Trip to the University of Michigan Biological Station

The University of Michigan Biological Station has been operating near Pellston, Michigan since the University purchased the land in 1909. UMBS runs a series of educational and research programs during the summer, including an REU program, the Ameriflux site (CO2 flux tower), and the Prophet Tower (an ideal site for gas and aerosol measurements). Our group along with the Pratt Group in Chemistry at Michigan made the trip north on August 15-16 to learn about the site and most importantly figure out how we can be involved with such a fantastic resource! The site is near the top of the mitten in Michigan about 4 hours north of our home in Ann Arbor and one of the premier remote forest sites in the country.

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UMBS is much different than it was when Michigan purchased it. At the time most of the area had been logged to build many of the major cities in the midwest and as a result the landscape was barren and burned, a stark contrast to the extensive forests that dominate the landscape today. These forests are not primarily pine as the forests that were logged would have been, but instead have large fractions of birch and aspen, relatively fast growing trees that over took the landscape. These trees are nearing the end of their lifecycle and will be replaced over the next 30-40 years by the pine that used to dominate the region. As you can see from the different pictures this is a vast and beautiful area.

Amy Bondy is excited for a ride in ZECAV.

The Ault Group Summer 2013:
 Dan Garden (L), Andy Ault (C), Amy Bondy (R)

During our visit we had the opportunity to tour many part of the site including the FASET experiment and the canopy top using the Zero Emission Canopy Access Vehicle (ZEKAV) with Susan a student of Knute Nadelhoffer the director of UMBS. This maize and blue electric cherry picker lets researchers go to the top of the canopy to make measurements without the disrupting influence of a combustion source near by. To the right Amy Bondy gets ready to take a ride up ~30 m (100 ft) to the tree tops. Below Matt Gunsch of the Pratt group rides to the canopy top. As you can see everyone enjoyed getting to check out the top of the canopy!

Matt Gunsch of the Pratt
Group rides to the canopy
top with Susan.

One of the great parts of the visit was getting to walk around in the woods. Included is a picture of the Ault Group during a morning hike through a nearby gorge. The only hiccup was a temporarily lost cell phone, but disaster was averted and our hike got us back just in time to check out the Prophet site.

In depth discussions of where to head next with (left to right): Andy, Dan, Matt, Amy, Jillian, Eric, and Rosina.

During the second day of the visit the group was fortunate to get to climb the Prophet tower with Prof. Maryanne Carrol who has long run the site. The site is very impressive in terms of its capabilities. We all appreciated getting to climb the tower and look out over the forested landscape. It was a bit of a workout (with some head hitting for the taller folks, hardhats were huge help. Below you can see a group climbing the tower. We thank Knute, Karie, Mary Anne, and Susan for their hospitality and look forward to going back soon with some instrumentation!

One of the groups climbing the Prophet tower with Prof. Mary Anne Carroll leading the way.

Don't look down! The 100 ft tower is not a place for anyone with a fear of heights.