| Add to your personal catalog |
The Raystown Field Station
The Raystown Field Station is a 365-acre reserve operated as a center for environmental research and education. Located only 20 miles south of campus, the Station provides students with access to 29,000 acres of Army Corps of Engineers property, including the 8,300-acre Raystown Lake, the largest lake in Pennsylvania. The Station has modern facilities and accommodations including Shuster Hall (2003) that features state-of-the-art green architecture. Sustainable design was a central factor in the construction of the lakefront Shuster Hall. Two lakeside lodges (2006) adjacent to Shuster Hall provide modern housing complete with internet access. The Station also provides rustic accommodations at Grove Farm, a remodeled 18th century log farmhouse. Two semester-long programs are currently offered. A Sense of Place Semester in the fall, and Ecology and Organismal Biology in the spring. The Station also offers a abbreviated June semester with courses focused on wildlife conservation.
A Sense of Place semester provides an immersion experience into the Northern Appalachians. Students take all their courses at the Field Station and live in lodges next to Shuster Hall. Course topics include sustainability, geographic information systems (GIS), water resources, field research, and the integrating seminar, A Sense of Place. Field work will be integrated with course work and local projects as key educational approaches to this unique experience. Students in environmental science and studies, environmental education, geology and other natural sciences will find this semester immersion to be central to their learning experience. Ecology and Organismal Biology is a joint venture with St Francis University, including courses in zoology, ecology, animal behavior and biostatistics.
Other features of the Station include full internet connectivity, a series of ground water monitoring wells, a private harbor, boat dock and a small fleet of boats including a Boston Whaler, a 26' pontoon float boat and a 36' houseboat designed for aquatic laboratory work. Two 4wd vehicles and a variety of field sampling gear, including microscopes, telemetry units, data loggers, laptop computers and portable water analysis labs, equip students and faculty for a wide range of field research activities. The Station houses course activities for several academic departments, sponsors numerous faculty and student research projects and internships, provides community environmental education opportunities and is the home to the annual Juniata Maple Syrup program.
Program expansion continues to provide additional semester-long residential opportunities, summer programs and significantly enhanced research facilities. Additionally, the Raystown Field Station offers a student research exchange program with the Tiputini Biodiversity Station in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
follow us on: