MOUNTAIN LAKE BIOLOGICAL STATION

Mountain Lake Biological Station (MLBS) is the Department’s research and teaching facility approximately 3 hrs south of grounds in the mountains of southwestern Virginia. It is recognized as one of the premier biological field stations in eastern North America and provides the department with both direct support of teaching and research missions as well as the indirect benefits of high national and international profile. The station is a sizeable operation, consisting of 29 buildings and approximately 50000 sqft under roof that sit on roughly 600 acres. Adjacent to the station are thousands of acres of National Forest Wilderness and the Mountain Lake Hotel Wilderness Conservancy (~2500 acres) available for research projects.

MLBS is the home of primary research projects of the majority of the Ecology and Evolution group, and attracts a range of top flight investigators from all over North America. The result is a unit that functions as an “adjunct” department of some of the finest ecology, evolution, and behavioral scientists in the country. MLBS is the site of one of the longest running (over 15 yrs) and most successful NSF REU programs in the country, accepting less than 10% of applicants each year. In the past, this program has served as a conduit for some of the best graduate students entering E&E programs, including our own, for PhDs. In addition, 4-6 summer courses in field, conceptual, and organismal biology are offered each year by faculty from UVA and other institutions. Together, the community of 35-75 residents live the ideal of the Jeffersonian academical village, with all members living, working and thinking side by side on a daily basis.