Biology Field Stations
The mission of the Biology Field Stations is to provide model ecosystems for education and research use.
Collectively, the Biology Field Stations offer many of the major ecosystem types in the Red River Valley, including wetlands, prairies, riparian woodlands, streams, and agricultural areas.
The UND Field Station Committee operates four field stations and encourages use of these stations by educators and researchers from the region and abroad. We request that all potential users submit a short description of their proposed use (education or research) to the UND Field Station Committee for approval. For additional information and to submit requests for use please contact Dr. Kathryn Yurkonis at Kathryn.Yurkonis@UND.edu or at the UND Biology Department at 701.777.2622.
Forest River Field Station
The Forest River Field Station is 40 miles from the UND campus near Inkster, ND, and areas suitable for studies in aquatic and woodland biology. The 180-acre site is mostly forested and bisected by the Forest River. Several classes use this site for field trips, student research projects, and as an access point for ampling the Forest River. The site is jointly managed with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department as a public access Wildlife Management Area. Please see the most recent NDGF WMA guidelines for up-to-date access information.
Oakville Prairie Field Station
The Oakville Prairie Field Station consists of over 900 acres of upland and lowland prairie and protects several types of prairie communities that once dominated the Red River Valley. Since 2014, the site has been managed with prescribed fire on a four-year return interval.
The southern portion of Oakville Prairie contains remnant tall-grass prairie plant communities, include grasses such as little and big bluestem.
Glacial Lake Agassiz receded from the site approximately 9,300 years ago, leaving a series of beach ridges. These ridges have mostly disappeared, but two of the Ojata Beach Ridges remain on the Oakville site along with eight saline seeps (another geological feature not common elsewhere).
Oakville Prairie is located 12 miles from campus and is frequently used for education and research purposes in several departments across campus. The site is jointly managed with the North Dakota Game and Fish Department as a public access Wildlife Management Area. Please see the most recent DNGF WMA guidelines for up-to-date access information.
Mekinock Field Station
The Mekinock Field Station consists of over 600 acres of agricultural and old-field lands just west of the Grand Forks Air Force Base. A majority of the area is leased for agricultural row-crop production (including corn, soybeans, wheat) and is a great resource for studying working landscapes in North Dakota.
This field station also includes an area reserved for experimental (faculty, graduate and undergraduate) research on plant and soil communities where researchers test questions about grassland communities in North Dakota. An additional portion (80-acres) of the Mekinock field station was in production, but has since been left fallow to provide opportunities to study old-field successional systems in the region.
Traill Country
The Traill County Field Station constists of 140 acres of primarily wooded lands adjacent to Interstate 29 in Buxton, ND. The site is jointly managed with Traill County and the North Dakota Game and Fish Department as a public access Wildlife Management Area. Please see the most recent NDGF WMA guidelines for up-to-date access information.