University of Notre Dame Environmental Research Center (UNDERC) has two locations in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

serving as natural laboratories for scientists studying

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 ...

and

environmental biology Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geograp ...

. These locations serve as "natural" laboratories for the study of environmental systems that have experienced little or no degradation from humans and as a baseline for comparison with human disturbed systems.

UNDERC-EAST

UNDERC-East encompasses (land = and lakes/bogs/streams = ) lying at along the state line of

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

(

Vilas County Vilas County is a county in the state of Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,047. Its county seat is Eagle River. The county partly overlaps the reservation of the Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippe ...

) and

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

(

Gogebic County Gogebic County ( ) is the westernmost county in the Upper Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan, and the westernmost in the state as a whole. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 14,380. The county seat is Bessemer. This was historical ...

). UNDERC-East is the

National Ecological Observatory Network National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is a large facility program operated by Battelle Memorial Institute and funded by the National Science Foundation. In full operation since 2019, NEON gathers and provides long-term, standardized da ...

(NEON) site for increasing the understanding of how forest management impacts ecological processes in the Great Lakes Region (Domain #5).

UNDERC-WEST

UNDERC-West lies at and is located in the Mission Valley of

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

( Lake County). UNDERC-West encompasses more than administered by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
/ref> with whom the University of Notre Dame partners in the UNDERC-West project.

Notable Researchers

* Arthur Hasler * Edward Birge * Chancey Juday * David Lodge *

James Elser James Elser is an American ecologist and limnologist. He is Director & Bierman Professor of Ecology, Flathead Lake Biological Station, University of Montana and research professor, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University. He is known ...

* James Kitchell *

Stephen Carpenter Stephen "Steph" Carpenter ( /ˈstɛfən/ ''STEF-ən''; born August 3, 1970) is an American musician, known as the co-founder and a guitarist of the alternative metal band Deftones. His guitar technique makes use of both ringing open strings an ...

* Kathryn L. Cottingham

References

External links

UNDERC official website
{{authority control University of Notre Dame buildings and structures Nature reserves in Michigan Research institutes in the United States Biological research institutes in the United States Ecological experiments Ecology organizations Protected areas of Gogebic County, Michigan Protected areas of Vilas County, Wisconsin Geography of Lake County, Montana University of Notre Dame