Биологическая станция Cedar Point в Небраске: уникальная площадка для полевых исследований студентов Университета Линкольна

In Western Nebraska, near Lake McConaughy, sandwiched between the water and the hills, sits the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s least known property — Cedar Point Biological Station. What many students may not know is that UNL and Cedar Point have a history that goes back nearly a century. For the past 50 years, Cedar Point has been offering UNL students the opportunity to conduct research through a classroom experience they can’t find anywhere else. The site was originally a ranch owned by local dentist Silas Gainsforth, where he lived with his family. This included his son, Burdett Gainsforth, an alumnus of the University of Nebraska’s Dental College. After Silas’ death, his wife, Jesse Livingston, helped to establish a lodge and a dozen cabins on the property to serve as a campsite for the Girl Scouts of America in his honor. By 1974, the campsite was largely abandoned and occasionally leased out to church and school groups. During a research trip to Lake McConaughy that year, the site caught the attention of Dr. Gary Hergenrader, a UNL limnology professor. Hergenrader lobbied the University to establish a biological research center on the site. By the summer of 1975, UNL held its first classes at the newly established Cedar Point Biological Station. Over the subsequent five decades, as new facilities were established and Cedar Point grew by more than 600 acres, UNL students have continued taking immersive experiential learning classes every summer. Any Cedar Point alumnus would tell you that the classes they took there are unlike any other offered in Nebraska. Jon Garbisch, Cedar Point's associate director since 2009, said he believes there is a completely immersive quality to the classes they offer at the station, which students can’t get anywhere else. ”All you do is eat, sleep and breathe that topic,” Garbisch said. According to Garbisch, this wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of the instructors. “The most critical component to getting a summer class that’s field-based … is charismatic, engaged instructor(s),” Garbisch said. Allison Johnson has been the station’s Avian Biology instructor since 2019. Johnson said she hopes students take a lot away from her short, three-week course. “The goal is to talk about biology and ecology and evolution, but also to make sure that students walk away with some of the hands-on tools to go out and be a scientist if they want,” Johnson said. It’s not just Avian Biology; other courses offered at Cedar Point, like Field Herpetology, Spatial Ecology and even LIFE 121, are structured to limit lecture time and get students out in the field, conducting their own hands-on research projects. Non-STEM students would be glad to hear that other classes, like Literature and the Environment, bring this style of instruction to humanities courses. Johnson also said field classes have given her the chance to mentor students, which can open doors that might otherwise have been closed. “It gives us an opportunity to get to know (students) really well, and it also gives us an opportunity to say, 'I want to get some experience in your lab,’” Johnson said. Jane Jewell, a senior fisheries and wildlife major, first took Johnson’s Avian Biology class in the summer of 2024. “(My father) said, 'If you're going to stay in-state, you have to go to Cedar Point because…it's like the best place ever,’” Jewell said. “I took Avian Bio out here … and I got really hooked on birds … Then last summer and this summer, I’ve been working on a UCARE project for Dr. Alison Johnson.” Jewell spent this summer at Cedar Point not as a student, but as an independent researcher. Her research aims to use temperature sensing pit tags to better understand how the internal physiological processes of tree swallows are affected while they are incubating eggs. Jewell credits the unique environment and community of Cedar Point with the direction she has taken in her undergraduate career. “Everything that I do, I feel like comes from Cedar Point … It’s a great place to meet faculty and get really close to them … I developed a really great relationship with AJ,” Jewell said. But Cedar Point offers opportunities for more than just biology students. For instance, English students might be interested in taking Literature and the Environment. The station has also previously offered foreign language immersion classes, graduate-level writing workshops, and even an underwater archaeology class. They have also hosted resident artists, and have collaborated with the College of Architecture to have student designed buildings built on site, made of locally sourced eastern red cedar wood. In the future, Garbisch hopes to offer a wider range of courses that provide an immersive class experience, interfacing with life sciences and the environment. “If the other eight colleges all had something they did here, we would be in a great spot,” Garbisch said. In every meaningful way, Cedar Point Biological Station is the University of Nebraska’s West Campus. Who knows, if researchers, students and faculty continue to see its potential, maybe in 50 years it will become the University of Nebraska-Ogalalla.