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What
is a Field Station? |
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| In
most parks and natural areas, regulations discourage or prohibit
collecting specimens, manipulating habitats, and disturbing plants
and animals. While such restrictions can be important in protecting
the integrity of the environment, they also make it difficult, if
not impossible, to conduct many types of scientific activities.
Furthermore, most parks lack classroom and laboratory facilities,
and park visitors may disturb research apparatus or survey markers.
Field Stations provide us with a place to study nature with fewer
distractions and greater flexibility - a place where you can establish
experiments without worrying about someone pulling up your survey
flags, stepping on your study organisms, or walking away with your
expensive data logger. Therefore, it is no surprise that field stations
have been at the forefront of biological research and education
for more than a century. Most field stations are associated with
major universities; it is unusual for a small, private school such
as Juniata to have such an active field program. |
| The
Raystown Field Station is a member of The
Organization of Biological Field Station, a network of almost
200 stations across North America. |
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