Working with numerous colleges and universities as well as other non-profit groups and governmental agencies, Belwin is involved in numerous research projects. They include multiple year bird migration and census studies, stream research on trout and aquatic insects, stream monitoring, research on plant diversity and population trends of threatened plants.

Belwin provides modest funding for some of these studies. It also offers assistance from its staff for many of these projects.

Past projects

For more than 30 years, Belwin has welcomed university professors, PhD candidates, undergraduates, high school students, government researchers and volunteers for research studies. Projects have included the following:

• Inventories - prairie and woodland plants, butterflies, and fungal inventories have been created
• Water - water quality has been monitored, invertebrates have been monitored, abiotic parameters have been measured
• Birds - bluebird trails, migrating birds and resident bird populations have been monitored, wild turkeys tracked
• Plant/insect interactions - sunflowers/corn rootworm interactions and penstemon/beetle interactions have been studied
• Animals - Red squirrel populations have been monitored
• Fish - Trout in Valley Creek have been studied
• Technology - GIS map of core property created, vegetation maps created
• Miscellaneous - spatial orientation in natural areas has been studied

Belwin will seek to give scientists from all over the world the opportunity to use Belwin as a safe site for long-term research. Few places offer the diversity, size and security that Belwin can provide for ecological research and we are proud to make this contribution to our local and scientific communities.