Future Research Leaders Made Here

South Bass Island is mostly known as a summer vacation spot on the Lake Erie islands, full of restaurants, marinas, and hotels. However, the island also hosts Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory, the oldest freshwater field station in the United States and the center of Ohio Sea Grant’s teaching, research, and outreach work on Lake Erie.

Ohio State University created the Lab, and has had a research presence on Lake Erie since 1895. While Stone Lab’s administrative office and research facility is located on South Bass Island, the iconic main classroom building sits across the harbor, on 6.5 acre Gibraltar Island, which was purchased in 1925 by Julius Stone and given to the university to create a center of Lake Erie education and research. Today, Stone Lab offers college-credit science courses, field trip experiences, and research support to college students, advanced high school students, educators, and researchers.