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.

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. Many books have been added to the collection recently, and all are now shelved by Library of Congress call numbers and entered into a searchable database. A comprehensive set of maps of the region is also maintained as a back-up to the recently installed 3-D Topo Quads software. This system is compatible with GPS (Global Positioning System) units, which can be checked out by researchers.

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 formerly the location of the Appalachian Environmental Arts Center, continues to undergo renovation. It is a two-story, heated, cinderblock and wood frame structure of 2,040 square feet. Some of the original darkrooms remain in the basement, but most of the space has been renovated as general-use laboratory space. Storage cabinets, sinks, two fume hoods, a water still, and computer connections have been installed. An ultracold freezer, refrigerators, freezers, and drying ovens are also in place.

Motor Pool and Watercraft

 HBS owns two small boats and a canoe for use on six-acre Lindenwood Lake. It also maintains five vehicles: a Chevrolet full-size pickup truck, three Ford Ranger pickup trucks with four-wheel drive, a Ford 15-passenger van, and a Dodge Ram 15-passenger van. These vehicles are for the use of permanent Station employees for  work-related trips and, in the case of 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 Director of the Station may decide to allow 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 35 cents per mile.

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 has recently undergone a quarter-million dollar renovation, the first in 60 years. The 2,604 square-foot basement of the building has traditionally been 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 Highlands Native Plant Conference, we are currently upgrading our signage and trails and adding additional native plants to our collection. We have also initiated a master planning process for the Garden, which we plan to expand to the entire campus. We are also working with local garden clubs in a "Land Stewards" program that will include education about the rich natural heritage of the area, as well as plant rescue operations.

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.