School of Life Sciences and Sustainability

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Field station of dreams

Aug. 22, 2025

For 25 years, VCU Rice Rivers Center has been students’ portal to the natural world, playing host to research, restoration and life-changing experiential learning.

Student measures the depth of the water table near groundwater wells at the Rice River Center.
Graduate student Theresa Lucas (B.A.’06, B.S.’24) measures the depth of the water table near groundwater wells at the Rice Rivers Center.

This year, the Rice Rivers Center marks a quarter century since philanthropist Inger Rice, courted by housing developers, opted instead to gift her riverfront land to VCU, providing the decidedly urban institution with a no-fooling field station — and its students the opportunity to immerse themselves in meaningful environmental research, just 23 miles from campus.

Read the full article at VCU Magazine: Field station of dreams