University of Calgary celebrates 75 years of field research, history in Kananaskis Country

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A sign marking the entrance to Kananaskis Country in Canmore, Alta., Monday, April 24, 2023. Covering an area of approximately 4,000 km Kananaskis Country was formed by the Alberta Government in 1978 to provide an assortment of land uses. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
KANANASKIS COUNTRY – Eighty kilometres west of Calgary, in the heart of eastern Kananaskis Country, is a remote field research station.
What began in 1950 as a couple tents pitched near Sheep River, serving as a base for trout research, is now the Research Base (RB) Miller Station – an internationally known research base that marks the earliest beginnings of the University of Calgary.
'The historians of this university decided to trace back our roots to the creation of that field station. There is something kind of cool to me as a field station person, as an ecologist that [RB Miller] is viewed as the birth of what would then become the UofC,' said Dr. Steven Vamosi, director of the University of Calgary's Biogeoscience Institute.
Fast forward 75 years, RB Miller and the Barrier Lake Field Station – built in 1967 – make up the only two field research stations in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies.
Operated under the umbrella of the UofC's Biogeoscience Institute (BGI), the research institute is celebrating decades of scientific discovery, mountain research, learning and teaching in K-Country dating back to May 1950.
As a research-only facility, the RB Miller station is known as a prime location for the study of large and small mammals, according to Vamosi. The most recent studies out of the station have looked at the behaviours of bighorn sheep and Columbian ground squirrels in the area.
As long-term research projects become increasingly uncommon, according to Vamosi, the station's reach goes beyond the Kananaskis Valley, drawing researchers from across Canada and internationally to take part in both short- and long-term projects, some of which have spanned decades.
'We have a really broad reach,' said Vamosi. 'Most of our field courses are based out of Alberta and Saskatchewan, but we also bring in people from Germany, Ontario [and] groups from the States, so it really is an internationally used and recognized facility and program.'
University of Calgary celebrates 75 years of field research, history in Kananaskis Country
The hiking trail on Yamnuska in Alberta's Bow Valley Wildland Provincial Park, part of Kananaskis Country, is shown in June 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colette Derworiz
(Colette Derworiz/The Canadian Press)
Bighorn sheep research out of RB Miller is one of these decade-long projects. With studies dating back to the 50s and continuing today, according to Dr. Kathreen Ruckstuhl, UofC professor and researcher.
From humble beginnings in the '50s, BGI has increased focus on environmental science research over the years while also supporting scientific literacy in the broader community.
Research still a primary focus, the Barrier Lake Station also functions as a base for education, giving school groups and undergraduate students what is often their first glimpse into mountain research.
'You can take an ecology degree at the UofC and the two weeks you spend at the field station might be one of the only times in those four years that you're really on the land interacting with organisms, plants, animals [and] ID-ing them, hearing their calls, figuring out how you might trap them … so that's really important,' said Vamosi.
Along with post-secondary courses, field study programs for junior high and high school students have been offered at the Barrier Lake Station for close to 40 years, giving students access to hands-on experiences while teaching them about surrounding mountain ecosystems.
'The site is really inspiring to young students who maybe this is their first time out doing a little bit of field work or experiencing field work and just connecting them with the natural world. It doesn't have to be in science [but] whatever topic that they're exploring,' said Adrienne Cunnings, field research manager at BGI.
The Barrier Lake station has also formed partnerships with several non-profits like The Howl Experience and The Resilience Institute over the years, facilitating programs for young people, climate research and integrating Indigenous ways of knowing in education.
Eesha Haris
Eesha Haris, left, uses her phone to photograph Upper Kananaskis Lake while attending the Rockies Journey camp run by Howl in Kananaskis, Monday, July 3, 2023. Howl is a nonprofit organization offering unique learning experiences across Canada for youth who don't know what comes next in life. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
(Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)
While normally closed to the public, the BGI is opening several walking paths to visitors at the Barrier Lake Station this summer with the introduction of two guided walking tours, according to Cunnings.
The first, a scientific walking tour, takes visitors through ongoing research projects conducted out of the station. The second is a historical tour of the area, highlighting the Barrier Lake site's history as a prisoner of war camp during the second World War.
The app-guided walking tours will be open to the public as of July 1.
By: Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.