A Northwoods Experience

Almost every spring or autumn we spend a weekend at Kemp Natural Resources Station as a lab.  Families and significant others are included.  Kemp is a beautiful place along Lake Tomahawk in northern Wisconsin.  We use our weekend to help whoever is doing field work in the area.  We sometimes serve as the student’s army of technicians to launch their field season, on projects such as biodiversity of ground beetles, invasive root weevils, gypsy moth, and fungal associates of beetles colonizing spruce. We also spend lots of time canoeing, hiking, biking, fishing and taking turns at group cooking.  No one has ever left Kemp hungry!  It’s a great way to launch the field season, give folks a chance to enjoy a good time while talking about their science ideas, and keep everyone working as a team.  Often we’ll invite colleagues from other universities and the U.S. Forest Service, and their families to join us, which is a special opportunity and experience for students.  It’s been a tradition for over 20 years.