environment: The ecological benefits of extra snow during the winter This winter in Washtenaw County has been notably colder and snowier than most of the past decade. It has created inconveniences and hardships. But there may be some benefits to all of the snow and col...

NPR’s WEMU did a 10-minute interview with Olivia Vought, a
UMich Biological Station researcher & Classen lab post-doc, about changing winters and the benefits of persistent snow cover for forest productivity, water movement and carbon cycling. Listen or read the transcript: myumi.ch/8q9rn

Fall in Love: Students Share Why U-M Biological Station is Unforgettable YouTube video by U-M Biological Station

FALL IN LOVE: students share why the
UMich Biological Station is unforgettable. Turn up the volume and learn how taking field-based courses transforms lives.

Full story: myumi.ch/VVmzM

Apply for 2026 spring & summer: myumi.ch/qZ12Q

youtu.be/fkSKrIQvtHU?...

Two Piping Plovers Beat the Odds Captive breeding serves as a critical conservation strategy for vulnerable shorebirds.

“Would you believe that they were rescued as eggs, hatched and raised by amazing humans at the University of Michigan Biological Station?”
Audubon features the Piping Plover captive rearing program, a conservation strategy for vulnerable shorebirds.
www.audubon.org/florida/news...

Academic Program Manager Turns Field Research Data into Crocheted Art | U-M LSA University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) Candice Everett, the academic program manager at the University of Michigan Biological Station, uses daily weather data to create temperature blankets in her cabin at the Pellston campus during the sp...

Candice Everett loves to crochet on cozy evenings along Douglas Lake. The academic program manager at the
UMich Biological Station uses weather data to create temperature blankets — literally wrapping herself in memories of the spring and summer terms. myumi.ch/VVN7R

Apply Today to be a student at the UMich Biological Station! All majors welcome. Scholarships galore. 6 credits in 4 weeks

Spring and Summer Courses: myumi.ch/qZ12Q

Undergraduate Research Fellowships: myumi.ch/Z2E9q

Apply by March 15 for 2026 Undergraduate Research Fellowships at Michigan Field Station | U-M LSA University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) The University of Michigan Biological Station is recruiting students from across the country for its undergraduate research fellowship program that runs June 15 – Aug. 7, 2026, and includes mentors, a...

Undergrad students from across the U.S., join us for eight weeks this summer for a fully supported experience conducting field research under the guidance of mentors. Fellows receive a $5,500 stipend and on-campus housing and meals. Apply by March 15: myumi.ch/JPJxw

Submit Research Proposals and Fellowship Applications for 2026 Field Season by Feb. 1 | U-M LSA University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) The deadline is Feb. 1 for research proposals, renewals and fellowship applications for the 2026 field season at the University of Michigan Biological Station. The Nature Day Camp for children is avai...

Attn: Researchers! The UMich Biological Station will, once again, offer a Nature Day Camp for children to support families at the station this summer. Submit your #research proposals, renewals and fellowship applications for the 2026 field season. Join us! myumi.ch/qZ4je

How Mites Help Wild Grapes | U-M LSA U-M College of LSA Mites may seem like a common pest, but for riverfront grapes, they are actually pretty helpful to have around.

Mites may seem like a common pest, but for wild grapes, they're a huge boon. UMichEEB Master’s Student and UMBS researcher Kaira Schaefer tells us why.
lsa.umich.edu/lsa/news-eve...

Unraveling complexity in climate change effects on beneficial plant–microbe interactions: mechanisms, resilience, and future directions Plant microbiomes have the potential to mitigate the impacts of climate change, yet both the complexity of climate change and the complexity of plant–microbe interactions make applications and future....

Check out our new Tansley review on climate, plants, and microbes! I enjoyed working with a team of friendly and knowledgeable scientists.
@meafkhami.bsky.social
@kerricrawford.bsky.social
@aclassen.bsky.social
@johnstinchcombe.bsky.social
@damianmicroeco.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1111/nph....

Whole‐seedling trait adjustments of mountain birch under contrasting environmental conditions Warming temperatures can promote arctic tree seedling establishment and growth, but these effects depend on the environmental context and the seedlings' capacity to acquire limiting resources. Here, ....

Check out our new paper about birch seedlings, traits, nutrient acquisition and warming in subarctics! 👀⚠️🌳 Just now coming out in Oikos :)
doi.org/10.1002/oik....
Many thanks to Maja Sundqvist and the whole amazing team 🤩
@stefhupperts.bsky.social
@michael-gundale.bsky.social
@aclassen.bsky.social

Fig. 1 Climate change effects on our ecosystems are diverse, but research on plant–microbe interactions has focused on drought.

#TansleyReview: Unraveling complexity in #ClimateChange effects on beneficial plant–microbe interactions: mechanisms, resilience, and future directions

Afkhami et al.
👇

📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

#LatestIssue #PlantScience

Nutrient limitation shapes functional traits of mycorrhizal fungi and phosphorus-cycling bacteria across an elevation gradient | mSystems Phosphorus (P) limits plant productivity in high-elevation ecosystems, yet the microbial networks that mobilize P, including arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and phosphorus-cycling bacteria (PCBs), r...

Our new study linking bacterial and AM fungal phosphorus cycling is out now in mSystems! 🦠🏔️

This work was done by a great team based at @rmblscience.bsky.social, including
@skivlin.bsky.social and @aclassen.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1128/msys...

Long-term warming transforms mountain meadows above and below ground In the longest-running field warming experiment of its kind, researchers have documented dramatic shifts in high-elevation mountain meadows, revealing that changes in climate alter not only the plants...

Warming decouples above- and belowground interactions! news.umich.edu/long-term-wa...

Come work at the UMich Biological Station as a Michigan Fellow (you don't have to be a biologist)! Apply today: societyoffellows.umich.edu/uncategorize...

University of Michigan Biological Station Invites Public to Free Summer Lectures | U-M LSA University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) On Wednesdays at 7 p.m., topics include the fascinating world of fungi, how climate change affects your health, all about the Common Loon, manoomin (wild rice) restoration, and nitrogen as a driver of...

Join us! Explore the lives of loons, how climate change affects your health, the fascinating world of fungi, manoomin (wild rice) restoration, and harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. during the Summer Lectures at the Michigan Biological Station. Schedule: myumi.ch/E88yg

University of Michigan Biological Station Invites Public to Free Summer Lectures | U-M LSA University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) On Wednesdays at 7 p.m., topics include the fascinating world of fungi, how climate change affects your health, all about the Common Loon, manoomin (wild rice) restoration, and nitrogen as a driver of...

Join us! Explore the lives of loons, how climate change affects your health, the fascinating world of fungi, manoomin (wild rice) restoration, and harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. during the Summer Lectures at the Michigan Biological Station. Schedule: myumi.ch/E88yg

UMBS Stewards Ensure Public Can Safely Access Trails, Connect with Nature | U-M LSA University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) For more than 20 years, a volunteer corps of friends and neighbors to the University of Michigan Biological Station has helped with property management projects. UMBS leaders plan to expand the Stewar...

UMBS Stewards have been busy this spring! The volunteers worked to clear the Gorge, a beautiful hiking trail at the field research station, and also collected 237 pounds of trash along 3.8 miles of Riggsville Road — 62 lbs. per mile. Meet the Stewards: myumi.ch/r8E6M

We still have slots in summer courses. Science AND humanities courses. Come join our incredible community.

Such a fun visit! Incredible science, people and place. Thank you.

Undergraduate Students at U-M Biological Station Co-Author Mite-y Research Paper in Scientific Journal | U-M LSA University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) The journal Ecology and Evolution published a research paper co-authored by all students in the 2024 Insights From Trees class at the University of Michigan Biological Station evaluating the abundance...

ALLIES IN THE WILD: Undergraduates in the Insights From Trees class at the UMBS are co-authors on a Webber lab pub on mite domatia! Students to join her July 1 – 31 in northern Michigan for her four-week course. Ap deadline is May 30. Apply for her 2025 course: myumi.ch/z9XX2

The University of Michigan Biological Station stewards had a successful roadside cleanup for Earth week-10 people collected 237 lbs of trash along 3.8 miles of Riggsville Road in northern Michigan.

LSA/SEAS senior wants to make environmental science accessible to all -- how cool is that? Go Jake!

Congrats to Jake Downey and all of the Biological Station
alumni who graduate this weekend from UMich! Read Jake’s student success profile in the University Record, which highlights the summer he spent at the campus in northern Michigan. myumi.ch/2r3ew

Read the Michigan Biological Station newsletter to hear of all the research, education and fun happening in Northern MI. We'd love you to join our thriving community: mailchi.mp/umich/umbs-n...

Tree Hydrology Model Measures Drought Sensitivity of Different Tree Species | U-M LSA University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) Researchers used long-term sap flow data and eddy covariance observations from a forest at the University of Michigan Biological Station to develop a model, called FETCH4, for simulating the movement ...

More research from the Michigan Biological Station by Gil Borer (Ohio State University & MI UMBS researcher): Tree Hydrology Model Measures Drought Sensitivity of Different Tree Species lsa.umich.edu/umbs/news-ev...

EEB Class of 2025: Meet our graduating seniors! | U-M LSA Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB) EEB's graduating seniors share their plans for next year, their favorite EEB moment, and give some great advice for incoming undergrads!

The UMich EEB class of 2025 had a lot of wonderful things to say about their time at the Michigan Biological Station. lsa.umich.edu/eeb/news-eve...

There are a lot of cool courses this spring and summer. Sign up now! Don't miss this opportunity: lsa.umich.edu/umbs/news-ev...

Undergraduate Students at U-M Biological Station Co-Author Mite-y Research Paper in Scientific Journal | U-M LSA University of Michigan Biological Station (UMBS) The journal Ecology and Evolution published a research paper co-authored by all students in the 2024 Insights From Trees class at the University of Michigan Biological Station evaluating the abundance...

Read all about it! Mite-y research by one of the UMBS classes taught by Dr. Marjorie Webber. Interested in publishing? There are still spots in her UMBS class this July. lsa.umich.edu/umbs/news-ev...