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

Hundreds of students have experienced their first taste of field biology in the fields, marshes and forests of KSR. KSR provides wonderful opportunities for field experiments in ecology and evolution, and for the training of students. Starting with Stephen Wright’s work on sex allocation in Trillium, we have investigated a range of problems in plant reproductive biology using diverse species and approaches. These have included the evolution of wind pollination in Carex (Jannice Friedman) and Thalictrum (David Timerman) and climate adaptation (Rob Colautti) and mating and inbreeding depression (Chris Balogh) in Lythrum.

Dr. Spencer Barrett, The University of Toronto, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology

KSR’s hills and variety of ecosystems are great for drone remote sensing, especially for forestry where you have many great vantage points. KSR has been an essential element of my research over the past eight years and it has continued to be a valuable field site even after I took up an appointment at the University of Windsor. The facilities are excellent. My students enjoy having a space for their field research so close to the amenities of a city, and forming productive partnerships with other research groups.

Dr. Cameron Proctor, The University of Windsor, School of the Environment

KSR has been, and continues to be, integral to the development and delivery of our forestry programs at University of Toronto. KSR is a unique property – large, forested and within an hour’s drive of the St. George campus.  I teach an undergraduate field course in forest conservation at KSR. With its diversity of forest types, lab facilities and on-site accommodations, it provides an excellent venue for this week-long, immersive course. Our Masters of Forest Conservation program also makes use of KSR for the training of graduate students.

Dr. Benjamin Kuttner, The University of Toronto, Institute of Forestry and Conservation in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design

Graduate/Undergraduate Research at KSR

KSR represents a rare pristine site dedicated to science. I came to KSR in 2021 and 2022 to picture Impatiens capensis flowers and collect leaves and seeds in order to assess the effect of urbanization on flower shape and size. I had a wonderful experience when sampling there: the application process was quick and easy, communication with the KSR manager or director was great and my sampling ran smoothly both years I was there.

Jérôme Burkiewicz, PhD Candidate at the Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal

I spent four wonderful summers at KSR conducting an experiment with ~1000 milkweed plants. Throughout my time there, the KSR staff went above and beyond to ensure the success of my research. Also, the local wildlife is consistently marvelous. There’s nothing better than counting flowers while a bobolink sings nearby!

Dr. Sophie Breitbart, PhD from 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

Learn in the field

KSR hosts undergraduate and graduate 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
(FOR300- 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)
Vegetation & Ecosystem Health Monitoring in Southern Ontario
(FOR3016– University of Toronto)
Applied Forest Conservation
(FOR3002– University of Toronto)