Laboratory Facilities

The Arctic Ecology Laboratory (AEL) is situated in North Kedzie Hall on the Michigan State University (MSU) Campus. MSU is a large, well-equipped research university with world-class library, computational, and soil / stable isotope analyses facilities. The knowledge resource at MSU is extensive and includes an interactive network of 83 Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior (EEBB) faculty members representing 12 college departments from Anthropology to Zoology; the EEBB is also a doctoral degree-granting program.

The AEL conducts research on aspects of regional change in the Arctic, particularly the response of vegetation to climate warming and the response of tundra vegetation to surface disturbance from urban and industrial development. The AEL occupies five offices and hosts 3 faculty members, 2 graduate students, and 4 undergraduate assistants. Each office has its own phone, computer, and printer. The computer facilities were designed for graphics applications, remote sensing/GIS applications, and statistical analyses and include a flatbed & slide scanners and color laser & wax printers. All equipment is connected to the World Wide Web and locally networked.

The AEL is an active collaborator with the Computational Ecology and Visualization Laboratory (CEVL). The CEVL is used to provide advanced computational facilities to conduct spatial analysis research and use intensive mathematical models to address global and complex systems issues. The AEL library contains over 1,500 volumes and 30,000 reprints with emphases in Cold Regions Ecology, Global Change, and Botany; it also houses an extensive map and aerial photograph collection of Northern Alaska, particularly the Barrow area and the National Petroleum Reserve.