A visitor to the Louis A. Calder Center, Fordham’s 110-acre biological field station, could be forgiven for feeling much farther away from New York City than 25 miles north.
History abounds at the center. From the back porch of 90-plus-year-old Calder Hall, it’s possible to make out the outlines of the outdoor pool that was once ensconced on the hillside of the second highest point in Westchester County—high enough for one to see Manhattan on a clear day.
One either side of the hill, one can find scientists and students hard at work, either in the Routh House, a former residence that houses the center’s vector ecology lab, or the McCarthy Laboratories, situated on the bank of the 10-acre lake. A recent visit found carpenters transforming trees felled by Hurricane Sandy into picnic tables. An array of greenhouses, residence halls, a lake house, and several other structures completes this invaluable center for research.
—Photos by Dana Maxson
