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Habitat for Biologists at Itasca Biological Station
Student biologists at Itasca Biological
Station got a new habitat this summer,
thanks to alumni and friends
who contributed funds for materials and
volunteers who helped build it.
Dean Elde with President Robert Bruininks at the
Habitat for Biologists construction site.
The cabin, which replaced one demolished last
fall, launched a campaign, dubbed “Habitat for
Biologists,” to replace, renovate, and restore
facilities throughout the field station, many of
which were built in the 1940s and ‘50s.
“Nature continuously restores habitats for
wildlife at Itasca but hasn’t been as kind to
human habitats,” says Dean Elde.
CBS, which operates the field station, raised
$50,000 from alumni and friends to build the
cabin. A professional crew laid the foundation,
installed utilities, and constructed the
frame and roof, and volunteer crews raised
the walls and shingled the roof.
John Tester, professor emeritus of ecology,
is leading a campaign to raise $150,000 to
restore a three-bedroom log cabin built in
1911. There are 34 cabins and 12 laboratories
and classrooms at the field station,
many of which need work.
Dean Elde hopes Habitat for Biologists will
raise awareness about the value of Itasca.
“The Itasca Biological
Station is an exquisitely
beautiful living laboratory
and classroom
that showcases
Minnesota’s best natural
features,” he said.
“It is truly one of the
University’s hidden
treasures.”
The cabin will be ready for students in spring field
biology classes.
Volunteers raise a wall for the new cabin for women students.
The field station is currently used in the summer
for field biology classes, faculty research,
Nature of Life (an orientation program for
freshmen), orientations for graduate programs,
and the Science Education Program for Greater
Minnesota, which is funded by the Howard
Hughes Institute to recruit, train and retain science
teachers for regional school districts.
Ultimately, Elde hopes to raise funds to build a
new complex with an auditorium, meeting
rooms, and state of the art laboratories.
“Other universities operate field stations
such as this on a much
larger scale, using
them for a broad spectrum
of research, education,
outreach, and
professional development
programs,” said
Elde. “Itasca has the
potential to be that kind
of a resource for the
University.”
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