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Center of Excellence for Field Biology

The Center of Excellence for Field Biology at Austin Peay State University is dedicated to the study and preservation of biodiversity in the southeastern United States.  Center researchers use field-based methods, along with laboratory approaches and bioinformatics, to address questions in ecology, evolution, systematics, and conservation.  The Center provides environmental education to the public and research experience in field biology to undergraduate and graduate students.

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What is Field Biology?

Field Biology can take many forms, but the goal is always to understand how living organisms function in their natural environments. The tools for conducting field research can be as simple as a pencil and a notebook or as complicated as sequencing and analyzing DNA; modern field biology often integrates data collected outdoors in an organism’s environment with molecular lab work and computer-based modeling. On any given day, scientific research in Field Biology can be exciting, exhausting, thrilling, boring, pleasant, tedious, a walk in the park, a scramble up a mountain, or a slog through a stream. For us in the CEFB, it is always rewarding.

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Learn more about the work we do and who we are!
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Nastasia Disotell headshot
Nastasia Disotell
Graduate Research Assistant
I chose to continue my education within the CEFB because it was where I first started my journey as a researcher. My advisor Dr. Johansen guided me through as an undergrad to assist on projects her graduates were involved in and then helped to transition me to a graduate position myself. My experiences and opportunities here have helped to mold me into the researcher I am today and I couldn't be more grateful.

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Healthy Yards to celebrate Pollinator Week on Austin Peay’s campus
Healthy Yards to celebrate Pollinator Week on Austin Peay's campus

To celebrate Pollinator Week, Clarksville's sustainability organization Healthy Yards is hosting a family-friendly event to raise awareness for local wildlife pollinators at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 22, at the Austin Peay State University (APSU) Outdoor Education Center, 530 York St.

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SGI volunteer completes 2-year mapping project identifying ‘witness trees’ in Middle Tennessee
SGI volunteer completes 2-year mapping project identifying 'witness trees' in Middle Tennessee

Kurt Bryant, a volunteer with the Southeastern Grasslands Institute (SGI) at Austin Peay State University, has completed a mapping project that took him over two years and more than a thousand hours to finish. Bryant provided 80% of all volunteer hours on the project.

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Austin Peay installs window treatment to reduce bird collisions at Sundquist Science Center
Austin Peay installs window treatment to reduce bird collisions at Sundquist Science Center

Austin Peay State University has installed a special mesh window treatment on two sets of windows at Sundquist Science Complex as part of an experiment to reduce the number of birds that die flying into the windows.

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Center of Excellence for Field Biology
SSC D127
PO Box 4718
Clarksville, TN 37044
Phone: 931.221.7019
Fax: 931.221.6372
E-mail: fieldbiology@apsu.edu