Well I suppose I need an intro...

What is QUBS?

The Queen's University Biological Station - or, as it is better known, QUBS (pronounced 'cubes') - is the largest field research facility in the interior of Canada. Located along the Rideau Canal, QUBS encompasses 2800 hectares of habitat in the transition zone between the deciduous forest to the south and the boreal forest to the north. Each year, QUBS hosts a wide array of research on fish, snakes, birds, bats, turtles, odonates, moths, and plants. The researchers themselves are nearly as diverse as the organisms they study, drawing from universities across North America and Europe. This vibrant research community lends credit to QUBS' reputation as a primary center for ecological research in Canada.

Why write about research at QUBS?

In short, because I love QUBS! I spent 3 unforgettable summers at the station doing fieldwork on American redstarts (for non-birders, those are small songbirds). In the process, I learned a great deal about the research activities of fellow biologists. This blog will give me the opportunity (i) to learn more about the scientific findings of the QUBS community, and (ii) to communicate those findings to interested readers, especially those who share my love of QUBS.

My Goals:

I aim to update this blog weekly. Each post will include a short summary of a research paper that lists QUBS as a study locale. I will attempt to canvass the broad spectrum of research conducted at the station (i.e. not just bird studies). The featured papers will be as current as possible, though I reserve the right to dip into the archives to find interesting research! Alerts to recently published papers will be much appreciated.