Coe College Wilderness Field Station

  • The Coe College Wilderness Field Station sits north of Ely, Minnesota, the gate to canoe country, at the edge of the federal Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Our mission is centered on undergraduate field experience, and we offer a range of field courses for credit that introduce students to the various rigors of field work and safe wilderness travel. Courses include Aquatic Ecology, Animal Behavior, Environmental Justice, Conservation and Ecology of Mammals, and Writing Wilderness.

  • North America
  • 3590 Cloquet Line
  • United States
  • Ely
  • Minnesota
  • 55731
  • 47
  • 91
  • fieldstation@coe.edu
  • https://www.coe.edu/fieldstation
  • 1962
  • 2020
  • Jesse Ellis
  • jellis@coe.edu
  • Director
  • 1220 1st Ave NE, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 52402
  • 2064067776
  • Jesse Ellis
  • jellis@coe.edu
  • Jesse Ellis
  • jellis@coe.edu
  • 101-500
  • No
  • 1-2
  • 6-10
  • 21-50
  • 1-25
  • Solar or Off Grid
  • 21-40 minutes
  • Undergraduate
  • Terrestrial
  • Boreal Forest
  • 0-100 meters
  • 0-100 meters
  • D (continental)
  • Rural
  • 5
  • 94
  • 1
Year Founded
1962
Year Joined OBFS
2020
Size of Field Station (hectares)
101-500
FSML Web Address
https://www.coe.edu/fieldstation

Private nonprofit organization?
No
Universities affiliated / Parent Organization
No
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
No
Member of the Virtual Field
No

Additional Information

Private nonprofit organization?
Names of Universities affilated
0
Federal, state, or local governmental partners?
No
Name of partner
Tribal partners/users
No
MSI/HBCU users
No
Community College users
No
Member of the Virtual Field
No

Visiting a FS/ML

Open to the Public
No
Year round staff
1-2
Seasonal staff
6-10
Overnight housing facilities/# of beds
21-50
Distance to emergency services
21-40 minutes
Library
No
Hiking trails
No
Internship employment
No

Environmental Information

Biomes
Boreal Forest
Minimum Elevation
0-100 meters
Maximum Elevation
0-100 meters
Köppen climate classification
D (continental)
Freshwater habitats
No
Urban or rural
Agricultural fields
No

Research

REU host station
No
Dry lab space
No
Wet Lab space
No
Research vessels available
No
GIS capacity on site
No
Long term data sets
No
On site herbarium or voucher species
Formal Data Management Plan
No
Mesocosms, plots, stream diversions, or other sets ups for outdoor manipulative experiments
No
Date Joined OBFS
October 13, 2025

Contact Info

FS/ML Email
fieldstation@coe.edu
Primary Contact
Jesse Ellis
jellis@coe.edu

Address

3590 Cloquet Line
Ely, Minnesota 55731
United States

Latitude
47.98234
Longitude
-91.82121