Koffler Scientific
Reserve at Jokers Hill

Teach & Learn

With its stunning natural beauty and wealth of educational resources, KSR is an exceptional destination for teaching and learning.

Teaching Facilities

All institutions of higher education are welcome to use Koffler Scientific Reserve at Jokers Hill for diverse, off-campus instructional activities.  

Course field trips can take advantage of our lecture rooms and teaching lab space. Sleeping and dining facilities can serve residential field courses for up to 20 students.

Contact the KSR Director for information on availability, logistics and fees.

Teaching at KSR

Teaching an undergraduate field biology course at KSR is wonderful. It’s a supportive setting for students to have their first experience with field research. At the same time, the station is home to really cool biodiversity, which is so inspiring for students in the course and allows them to develop fantastic independent research projects.

Dr. Megan Bontrager, The University of Toronto, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

From observational studies to large-scale multi-year experiments, KSR has played a pivotal role in my research program for over 20 years. KSR has allowed me to train the next generation of scientists in natural history and field research, including undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. I love the family friendly atmosphere of KSR. My entire family has stayed at KSR for up to a month at a time, which has made for a fun work-life balance.

Dr. Marc Johnson, The University of Toronto Mississauga Department of Biology

KSR has been an ideal playground in which to refine and develop our research, and expose our students and trainees to the wonderful, wild world just outside their homes. KSR has been an optimal place to develop and test our field research on ruby-throated hummingbirds. Within the safe and secluded research grounds, I and multiple graduate students, postdocs, and undergraduate researchers have been able to develop novel tracking technologies for use on these tiniest of birds.

Dr. Kenneth Welch, The University of Toronto, Department of Biology

Graduate/Undergraduate Research at KSR

It was really easy working at KSR. I completed part of my Master’s thesis there collecting insects and never had issues getting access to areas to fields or lab space to do dissections.

Eric Etzler, PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto, Mississauga Campus

Getting to do fieldwork at KSR has truly been a highlight of my PhD! Living at the field station immersed me in the ecological and evolutionary questions I was asking, and I was provided the resources and support to conduct both short- and long-term experiments on plants and their microbiomes that I couldn’t have completed in a greenhouse.

Julia Boyle, PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto, St. George Campus

KSR is a beautiful property with all the resources needed to conduct high-quality field experiments in numerous types of study systems. Overall, my experiences doing field research and on departmental retreats at KSR have all been excellent.

Dr. Lucas Albano, PhD from the University of Toronto, Mississauga Campus

Learn in the field

KSR hosts undergraduate field courses for budding researchers to gain invaluable skills outside of the classroom.

Temperate Field Biology
(EEB405 – University of Toronto)
Field Methods in
Physical Geography
(GGR390 – University of Toronto)
Forest Products in
Sustainable Forestry
(FOR301 – University of Toronto)
Environmental Studies Field Camp
(GESC451 – Wilfrid Laurier University)
Diversity of Insects
(EEB380 – University of Toronto)
Field Methods in Forest Conservation
(FOR301 – University of Toronto)
Aircraft Design
(AER406 – University of Toronto)
Introduction to Soil Science
(GGR205 – University of Toronto)