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The Field Station's rammed-earth gateway was designed and built by KU architecture students.

The KU Field Station is part of the National Science Foundation's National Ecological Observatory Network.

With a $4.2 million National Science Foundation grant, the Survey's River Ecology Lab leads an eight-university group in the largest-ever comparison of river ecosystems.

GIS mapping through the Survey's KARS program supports flood disaster response, helps developers estimate landscape impacts, and provides data for many other applications.

Survey researchers, in collaboration with the Dept. of Medicinal Chemistry, established the School of Pharmacy medicinal teaching garden in 2011.

Ted Harris, assistant research professor at the Survey, studies harmful algal blooms and their effects across the state.

The Bever/Schultz lab leads an NSF-funded grassland biodiversity study aimed at sustainable management, with multiple sites including the KU Field Station.

At the Kansas Biological Survey, a KU Designated Research Center, we pursue a deeper understanding of and appreciation for our biological resources through world-class research, education and service that enlightens, engages and empowers people in our state and beyond. View our 2020 Annual Report. The Survey, established in 1911, is a nexus for natural sciences research, environmental mapping, conservation and education. Our scientists — working with graduate and undergraduate students, as well as visiting scholars — conduct research that affects our health, our state and our world. This research covers a broad spectrum and includes subjects such as water, air and soil quality; land use; threatened and endangered species; global change biology; environmental engineering; and aquatic ecology and watersheds. Our mission: To serve Kansas and the global environment through world-class ecological research, education and outreach. Our vision: To lead scientific discovery that fosters appreciation of the vital interactions between humans and the environment.

The University of Kansas Field Station

The Survey also manages the 3,700-acre KU Field Station. The Field Station, established in 1947, protects wildlife habitat, preserves remnants of native prairie and old-growth forest, and serves as a living laboratory. Just 15 minutes from main campus, it provides a site for study in the sciences, arts, humanities and professional schools. Five miles of public trails are open year-round, dawn to dusk, at the Field Station's Research and Operations Area, an 1,800-acre site just north of Lawrence, Kansas.

Interactive environmental maps

The Natural Resource Planner is an interactive online Kansas map that enables users to choose from and view, separately or simultaneously, more than 20 categories of natural resource and infrastructure data. These data sets include water bodies, native grasslands, oil and gas wells, electric transmission lines, wind speed and much more. This map was designed to help users make informed decisions in the planning of development projects, so Kansans may benefit from natural resources while protecting sensitive wildlife and habitat.

This is one of several data-rich interactive maps developed and hosted by Kansas Applied Remote Sensing (KARS), a program of the Kansas Biological Survey. Access all the Survey's interactive maps.

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