Build WSU’s Yellowstone Field Station

Weber State University has long recognized how important hands-on experiences are for learning. This is especially true in the College of Science, where faculty provide opportunities for students to conduct real research in the field. The university aspires to establish a field station in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem. The field station will be a shared scientific research base that fosters collaboration among students and faculty across multiple disciplines, in a setting that provides access to a broad range of environments for studying, teaching and learning.

This facility will house year-round, innovative, scientific research, enrich student learning through real-world, immersive experiences and enhance recruitment and retention for both WSU students and faculty. Many of our faculty members take students to sites where they conduct rigorous research for a few hours at a time. A permanent Yellowstone field station will allow many more College of Science faculty and students, as well those from all of WSU’s colleges, to participate in extensive and year-round field-based projects.

The field station vision includes a main building with classroom and gathering spaces, laboratory, library, kitchen and faculty units, along with a central courtyard and two dormitories for students. In addition to research, this facility could be home to:

  • Interactions with nature to inspire creative works
  • Gatherings like alumni events, department meetings or retreats
  • Community events and activities for local K-12 students

Wildcat Spotlight

Clementine Rane

Zoology major Clementine Rane frequently travels to high elevations in the Uinta Mountains — in the dead of night — looking for boreal owls. This threatened species was not known to exist in Utah, but she found a breeding population in the state.

“The classroom is great, but for zoology there is absolutely no substitute for time spent in the field,” Rane said. “The logistics, safety, wonder, flies, mud, stuck snowmobiles — you can only get that experience in the field. I’d say field work is the most important part of my education.”

A WSU field station near Yellowstone would have a huge impact on students’ experience, Rane said. “It would give all students an equal opportunity to experience the wonder of the field, and figure out the next step in their career.”

Support the Yellowstone field station by making a gift today.

To learn more about the field station, contact a Weber State University development director.