About
Stephen A. Forbes, the father of state science in Illinois, chose the Havana, Illinois area of the Illinois River to begin biological investigations in 1876 because it offered good access to a relatively unpolluted stretch of the river and associated lakes. He had hopes that his studies would eventually encompass the entire Mississippi River Valley. His formal objectives for the Havana laboratory, which soon followed in 1894, were quite ambitious.
What made this station different than most in the nation was that its primary objective was scientific research, rather than exclusively education. The work conducted here would ultimately contribute to the larger study of the effects on plants and animals resulting from periodic flooding of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers (State Science in Illinois: The Scientific Surveys, 1850–1978, Robert G. Hayes).
Timeline
1876 — Stephen A. Forbes initiates studies on the Illinois River.
1877 — Forbes named head of the Illinois Laboratory of Natural History.
1894 — The University of Illinois establishes a biological station near Havana, IL. Stephen A. Forbes is named as its head.
1895 — Charles A. Kofoid was named director of the University of Illinois Biological Experiment Station in Havana. From this station, Kofoid investigated plankton in the river and backwater lakes.
1896 — A 60-foot houseboat was constructed to provide a floating research facility. This houseboat was towed by a 25-foot steamer, the Illini.
1903 — Robert E. Richardson became director of the Havana field station. Richardson and Forbes collaborated to publish The Fishes of Illinois in 1908.
1923 — David H. Thompson, assisted mainly by graduate students, conducts research on the Illinois River.
1935 — The Anax, a 45-foot cabin boat, was acquired by the Illinois Natural History Survey and was used as a floating laboratory until the mid-1940s.
1940 — The first permanent structure is constructed near the site where Forbes first established the biological station in 1894. This structure was later named the Stephen A. Forbes Biological Station.
1949 — William C. Starrett becomes director of the later-named Stephen A. Forbes Biological Station.
1959 — William C. Starrett initiates many studies of great interest to river researchers, including the Long Term Electrofishing Survey (LTEF), which continues today.
1972 — Richard E. Sparks began to lead the River Research Laboratory. Following William C. Starrett, Richard E. Sparks was the next to emphasize research efforts in aquatics. Due to his efforts, “The Flood Pulse Concept in River-Floodplain Systems” was widely publicized and has provided a new paradigm by which river ecology and hydrology are viewed.
1987 — Two additional study vessels were acquired in part by the Illinois Natural History Survey—the William C. Starrett and the Robert E. Richardson, both named after previous INHS scientists. These boats were used as research vessels to a capacity similar to that of the Anax.
1989 — Aquatics research staff moved from the Forbes Biological Station when a second INHS field station was established in Havana, adjacent to Cooks Harbor on the Illinois River, to accommodate the growing Long Term Resource Monitoring program and other aquatic research. This new station was named the Illinois River Biological Station.
Since Forbes’ time, river research in Havana has grown from a small encampment on the banks to a staff of over fifteen full-time and seasonal hourly staff and interns today. Visit our research section for a listing of current projects at the INHS Illinois River Biological Station.