Researchers and instructors are expected to secure the appropriate Federal or State permits for work in the nearby National Forests or National Parks.  In accordance with Federal law, researchers planning on conducting any work involving vertebrates at HBS must also have an HBS IACUC application approved (click HERE for form) prior to undertaking their research.  

Research facilities at the Highlands Biological Station support a wide range of field and laboratory investigations.  General laboratory and office space, walk-in environmental rooms, live streams, tanks and chillers, microscopes, and a diverse array of field equipment (all described in detail below) are available for researcher use on a first-come, first-served basis.  Please indicate space and equipment needs well in advance on the Housing Reservation form.  

Research Facilities:

The William Chambers Coker Laboratory

The William Chambers Coker Building houses laboratories, stockrooms, a herbarium, a library, and a computer facility. It contains 6,600 square feet of heated space and was constructed in the 1960s.  Attached to the Coker Lab is the Thelma Howell Administration Building, which consists of four offices and storage space. It is a two-story, heated building with 700 square feet on each floor.

Within the Coker Laboratory is a large wet lab for general use by researchers. It houses two large, walk-in environmental chambers, which can be used by visiting researchers who reserve them well in advance of their planned visit. The Coker Lab also includes two stockrooms, one presently used for glassware and chemicals and the second, for field equipment. There are eight individual research labs, ranging in size from 120 to 300 square feet, that are used by faculty and graduate student investigators. In addition, there is a general-use balance room, with a laminar flow hood and fume hood. A small herbarium, which includes about 85% of the plant species reported by Radford et al. (1964) for Macon and Jackson Counties, is housed in the Coker Lab. The computer lab occupies approximately 300 square feet and houses a dozen PC computers, all linked via a server to the Internet and connected with a T-1 line. Computers have ArcGIS software as well as Microsoft Office and other basic programs.

In addition to the equipment mentioned above, the Coker Laboratory includes a large ultracold freezer, two additional fume hoods, several freezers and refrigerators, an incubator, several drying ovens, an autoclave, water stills, two analytical balances, several electronic top-loading balances, several pH meters, 25 dissecting microscopes, 15 compound microscopes, and a great variety of smaller equipment and glassware. There is an Olympus SZH dissecting microscope with an automated camera and a Nikon Microphot FXA fluorescence microscope with an automated camera and microspectrophotometer.

The Coker Building is also the nexus of our education program. The building includes a classroom with space for 25 desks, a marker board, and a projector screen. There are also two teaching laboratories of about 400 square feet each with tables, storage cabinets, sinks, a marker board, and projector screen.  These rooms are used by visiting groups from various colleges and universities in the spring and fall semesters. During the summer, our intensive, two-week courses use these facilities.

The E.E. Reinke Library

The Reinke Library has an extensive reprint file, a collection of books and monographs, and subscriptions to more than 30 journals relevant to the ecology, systematics, evolution, and conservation of those groups of organisms that are well represented in the Southern Appalachians. The Collection is searchable on line through Western Carolina University's Hunter Library.

The Maintenance Shop and Aquatics Lab

The 1,528 square-foot utility building at the Station houses a well-equipped maintenance shop, which can be used to make simple field equipment, such as experimental enclosures, traps, etc. It also includes an aquatics laboratory, built in the 1990s, which contains six 130-gallon aquaria in which temperature and flow rate can be controlled. Behind the building, under a shed roof, are two 10-m artificial streams. These circulate water from Mill Creek, which originates at the spillway of Lindenwood Lake on the HBS campus. In addition to these longer reaches are five 5-m artificial streams. A small office and storage room are attached to the Aquatics Lab. Please inquire well in advance of your visit, if you will need access to the aquaria or artificial streams; demand for their use is often heavy in the summer.

The Richard C. Bruce Biodiversity Laboratory

A building acquired in the 1980s and currently undergoing renovations and facilities improvements that will be in place in 2009. It is a two-story, heated, cinderblock and wood frame structure of 2,040 square feet. The first floor is being renovated for increased teaching classroom space. The second floor contains laboratory research equipment including storage cabinets, sinks, two fume hoods, a water still, an ultracold freezer, refrigerators, freezers, drying ovens, and computer connections. Further improvements in 2009 will provide molecular capabilities including DNA extraction, electrophoresis, and other basic techniques.

Motor Pool and Watercraft

  HBS maintains several vehicles including a 15-passenger mini-bus, a 12-passenger van, an 8-passenger van,  and some pickup trucks.  However, these vehicles are only for the use of Station employees for  work-related trips and, in the case of the bus and vans, by temporary faculty for class field trips. Thus, researchers working at the Station must make plans to bring their own transportation. In the event of an emergency or other unexpected circumstances, the Executive Director of the Station may permit use of a vehicle by researchers employed by the UNC system for a short period of time. Such use will be billed at the prevailing rate for use of a state vehicle, currently 66 cents per mile.  HBS also owns two small boats and a canoe for research use on six-acre Lindenwood Lake.

Weather Station

The Highlands Biological Station has been the town's official U. S. Weather Bureau Station since 1961.  Since December of 1999, an automated climate station has recorded temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, solar radiation, and wind velocity. These data are maintained in the Station office and are available to researchers and the general public.

Weather Data - Current Month (B-91 Form)

Last Month's Weather Data

             Summary Tables (1961- present):     Annual High Temperatures (°F)

                                                                                                 Annual Low Temperatures (°F)

                                                                                      Annual Precipitation (in)

The Clark Foreman Museum Building

The Clark Foreman Museum is a two-story, heated building constructed of native granite and chestnut lumber salvaged  from the national forests by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) between 1939 and 1941. The upper floor of 2,604 square feet houses the Station's Nature Center, where educational programs for the public are offered year-round. The building underwent a quarter-million dollar renovation in 2002 and is slated for further renovations in 2009 of its 2,604 square-foot basement that was traditionally  used by salamander researchers such as Lynne Houck, Steve Arnold, Steve Tilley, and their students. Probably more salamanders have been held for study of their courtship behavior and ability to cross in this facility than in any other place in the world.

Botanical Garden

Finally, on the grounds of the Station is the Highlands Botanical Garden, which has labeled specimens of about 500 species of plants native to the Southern Appalachians. These are all located in a natural setting, with trails extending from the shores of Lindenwood Lake. Using funds raised by our annual Conference for Landscaping and Gardening with Native Plants and the Highlands Biological Foundation, we are constantly making improvements to the trails and numerous demonstration gardens. The Garden employs summer interns and also works with volunteers to improve and maintain the grounds while providing educational and recreational opportunities for public enjoyment.

Special Research Areas

The Station has access to several tracts of land that are maintained as natural areas by the Highlands Biological Foundation. These include the Margaret Cannon Howell Wildlife Refuge, the William Chambers Coker Rhododendron Trail, and the Frank Dulany Bog. All of these properties are available for long-term studies by investigators at the Station, subject to conditions that ensure minimal disturbance.