Located on the Canadian border, smack bang in the middle of the US, Minnesota is indeed a land of many lakes. While this postcard does sell them a bit short (there are in fact about 15,000 lakes and that doesn’t include those with more pond-like dimensions), it communicates the basic facts: there are a LOT of water bodies in this part of the world. And for someone who is partial to water, that is a pretty cool thing.
As part of my DECRA research, I am spending a couple of months in Minnesota this year. I am planning to conduct an invasion-style experiment at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve in 2013 and 2014, so this is the essential reconnaissance trip.
So, what have I discovered so far?
1). My University of Minnesota mentor (Dave Tilman), his lab and the Dept of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior (EEB) are all tops. Widely recognized as a place of (i.e. people that do) cutting edge ecological research, it is also proving to be a really fun and dynamic place to work.
To illustrate: within 10 days of arriving, I have had dinner at Dave’s house with his lab group and Simon Levin (another super high-echelon ecologist visiting from Princeton), gone to an EEB summer barbeque, spent a day out at Cedar Creek and to top it off, I’ve just returned from a “lab get-away” at the Tilman family cabin that is situated on a lake (of course!) ~3 hours north of Minneapolis. A pretty good start, I would say.
2). A staggering amount of high quality research has taken place at Cedar Creek. Owned and operated by the University of Minnesota in cooperation with the Minnesota Academy of Science, Creek Creek is a large ecological research station that is part of the Long-Term Ecological Research Network that exists in the US. Established in 1940, Cedar Creek is located in central Minnesota and contains natural habitats that represent the entire state. To cite Nee and Lawton’s (1996) Nature paper, Cedar Creek “is rapidly becoming one of ecology’s classic localities” (p. 672). Well, not wanting to assume that I am qualified to make the call, but I would say that Cedar Creek is one of ecology’s classic localities. If you’re in any doubt, then check out the publications that have been generated from work at Cedar Creek (be prepared to scroll!).
Like all things that work well, the strength of Cedar Creek comes down to its workforce. 24 Faculty members work at Cedar Creek, as well as 15 support staff, 10s of postdocs and postgrads and even more summer interns. This summer there are about 60 people working at Cedar Creek and – in two days time – I’ll be one of them. Yippee!
3). As an upshot of (1) and (2), some incredibly exciting opportunities are available for my research. I can take a fresh look at past experiments and surveys, tweak experiments that are already up and running and then there is the option of setting up an experiment myself. The world is most definitely my oyster – I can hardly believe my luck!
While being completely spoilt for choice is a wonderful situation to find oneself in, it does present the inevitable challenge of narrowing things down. So, in the next little while I plan to do some general reading, some Cedar Creek-themed reading, some Cedar Creek fieldwork and then a generous dose of coffee-fuelled and bike-inspired thinking. At the end of that, and the end of my two months here, I hope that some sparks will have flown, some light bulbs lit and some cool ideas arisen. Exciting times!
And now, off for a bike ride and a swim… You probably have an inkling where those activities will take place!
Ecological Change 