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Field Station
Biology

Eco Field Research

My summer research on buckthorn capped off a great academic experience with the Macalester Biology Department.
Sam Wershow ’10 My 300-Acre Lab

Macalester is one of only a handful of small private colleges in the nation that have their own field station.

Approximately 17 miles from campus, the Katharine Ordway Natural History Study Area consists of 278 acres of remnant tallgrass prairie, oak woodland, flood plain forest, temporary freshwater ponds, and a Mississippi River backwater lake.

The field station is used by several of our classes and is the site of several ongoing research projects by students and faculty. In addition a number of restoration projects are taking place at the site.

During the summer, Ordway is the site of a research community consisting of and Macalester students and faculty and staff members as well as faculty and students from other Twin Cities colleges. The students live on site on site during the summer.