North America’s oldest inland field station, the Forbes Biological Station in Havana, Illinois, turns 130 this year. In celebration, the Peoria Riverfront Museum opened a new exhibition on the Forbes Station with the help of its directors. We also recognize the achievements of those who built this world-famous wildlife research facility, such as Frank Bellrose, the Aldo Leopold Memorial Award recipient for whom the Frank C. Bellrose Waterfowl Research Center at Forbes Station is named.

World-renowned waterfowl researcher Dr. Frank C. (Chapman) Bellrose (1916-2005), an Ottawa, Illinois native, served the Illinois Natural History Survey for over fifty years at the Forbes Biological Station. His extensive research studies conducted from the Forbes Station included the migration and orientation of waterfowl, dynamics of waterfowl population, life history, ecology, and management of the wood duck, ecology of aquatic and marsh plants, and the ecology of the Illinois River.