The Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology (PLE) is a year-round
ecology
Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...
field station of the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
Department of Biological Sciences located in
Linesville and
South Shenango Township on the shores
Pymatuning Lake
Pymatuning Reservoir is a man-made lake in Crawford County, Pennsylvania and Ashtabula County, Ohio in the United States, on land that was once a very large swamp. Much of it is incorporated into two state parks: Pymatuning State Park in Pennsylv ...
in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
. The station contains research facilities and equipment, conducts undergraduate education and courses, and serves as center for conferences, symposia, and retreats. The Pyatuning Laboratory hosts researchers from the University of Pittsburgh as well as those from universities throughout the nation and world, which have included, among others, researchers form
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
, the
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...
, the
University of Georgia
, mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things."
, establ ...
, the
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...
.
Likewise, course instructors at the lab come from the University of Pittsburgh, but also have included instructors from other institutions including
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
, the
University of Connecticut
The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...
, and the
National Aviary
The National Aviary, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the only independent indoor nonprofit aviary in the United States. It is also the country's largest aviary, and the only one accorded honorary "National" statu ...
. In addition, the University of Pittsburgh has instituted a collaborative program for study at the Pymatuning Lab with other area universities in which students that are enrolled through any of these institutions register, pay tuition, and receive credit at their home institutions. Schools participating in the collaborative program include
Clarion University,
Edinboro University
PennWest Edinboro is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University, a multi-campus public university in Pennsylvania. Located in the town of Edinboro, the campus has more than 4,600 enrolled students.
History
Edinboro University was founded a ...
,
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) is a public research university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania. As of fall 2021, the university enrolled 7,044 undergraduates and 1,865 postgraduates, for a total enrollment of 9,009 students. The univ ...
, and
Slippery Rock University
Slippery Rock University, formally Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania (The Rock or SRU), is a public university in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania. SRU is a member of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The university ...
.
History
![PymantuningCanoe](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/PymantuningCanoe.jpg)
The University of Pittsburgh established a biological field station at
Presque Isle, Pennsylvania on the shores of
Lake Erie
Lake Erie ( "eerie") is the fourth largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has t ...
in 1926. However, the creation of
Presque Isle State Park
Presque Isle State Park () is a Pennsylvania State Park on an arching, sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, west of the city of Erie, in Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northe ...
crowded out the modest field station, and in 1949 the field station moved to
Pymatuning State Park.
The University of Pittsburgh obtained a lease from the state for a wooded peninsula adjacent to the Pennsylvania State Fish Hatchery which became known as the Sanctuary Lake Site. The first building was constructed on this site in 1952. Over time more research buildings were erected on the site in order to satisfy the educational and research needs of the University of Pittsburgh and visiting faculty and students from other colleges and universities in Western Pennsylvania.
By 1965, the university had outgrown the Sanctuary Lake Site facilities and it obtained a second lease from the
Pymatuning State Park for a dedicated housing site.
As the Housing Site expanded and developed, the Sanctuary Lake Site was dedicated to maintaining modern research and teaching facilities. Today, this site has modern facilities for housing instructors, researchers, and students as well as a Dining Hall, Kitchen, and Recreation Hall.
Major renovations and building projects were undertaken in the mid-1990s that resulted in a 30% increase in space and included the installation of numerous pieces of equipment and lab renovations. Among the projects was a new $81,000 administration building with a library and a $102,000 faculty housing unit that was completed in 1997. Since 2000, the University of Pittsburgh has renovated and expanded the facilities, as well as adding a significant increase in land. This has included the acquisition of three research properties, Wallace Woods, Beagle Road, and the Livingston Farm, that total . In addition, the university has constructed five additional labs. In addition, the lab has been awarded a grant from the
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...
to construct a new $1.2 million, laboratory building to be completed in 2014 that will contain three new research labs including new animal care space for bird researches and sterile lab space for molecular and microbial biology. This facility will also be open to K-12 public school students when the universities are on hiatus.
Facilities
![DSC 0996 (5097506993)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/DSC_0996_%285097506993%29.jpg)
The lab and teaching facilities of the Pymatuning Laboratory are located within public lands consisting of an Wildlife Sanctuary and Propagation area owned by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In addition, the Pymatuning Laboratory owns 360 acres of research sites that includes tracts of forest, successional field, and
wetland
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
along Linesville Creek in the Pymatuning
watershed, and another tract of successional meadow, designated for experimental plantings and manipulations, a few miles from the laboratory site. An
old-growth forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
preserve of the
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) is a private nonprofit conservation organization founded in 1932 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. WPC has contributed land to 12 state parks and conserved more than a quarter million acres o ...
also is managed by the Lab. Facilities include 10 research labs, cabins, dormitories, a dining hall, and lecture rooms. The lab is also stocked with a variety of equipment for research as well as recreational purposes.
Sanctuary Lake Site
![PymatuningPittSancLake](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/PymatuningPittSancLake.jpg)
The Sanctuary Lake Site is the original research site for the Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology since 1949 and is situated on Sanctuary Lake, a protected waterway, which several of the original classrooms overlook. This 13-acre site contains eight research laboratories, a stockroom, environmental chambers, a −40°C freezer, wireless internet, a computer lab, and 24-hour emergency power back-up. There is also a library and a large lecture hall that can accommodate more than 100 people.
Livingston Road Laboratory
The Livingston Road Laboratory, affectionately called "the farm", is the newest facility at PLE and contains of field and forest, offering a variety of venues for observation or experimentation. In addition, there is a newly constructed building containing aquatic and terrestrial research laboratories, a large garage for storage, two water wells, temperature controlled rooms, offices, restrooms, internet access, and a modern security system.
Beagle Road Site
The Beagle Road Site is a site that supports an old-field community and is currently the location for a variety of old-field and aquatic mesocosm experiments.
Wallace Woods
Wallace Woods is a site that contains a fairly mature second-growth forest. It also includes a stretch of Linesville Creek for aquatic study. The vegetation of this site has been particularly well studied over the years, allowing providing significant potential for future research projects.
Tryon-Weber Woods
Tryon-Weber Woods is an site of forested land that is stewarded by Pymatuning Lab and owned by the Western Pennsylvania Nature Conservancy. It contains a mature
American beech-sugar maple woods and is considered to be one of the finest examples of such an old-growth forest in northwestern Pennsylvania.
Janette Rose Tryon Reserve
The Janette Rose Tryon Reserve contains of forested land that was selectively logged in recent decades. The land contains second-growth timber and a substantial number of wetlands located within the forest mosaic.
Residences
Various on-site and off-site residences exist at the Pymatuning Lab to house up to 120 students and researchers.
Housing Site
![PittPymatuninglabRecBuilding](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/PittPymatuninglabRecBuilding.jpg)
The Housing Site, located on the shores of Pymatuning Lake, contains most of the residential opportunities for students and researchers. The site is composed of ten residence structures and also includes on-site equipped kitchens, a laundry facility, dining hall, and Recreational Hall that features a fireplace, satellite television,
pool table
A billiard table or billiards table is a bounded table on which cue sports are played. In the modern era, all billiards tables (whether for carom billiards, pool, pyramid or snooker) provide a flat surface usually made of quarried slate, that ...
,
foosball
Table football, also known as foosball, table soccer, futbolito in Mexico, Taca Taca in Chile and Metegol in Argentina is a table-top game that is loosely based on association football. The aim of the game is to move the ball into the opponen ...
table, and
ping-pong
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
table.
The entire lake-shore housing site is served by high-speed, wireless internet. The Housing Site also maintains a supply of recreation equipment including
canoe
A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle.
In British English, the term ...
s,
kayak
A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' ().
The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...
s, a
volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
court, and a
horseshoe pit, and is nearby are beaches for swimming and trails for hiking, biking, bird watching, and running.
Undergraduate and graduate student housing is provided in three
dormitories
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
: the Mountain Laurel Men's Dorm, White-tailed Deer Women's Dorm, and the Bald Eagle Dorm. The dorms consist of a large room with 4 single beds and attached bath. A lounge area in each dorm serves as a social center and contains desktop computers that are connected to the internet. Residents take meals in the Dining Hall or use a communal kitchen in the Pavilion.
Researchers can obtain housing in the two-story Ruffled Grouse Apartments or in one of six cabins. The apartments consist of 2 bedrooms that share bath and a kitchen which is equipped with microwaves, stoves, refrigerators, dishes, utensils and cookware. Each bedroom has a private entrance and has either one double bed or 2 single beds and, if available, can be rented as a unit to provide family housing. The cabins which each have a living room, equipped kitchen, bath and 1, 2, or 3 bedrooms. Cabin bedrooms may contain either one double or two single beds. If space is available, 2 and 3 bedroom cabins may be rented to provide family housing.
Off-site housing
The Hartman House is located about a mile north of Linesville. It is a two-story house with living room, kitchen, bath, one large bedroom and three small bedrooms. The Hartman House also may be rented to provide housing for a family. Another off-site housing location exists at the Sanctuary Lake Site in the former director's house, also called the Hatchery House, which is a two-story, three-bedroom facility with a living room, kitchen and bathroom that can also provide family housing.
References
External links
The Pymatuning Laboratory of EcologyUniversity of Pittsburgh Department of Biological Sciences
{{authority control
University of Pittsburgh
Ecological experiments
University and college laboratories in the United States
Nature centers in Pennsylvania
Forest research institutes
Universities and colleges in Crawford County, Pennsylvania