Through the waves of Lake Michigan, the white double-deck ferry takes Central Michigan University students, faculty and researchers to CMU Biological Station (CMUBS) on Beaver Island.

“The island's exceptional freshwater ecosystems, natural habitat and seven biologically unique inland lakes provide an unmatched learning and research environment,” read CMU‘s website.

CMUBS, as a part of the College of Science and Engineering, offers a variety of summer opportunities for college students such as biology courses, a research program and employment that could be both unique and challenging.

Opportunities at the station

Fourth-year CMU student Samuel Lobert took an honors social work and hiking course last summer on Beaver Island. Even though he is a computer engineering major, the field experience at the CMUBS was still rewarding for him.

“You can go up there, really enjoy [yourself] and have a great time,” he said. “But if you don’t really think it’s for you, you’re only there for a week … (and) there’s so much payoff.”

The course fulfilled the Honors Program requirement, awarded three credits and a learning opportunity, Lobert said.

CMUBS offers summer classes starting in May and ending in August. Some of them are taught on avian (birding), quantitative analysis (chemistry), foundation of ecology, according to CMU‘s website. The station also welcomes external groups.

Not only studying, but also employment opportunities bring CMU students to CMUBS. Such opportunities are kitchen staff positions, custodian, conference hall director, facilities manager and operations manager, which can be found through emailing cmubs@cmich.edu.

The job pays 10$ an hour and provides room and board while employee‘s stay at the CMUBS over the summer, sophomore Jacob LeCaptain said. LeCaptain has worked two summers at the station, this year he was a facilities manager.

“(It’s) a good summer job,” he said. “I get to do a lot of golfing … and get to live on an island.”

After his workday, LeCaptain got to enjoy fishing and diving with the friends he made among the staff, he said.

Next year, LeCaptain hopes to return as a research student.

The Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program takes place for eight weeks at the station and two weeks in Mount Pleasant. During the program, six students from across the United States are selected through the application process and conduct research on the ecology of the Great Lakes, according to the CMUBS 2023 bulletin.

Last summer, Ohio Wesleyan University sophomore Jack Gensler researched pitcher plants on Beaver Island as a part of his REU program.

“The program takes students and gives them this snapshot of graduate school and research in the real world,” Gensler said.

The research experience teaches students how to come up with an idea to focus on in their research then how to plan conducting it. Following that, students will learn how to manage an experiment, work on the field and run an analysis, Gensler said. For his project, he looked how microbes perform when transported from flies onto the pitcher plants.

“I am a really big outdoorsy guy,” Gensler said. “I love nature, and this (program) stuck out because of where it has this very much nature element to it.”

Kevin Pangle, ecology faculty member at CMU, spent 12 years teaching ecology at the CMUBS. He believes the station is a unique place for students.

“It is a very unique opportunity that we have at CMU that many other universities don’t have,” Pangle said. “(We) not only have a field station, but we have a perfectly situated field station. It is a real opportunity that students if they take advantage of it can be helpful.”

What is special about the experience at CMUBS?

For an ecologist, Pangle said, the field station settings are “ideal.”

“It’s kind of the perfect situation to teach ecology because of all the different resources that are just easily available.”

The access to dunes, different forests, wetlands and aquatic ecosystems offers an enjoyable class experience for students to interact with one another.

“It is unique and special,” Pangle said. “It’s one of the really fun things about going to the station … having a more close connection with students, having all those resources and just enjoying being up on the island.”

Lobert was able to connect with his Professor Mark Francek. Even after the class is done, Lobert plans on visiting Francek and asking him for a letter of recommendation.

“The super cool things about being on Beaver Island was, you get up for class in the morning, and then while you’re eating breakfast, we’re looking over Lake Michigan and seeing the sunrise, [with] birds out on the lake,” Lobert said. “And then we go to class … Dr. Francek showed us something in the lab, then we went out into the forest.”

Yet the favorite thing of his experience at the station, Lobert said, was meeting “cool people” both his professor and classmates, and making connections with them.

“(It is) a unique experience because … they’re usually smaller classes, but professors are super excited to teach the class and (are) really experts in the field.”

In contrast of a closed connection with professors, REU students learned to work independently.

REU students receive a professor advisor who assists them on their research project, yet the professor stays on the main CMU campus in Mount Pleasant, Gensler said.

Aside from the learning unique opportunities, LeCaptain highlighted the uniqueness of Beaver Island itself.

He recommended stopping at the Beaver Island Toy Museum and 200-year-old birch tree down in the forestland.

“You don’t have to deal with people if you don’t like dealing with people,” LeCaptain said. “You’re also kind of isolated from what’s happening everywhere else.”

What are some challenges of the island?

Isolation may be a perk for some, but Pangle recognized that it could be a potential challenge for others. Although, during his courses he said it was rare to struggle with it.

One of the isolation effects Gensler faced was intermitted telecommunication and technology that often cut out.

“Aspects of the island posed some things that you wouldn’t normally have to face in the lab or having those roadblocks,” he said.

Pangle saw his students getting physically “wore down” because of the work intensity, not with the isolation itself.

Pangle started his class at 8 a.m. and ended it at 4:30 p.m., which is a result of the “short and intense” nature of the course at the field station.

LeCaptain found the work intensity and the inconsistency to be challenging.

“I’m always busy,” he said. “I’m always doing something, or I’ve got absolutely nothing to do.”

At the end of the day, Gensler and LeCaptain found joy in activities they did and people they’ve met.

“One of the really terrific parts of being … up on Beaver Island is that there’s a lot of support,” Pangle said. “Students have a lot of support from each other … It’s just a very close-knit community.”

To learn more about CMUBS, visit CMU‘s website.