Cornell also maintains a 650-heetare system of nature reserves which preserve bogs, gorges, extensive stands of mature forest, and other special habitats for teaching and biological investigations. Farther afield, Cornell University has laboratories in the Adirondack Mountains and at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. The Department also has excellent facilities for research and instruction in aquatic ecosystems. Ithaca lies at the southern end of Cayuga Lake, which is 52 km long and 135 in deep. In addition, many ecological investigations are carried out at Cornell's biological station at Shackelton Point on Oneida Lake, about 95 km north of campus.
Several streams run through protected lands belonging to the university.
Cornell's membership in the Organization for Tropical Studies, based in Costa Rica, provides the Department with access to well-equipped field stations in a variety of tropical habitats. Furthermore, Cornell's long-standing Program on International Agriculture connects the Department with a worldwide network of agricultural field stations and alumni that can provide useful contacts and logistical support. In recent years members of the Department have carried out major projects in Australia, Belize, Bermuda, Chile, Costa Rica, Kenya, Malaysia, Panama, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.