Cedar Point Biological Station
Cedar Point Biological Station Web Site
Institutional Affiliation
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, School of Biological Sciences
Mission
Cedar Point Biological Station provides research opportunities and advanced course work in field biology, with special emphases on prairie ecology, insect-plant interactions, animal behavior, and parasitology.
Location
The main lodge of the field station is just over a mile off Nebraska State Highway 61 on the south shore of Lake Ogallala in Keith County, Nebraska.
Directions: Follow State Highway 61 north from Ogallala, NE 8 mi (13.3 km) until you see Lake McConaughy. Proceed east along the dirt road directly opposite the State Game and Parks Office, up and over the hill; following the south shore of the lake when you reach the hydro-electric plant. Entrance to the Station is approximately 1/8 mi east of the hydro plant.
Overview
Cedar Point was founded in 1975 and has established a strong educational program and an outstanding record of research productivity. The station has grown from an initial 16 buildings and 15.4 ha to the current 29 buildings and 360 ha of cedar forested canyons, rugged bluffs overlooking the North Platte River valley, and rolling uplands of shortgrass and mixed-grass prairie. Additionally, Cedar Point has an important presence in the Sand Hills as manager of Arapaho Prairie, 518 ha of ungrazed sandhills prairie owned by the Nature Conservancy, which is also available for research and education purposes.
Facilities at the field station include well-equipped classroom and laboratory space. Available equipment includes microscopes, centrifuges, balances, freezers, refrigerators, an ultracold freezer, incubators, drying ovens, a fume hood, autoclave, mesocosms, and several boats. Some housing is available for researchers, and there is also a dining hall, library, and several computers with internet connections.
Research
Cedar Point currently supports major, long-term research programs and shorter term research projects whose subject matter ranges from behavior and population biology in individual species to community-level studies of species assemblages of both animals and plants. The station has a distinguished history of research in population biology and community ecology of parasites. Another strength is the study of plant-animal interactions, with a focus on prairie communities. Animal behavior research includes the exceptionally strong cliff swallow behavior project. Research proposals must be submitted for approval.
Education
Each summer, Cedar Point offers up to eight field-oriented classes as well as numerous opportunities for students to engage in independent research. Students are challenged by the study of living organisms in complex natural ecosystems, the design and completion of independent projects, and complete immersion in the study of biology. Over the years, course offerings have included:
- Aquatic Botany
- Aquatic Microbiology
- Field Animal Behavior
- Field Parasitology
- Freshwater Algae
- Great Plains Flora
- Herpetology
- Ichthyology
- Introductory Botany
- Limnology
- Microbial Ecology
- Natural History of the Invertebrates
- Ornithology
- Prairie Ecology
- Tropical Ecology
- Vertebrate Zoology
Contacts
For more information regarding field research at Cedar Point, contact the Associate Director.
Aerial photograph (to enlarge, click on the aerial photograph)
Land Use (GAP) Classification (to enlarge, click on the GAP image)
Climate Data
See historical climate data from the nearest weather station at Keystone Dam, Nebraska.
Web Site
