Institute of Freshwater Biology Education and Outreach

Biology is fun!

What is Freshwater Biology? We believe that Freshwater Biology is a complex new field of science centered on ecology and data science, and is macrobiology (biology at the individual level or above) that deals broadly with freshwater areas, with collaboration between academic fields such as ecology, behavioral ecology, fisheries science, aquaculture, conservation biology, evolutionary biology, environmental science, emergency management, and river engineering. In the project research at the Institute of Freshwater Biology, researchers from different fields actually cooperate to promote applied research that contributes to fisheries resource management and biological conservation of river basins, and in the field of ecology, which is the specialty of the faculty of the Institute of Freshwater Biology, we conduct basic research to unravel the unknown nature, such as research to understand complex interactions among organisms, such as elucidating coexistence mechanisms, and research to clarify the characteristics of organisms from the perspective of evolution and adaptation. Taking advantage of the characteristics and expertise of such a wide range of research, we offer three courses for undergraduate students at Nagano University: "Special Lectures on Environmental Biology," "Ecology," and "Laboratory Course in Freshwater Biology". Education through research is effective. Students are exposed to cutting-edge research and acquire the ability to solve problems independently by using statistics and mathematical models to study the various aspects of nature that have no fixed solutions.

Contributing to society through industry-government-academia collaboration

Contributing to society through industry-government-academia collaboration is said to contribute to the development of society as a whole in a broader sense, such as local communities, welfare, and environmental issues, in addition to economic revitalization (The Importance of Industry-government-academia Collaboration: Industry-academia-government collaboration for the development of universities and society in the knowledge age). In this sense, the Institute of Freshwater Biology would like to contribute to environmental conservation, policy proposals, industrial promotion, citizen consultation, and human resource development in the region through research and education on nature, mainly on the Chikuma River, by utilizing its expertise. In particular, it focuses on high school-university cooperation and contribution to biological conservation in the Chikuma River basin flood control. High school-university cooperation supports high school students' inquiry learning and biology club activities, and provides education on biology, evolution, environmental studies, etc. The Chikuma River Basin Flood Control, promoted by the Chikuma River Bureau of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, is an important project for disaster prevention and flood control in the region. The Institute of Freshwater Biology contributes to the conservation of biodiversity in the Chikuma River Basin Flood Control through project research and committee appointments.

Chikuma River/Shinano River Research Group (MLIT Funding)
High School-University Collaboration
Facility Use
Committee Member
Invited Lecture