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Queen's University Biological Station (QUBS) is the largest inland field station in North America. For 70 years, researchers and students have gathered at the Queen's University Biological Station to conduct research and participate in courses spanning ecology, evolution, conservation and environmental biology. In 2002, it became part of the United Nations recognized Thousand Islands – Frontenac Arch Biosphere Reserve. The mandate at QUBS consists of education, research, and conservation. ==Description and history== The Queen's University Biological Station is located on the shores of Lake Opinicon, one of the lakes of the Rideau Canal, some 50 km north of Kingston, Ontario, Canada.〔 QUBS began operations in 1944. In 1945, the station consisted of 34 hectares of land. A series of real estate purchases and gifts to Queen's have expanded the facility to more than 3400 hectares ( > 8000 acres), including nine small lakes and extensive shoreline on Lake Opinicon and Hart Lake, and terrestrial habitats ranging from abandoned farmland to mature second-growth forest. Astride the Frontenac Axis, QUBS provides access to a wide variety of habitats. Lakes of various types and sizes are close by. So, too, are landscapes with a range of human influence and alteration, a varied topography, specialized environments, and high biodiversity. The area offers a juxtaposition of northern and southern flora and fauna. The first land for the biology station was purchased in 1945. The principal of Queen’s University at the time was Robert Wallace, an earth scientist and figure in the conservation movement. When asked by Wallace what the department was not doing that it ought to be doing, Head of Biology, E. O. Earl, identified field biology as an area for improvement, and suggested that biology education at the university could be greatly improved with the construction of a field station. Wallace encouraged plans for the field station and assisted in obtaining funds from the Ontario government. Within the department of biology, Wes Curran was another supporter and became the station’s first director. In 1945 Queen’s was able to purchase 65 acres of farmland from a Mr. Acton of South Crosby Township. This land forms the current QUBS Point. Life at the Biology Station in the early days was very basic. The first facilities were completed in 1947 and included a central lodge; the two story boathouse; eleven small, two bunk cabins; a three bedroom cottage for the director; and a full service laboratory with a walk-in incubator and walk-in refrigerator. While the laboratory contained all the latest equipment, the human accommodations lacked hot water and plumbing, and all cooking had to be done on a wood-fuelled stove. From the beginning, the station supported the duel mandates of teaching and research. Early areas of focus included fisheries studies, forestry and soil studies, entomology, forest pathology, botanical studies, limnology, and terrestrial ecology. Classes were held at the station for the first few years but ceased by 1949. The classroom above the boathouse was converted into a lab and the teaching and research aspects of station life began to meld. Professors began to employ students as summer research assistants, a mutually beneficial arrangement. Professors received help with their projects and students received a small stipend, a first hand education in field techniques, and data that could be used in an Honours thesis. Classes at the station have since resumed, and the practice of employing students as research assistants has continued to this day. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Queen's University Biological Station」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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