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Saint Louis University is completing construction of the new Lay Field Station in Louisiana, Mo., and will open the facility for classes and research on May 17.
The station will feature 10 new buildings, including residence halls, classrooms, laboratories, faculty housing and a multi-purpose pavilion.
The University plans to develop the Lay Field Station as a premier teaching and research site for students and faculty in biology and other sciences. Courses will be taught by Saint Louis University faculty and other distinguished faculty from around the world and will emphasize ecology and environmental biology.
The Lay Field Station is one of two field stations operated by Saint Louis University. Its primary mission is to educate both undergraduate and graduate students through courses and research in botany, zoology, natural history and conservation.
The field station was made possible by a gift of approximately 300 acres from Pike County resident and Saint Louis University alumnus Henry Lay (School of Law, cum laude, 1964). Lay also made a substantial donation toward the development costs of the facility.
"I am proud to be a graduate of this wonderful institution and also happy and proud to be a resident of Pike County," Lay said. "The gift should benefit both the University and the County."
The field station is located in Pike County between Bowling Green and Louisiana, Mo., about 100 miles northwest of St. Louis.
The station is situated on approximately 300 acres of rolling hills in the Lincoln Fold region of Missouri, approximately three miles from the Mississippi River. The property features an oak and hickory forest, a six-acre lake, several ponds and a stream.
A local family has been hired as year-round caretakers and other area residents may be employed seasonally.
In addition to economic benefits and the preservation of the land, residents of Pike County will benefit from the field station in a number of other ways.
"We will be working with community leaders and teachers to find out what the community needs and how our programs might meet those needs," said Dr. Gail Johnston, program coordinator. "We hope to offer a variety of programs of interest to residents of Pike County and other surrounding counties, including teacher education courses, non-credit lectures and workshops. We also plan to offer programs especially for high school students, and we are exploring the possibility of creating a special advanced placement program for them."
The Lay Field Station will offer several three-week field courses during the summer of 1998. No more than 48 students will be allowed to enroll per session, and class size is limited to 16. Courses will be offered over three sessions (May 17 to June 6, June 8 to June 27, and July 12 to Aug. 1) and will include field ornithology, field ecology, environmental physiology, the American environmental movement, great river ecology and an introduction to American nature writing.
In most cases, students can enroll in only one course per session. Credits for courses may be transferred to other academic institutions. Tuition is $277 per credit hour, and there is a field fee of $200, which covers room and board for the three-week session.
Additional one-day, weekend and weeklong courses and workshops on a variety of topics will be scheduled throughout the year. One workshop for nature writers will be offered during the week of July 12 to 18 by Dr. Peter Bernhardt.
The Lay station will feature 10 new buildings, including a classroom building, two fully-equipped laboratories, a library/office/lounge building and a kitchen/dining hall. A multipurpose pavilion is scheduled to be completed by May 17 and will seat up to 100 people for lectures, presentations and meetings.
Two air-conditioned residence halls will accommodate up to 24 students each, and three homes for faculty will be completed by June. An existing house on the property also will be used for faculty housing, and a second existing home on the site will be occupied by a local family year-round who will manage the property.
Because the property will be used for college-level study, research and training, it will not be open to the general public for hunting, fishing or recreation. However, area residents will be able to participate in many non-credit courses and workshops that are planned at the facility.
For more information, call station director Dr. Robert Aldridge at 977-3916, or program coordinator Dr. Gail F. Johnston at 977-3900. You also may send an e-mail to biology@slu.edu.