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Students doing fieldwork in New Brunswick

Field Courses

We are delighted to announce the field course plans for the Department of Integrative Biology for 2025. Two fourth-year Integrative Biology field courses will be taught by Guelph faculty: ZOO​*4300 in St. Andrews, NB and BIOL*4410 in Algonquin Park, ON. 

Guelph also continues its participation in the Ontario Universities Program in Field Biology (OUPFB), where students can apply to take field courses at other Ontario universities for academic credit here. 

A third option is to take a field course not at the University of Guelph and not through OUPFB, but at an academically or research-accredited institution (requires preapproval by the field course coordinator below). Field course plans or health protocols may be adjusted according to the public health situation.

Overview

Field courses vary from year to year and the application procedures vary from course to course. A detailed summary of the general field course information session (overview and OUPFB) and specific information sessions (ZOO*4300, BIOL*4410) held in November can be found in this document. 

Students apply to field courses through special processes and using forms indicated below and not through WebAdvisor.

  • Students accepted into the Guelph field courses (ZOO*4300, BIOL*4410, and BIOL*4610) who complete the field component in the summer will be registered for the course in the following Fall semester. In other words, the field course appears on your fall term academic report. There is one exception: Students wishing to take a summer field course but on a coop work term in the following fall term, can defer registration to the following winter term.
  • The field component of OUPFB field courses (BIOL*4700/4800/4900) may occur outside of summer months (see OUPFB website). Registration is also typically in the fall term following the summer field experience with three exceptions: i) The course occurs at the end of the year in which case registration is in the winter term. ii) The field component is completed before June 30 in which case registration can be in the summer term at the student’s request (note U of G summer term registration fees will apply here in addition to course fees). iii) Students on a fall coop work term can defer registration to the following winter term.
  • Consideration for a field course is based on receipt of a complete application form, a Course Waiver Request Form and a non-refundable deposit check (350$ per academic course) upon application. 
  • Applications for all field courses are accepted starting Jan. 6, 2025 at 8:30 a.m. in SSC 2483 and end Jan. 31, 2025. Application to OUPFB courses are considered on a first-come first-served basis and depend on availability, whereas applications to University of Guelph field courses are not.
  • Prerequisites for all field courses include introductory Ecology and Statistics. All field courses include an independent student-run research project of some sort. Students in IB majors have some priority over other majors, and students in 3rd year or higher have some priority over earlier years. Selection and registration is managed by the field coordinator and assistant above.
  • You can attempt to pre-reserve a seat on a 2025 OUPFB course by emailing to the field course coordinator above before Dec. 4: your name, student ID, 2024 OUPFB module number, and academic major. We cannot guarantee a seat but we will nevertheless try to hold seats in OUPFB modules for interested students.
  • To apply for a field course not offered at the University of Guelph or through OUPFB, please use this form. Submit form to Field Course Coordinator.

Information Sessions

Two information sessions for 2025 field courses will be held at the following dates and times. The topics to be covered include: an introduction to field course offerings, an overview of Field Ecology (BIOL*4410), an overview of Marine Biology & Oceanography (ZOO*4300) and an overview of the OUPFB program. 

  • General Information Meeting: November 26 from 5:30 to 6:30 in SSC 1306
  • Marine Biology (New Brunswick): November 28th at 5:30-6:30 in SSC 2315
  • Field Ecology (Algonquin): November 28th at 5:30-6:30 in SSC 2315

Courses

Students doing fieldwork on a beach

ZOO*4300 Marine Biology & Oceanography (0.75 credit)

This course takes place in a unique environment on the east coast of Canada. The tides in the Bay of Fundy are the highest in the world and have a substantial impact on local ecosystems. The Huntsman Marine Sciences Centre is situated in Passamaquoddy Bay, St. Andrews, N.B. in the Bay of Fundy. The facilities include dormitories in a renovated mansion, teaching and research laboratories. The many species of marine mammals in the area are attracted by the abundant food resources provided by the upwelling of the nutrients due to the extreme tidal range. Many species of fishes including sharks are found in the area. Students investigate various marine environments using oceanographic techniques.

For additional course information contact Dr. Todd Gillis at tgillis@uoguelph.ca.

Students canoeing

BIOL*4410 Field Ecology (Algonquin Park) (0.75 credit)

Field Ecology is offered annually in July at the Wildlife Research Station, Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. Students are responsible for designing, conducting and writing-up two independent research projects. Emphasis is placed on rigorously testing specific hypotheses in the field.

Students work closely with instructors during the first three days of the course. Instructors conduct modules that emphasize natural history, experimental design, field techniques, and statistical procedures. During this initial period, students must also refine their own hypotheses. Developing interesting hypotheses to test is surprisingly difficult; therefore, successful projects involve planning ahead. It is important to have identified several potential ecological problems to investigate prior to arriving at the research station. Instructors are available to discuss the feasibility of projects before the start of the field course. One of the projects must have a significant plant component.

The remaining 10 days of the course are spent in the field collecting data. 

For more information, please contact Dr. Ryan Norris at rnorris@uoguelph.ca.
 

Polar bear on the ice

BIOL*4610 Arctic Ecology (0.75 credit)

(Currently suspended for 2025)

The Arctic Ecology field course is designed to provide students with an introduction to Canada's arctic. The course provides experience with the plant and animal life found in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems in the high arctic.

Situated 15 km east of Churchill, Manitoba, the Churchill Northern Studies Centre provides accommodation and dining facilities for up to 75 people, year-round. Two laboratories, a library, herbarium, and meeting rooms are present, as well as cold and frozen storage rooms.

This entire region lies within the Hudson Bay Lowlands, where innumerable small ponds dot the landscape because of poorly draining soils. Shrub tundra lies along the west coast of Hudson Bay, where the treeline dips south of the Thlewiaza River into Churchill. Reindeer lichen,Cladina rangiferina, cotton grass, Eriophorum sp., and purple saxifrage, Saxifraga oppositifolia, comprise the dominant vegetation, while dwarf shrubs manage to survive and reproduce. Stunted spruce trees increase in number and size farther to the south, and an obvious treeline begins 15 km south of Churchill. This entire region lies within the Hudson Bay Lowlands, where tundra polygons and eskers are common, ponds dot the land, and raised beaches continue to form under isostatic rebound.

BIOL*2300 Field Course In Biodiversity 

(Currently suspended)

Ontario Universities Program in Field Biology (BIOL*4700, 4800 and/or 4900)

The 2025 OUPFB course offering will be available in mid-December 2024.

The Ontario Universities Program in Field Biology (OUPFB) is the brainchild of the Biology Departments of Ontario Universities and provides a method to pool field course resources. Since field courses are expensive to offer and are very faculty and staff intensive, the Ontario Universities Biology Departments decided to pool resources in this area. The net outcome is that students can take Field Courses offered by other member institutions. This provides a tremendous array of choices that no one department would ever be able to offer. A list of the available courses is posted on their website. For registration, Guelph students would be registered in BIOL*4700, BIOL*4800 and/or BIOL*4900 Field Biology for two-week or longer courses, which are worth 0.50 credit. Again, you must be pre-registered for the course before you leave, so please check and confirm. Students taking field courses outside of Canada must also take a predeparture orientation session through the Centre for International Programs, called Depart Smart.

About

The College of Biological Science is a globally recognized academic faculty with a mission to expand the understanding of life, from DNA to cells to complex ecosystems. It produces intrepid and interdisciplinary research in a student-centred learning environment that encourages and promotes comprehensive understanding of the systems that govern life.