Wittenberg University currently has two vastly different ecological field sites.  Cb’s place is a mixed hardwood forest and prairie located in southern Clark County, Ohio, while the Wakeley Lake house is located inside the Huron National Forest in Iosco County, Michigan.  Students will have an opportunity to study at these sites in course laboratories, extended field studies, or as part of independent research projects.

cb’s Place

Located just south of Springfield, Ohio, cb’s place is a 33 acre field site that gives students access to a local intact riparian area along the Little Miami River.  The field station is adjacent to public land and is a mix of hardwood forest and prairie.  Wildlife observed at cb’s place includes whitetail deer, skunks, raccoons, American toads, red belly woodpeckers, belted kingfishers, and crows.  This gives numerous opportunities for students to both observe wildlife.  Trail cameras set up at the site can record animal activity in the absence of human presence. 

Most Biology students will visit cb’s places as they work through the curriculum.  Courses that visit this field site include Ecology, Limnology, Herpetology, Plant Ecology and our Concepts of Biology (181) lab.  Student projects at cb’s place include assessing species diversity and abundance for both plants and animals, habitat associations of species, and GIS mapping of the property. 

Wakeley Lake House

This field station is located in the Huron National Forest near Grayling, Michigan.  The Huron National Forest is over 400,000 acres of land that was aggressively logged in the 1800s but has been protected since 1909.  Our field station is located on the edge of a 1,000 acre piece of northern transitional forest habitat and has a large, shallow lake nearby.  Wildlife is abundant near the field station, and includes whitetail deer, rabbit, fox, turkey, coyote, raccoon, grouse and black bear.  The Huron National Forest is also home to the endangered Kirtland’s warbler.  This gives numerous opportunities for students to both observe and track wildlife.  In addition, the vegetation near the field station is a great place to study plant ecology.  There are two burn sites near the field station that will allow students to assess succession in this pine forest.    

Students will have multiple opportunities to visit this field station.   Our Ecology, Plant Ecology, and Limnology courses take students to this field station for 4-5 day extended field studies.  In addition, some students win internships with the US Forest Service, and spend the summer in the field site conducting research projects.