The Biological Station's 100th season culminated with an August celebration that brought over 350 alumni and friends to our Douglas Lake campus. Those attending were re-acquainted with the Biological Station's unique field setting at the heart of the Great Lakes region, the physical and natural resources that continue to enrich our lives, and the people -- students, faculty, staff , alumni, friends -- who are working together to ensure that our field station's world-class programs in environmental research, training and outreach continue to grow.

The extended weekend celebration was full of guided field trips, music, food, impromptu gatherings, and evening talks by U-M Professors Deborah Goldberg and Mark Hunter, Bowling Green State U. Professor Rex Lowe, Natural Resources Defense Council's Dr. Linda Greer, LSA Dean Terry McDonald, SNRE Dean Rosina Bierbaum, and U. of Virginia Professor James Galloway, our invited guest speaker and the 2008 recipient of the Tyler Environmental Prize for Environmental Achievement. Former UMBS Director David Gates provided an historical perspective and Joan Hawxhurst presented excerpts from the Biological Station Oral History Project. Together, these speakers highlighted the leading edge interdisciplinary research engaged in by our student-faculty teams, the Biological Station's impacts on student lives and careers, the human history and interpersonal interactions underlying our scientific enterprise, and the importance of continued development and support of our field-based programs.

One outstanding example of how the Biological Station community works together is the successful campaign to re-name the "Lecture Hall" as the Marian P. and David M. Gates Lecture Hall. Since its construction in 1983, this 220 seat auditorium has served as the principal venue for intellectual and cultural exchange on our Douglas Lake campus.

This campaign was initiated in May 2008. An anonymous donation established the Gates Graduate Student Fund. In less than three months, 40 donors contributed over $250,000 in gifts and pledges to this fund. Matching support from President Coleman’s Donor Challenge for Graduate Student Support, which provided $1 for every $2 in gifts and pledges, brought the total to more than $375,000. This exceeded the target required by the University of Michigan for naming the building, just in time for a ceremony to be included as part of our Centennial Celebration.

The brief naming ceremony encapsulated much of our history and our mission. The newly branded Gates Lecture Hall commemorates the contributions of Marian Gates, who brought cultural, literary and musical events to the Station, and those of Professor David Gates, who served as Director from 1971 through 1986 and raised the funds for constructing the lecture hall during his tenure.

As Dean Terry McDonald stated during his remarks on the final evening of the Centennial Celebration, resources such as the Biological Station are not simple accidents of history. Our field station exists and thrives due to the contributions of many.

In these times of declining state support for higher education and increasingly tight budgets at federal science agencies, support provided by friends and alumni will make all the difference. Your gifts, unlike funds provided from agencies, remain entirely with the Biological Station. No "overhead" or administrative funds are subtracted from donations to our programs. Be assured that your contributions will be used to provide unique opportunities for students and their faculty mentors to conduct the field research needed to better understand the functioning of our natural world into the coming century.

A final word about the Centennial. If you were unable to attend the August event, I encourage you take advantage of future opportunities to experience the Biological Station. Consider enrolling in June or August mini-courses, our annual Ski Weekend in February, or the Homecoming Weekend in September. If you are "Up North" during the summer, you are, of course, welcome to hike our trails, attend any one of our weekly public seminars, or drop in to experience our end of summer term student presentations. These and other opportunities exist for you to stay involved with the Biological Station.

Please accept our invitation to participate!

--Knute Nadelhoffer