ABOUT ME
My name is Olive, I was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan and I am currently a sophomore at the University of Michigan. I am majoring in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a Minor in Writing and probably a minor in Environment. At U of M, I am involved with the Michigan Climbing Club, I am communications chair for Students for Reproductive Rights and Justice, and I am involved in research with the Baucom Lab.
More personally, I consider myself an outdoors enthusiast. I grew up spending my time outside, camping, swimming in Lake Michigan, climbing, and looking at plants. I am passionate about making science more accessible to the general population especially in regards to the climate crisis. I try to be an advocate for the environment and for inclusivity whenever I can. I fell truly in love with biology in my senior year of high school while taking AP Biology, but I fell in love with field research at the BioStation.
THE BIOSTATION
The University of Michigan Biological Station was founded in 1909 on land previously owned by lumber barons, previously stolen, like most of the land in this country, from Native Americans. Located in Pellston, Michigan on the ancestral land of the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa people, the biological station now serves as a field research site for researchers, faculty, and students. The 10,000 acres of property hosts a wide variety of ecosystems, field sites, trails, and research projects. However, the true station consists of many small, rustic cabins, classrooms, labs, a dining hall and administrative office, a volleyball court, and a small beach.
During the spring and summer semesters, the BioStation becomes home to the lucky U of M students who have chosen to take classes there. There are typically 80-100 students at a time, taking a variety of ecology courses that will fulfill their graduation requirements and take them out into the field to explore the station. Everyone I have talked to who has gone to the BioStation regards it as a truly defining experience in their education, career, or life, it is an incredible community of science-lovers and a beautiful place.
“Our core mission is to advance environmental field research, engage students in scientific discovery, and provide information needed to understand and sustain ecosystems from local to global scales”
- UMBS
Me, at the BioStation
In April of 2023 I found out I would be spending 4 weeks of my summer at the University of Michigan Biological Station. Being the anxious person I am, I was nervous and being the outdoorsy person I am, I was excited. So in late May I packed my bags, made the 4 hour drive from Ann Arbor to Pellston, Michigan, and moved into a small tin cabin with 2 roommates I had never met. The next month of my life was truly one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had and I am so grateful for every moment of it. That month consisted of reading on the beach, trudging through wetlands, late night hikes, bug bites, laughing until our stomachs hurt, rushing to finish research papers, jumping in lakes, staying up too late, but mostly learning.
At this point, we all know the reality that humanity is changing the climate and environment in irreversible ways. I say that not to trigger our climate anxiety but to say that these outdoor places are changing and are disappearing. So first of all, I don’t want to look up one day and not recognize the world around me, I want to appreciate the environment as it is and pay attention to the ways its changing, I want to put down everything and stand in the woods alone and take it all in because it might be gone someday. Also, I want to do something, I want to be a part of the solution to protecting this beautiful planet, and even if I can save just one plant maybe that matters. Even if all I can do is convince a few people to learn something about nature, go outside and care a little more about it, maybe that will mean something.
By sharing this I hope to encourage others to have their own experiences at the BioStation, but ultimately to encourage you wherever you are to spend some time out in nature and appreciate the beauty and the wisdom held there and to think of science not as the dense, undecipherable research papers, but as a way of knowing the world we live in.
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“We need acts of restoration, not only for polluted waters and degraded lands, but also for our relationship to the world. We need to restore honor to the way we live, so that when we walk through the world we don’t have to avert our eyes with shame, so that we can hold our heads up high and receive the respectful acknowledgment of the rest of the earth’s beings.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass