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
Dr. Megan Bontrager, The University of Toronto, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyTeaching 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. Danijela Puric-Mladenovic, The University of Toronto, Institute of Forestry and Conservation in the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and DesignKSR has been a vital field hub of my research, teaching, and broader forest conservation efforts for many years. With its diverse vegetation and forests, KSR is a unique site where I teach a graduate ecosystem monitoring and health course. It’s a unique environment for students to gain hands-on experience in the field, develop field research skills, and learn about the challenges and opportunities of working in natural settings. Outstanding, supportive, and welcoming KSR staff and management are another reason I keep returning to KSR for teaching and research.
Dr. Shannon McCauley, The University of Toronto, Department of BiologyKSR’s facilities, access to natural habitats, and support have been instrumental to research that integrates experimental and comparative approaches. The experiments we’ve been able to conduct at KSR have ranged from small scale lab experiments to landscape level experiments that would simply be impossible without KSR. By bridging these scales we’ve been able to conduct research that provides mechanistic insights into broad scale natural patterns. It’s also been a place for students to learn, grow as scientists, and have fun with others who share their interests in the natural world.
Graduate/Undergraduate Research at KSR
Dr. Sophie Breitbart, PhD from the University of Toronto, Mississauga CampusI 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. Lucas Albano, PhD from the University of Toronto, Mississauga CampusKSR 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.
Julia Boyle, PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto, St. George CampusGetting 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.
Learn in the field
KSR hosts undergraduate and graduate field courses for budding researchers to gain invaluable skills outside of the classroom.
(EEB405 – University of Toronto)
Physical Geography
(GGR390 – University of Toronto)
Sustainable Forestry
(FOR300- University of Toronto)
(GESC451 – Wilfrid Laurier University)
(EEB380 – University of Toronto)
(FOR301 – University of Toronto)
(AER406 – University of Toronto)
(GGR205 – University of Toronto)
(FOR3016– University of Toronto)
(FOR3002– University of Toronto)