Most camps are offered more than once during the summer, and each camp lasts four days (Tuesday – Friday).

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The Station offers several courses each summer at the advanced undergraduate/graduate level dealing with the special biological features of the Southern Appalachians and with areas of study that are appropriate for investigation at a mountain field station.  Credit for all courses is available through either UNC-Chapel Hill or Western Carolina University.  Students may take courses for credit through these institutions and then transfer the credit to their own school. In addition to our regular summer courses, HBS often schedules one-week workshops that are tailored for non-traditional students.  These workshops provide opportunities for in-depth study of special topics of relevance to the southern Appalachians and are open to the general public.  Workshops, costs, and additional information can be found on this page below the course offerings. Special events and occasional one-day educator workshops are also offered for teacher recertification credit (science CEU), or for NC Environmental Education Criteria II credit, by the Nature Center.

2013 Schedule

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More Information     |     Apply now! 

The application deadline for the Fall 2013 program is FEBRUARY 21, 2013

The Southern Blue Ridge is one of the world’s centers of biodiversity.  The high biodiversity in this region spans all taxa, making it a great area for studying various taxonomic groups.  In this photograph, students at the Highlands Biological Station are collecting insects for study along a trail in the Highlands Botanical Garden.

For more information about the Highlands Field Site, click here.

On the campus of the Highlands Biological Station, these perennial carnivorous plants are abundant in the wetlands and lake edge and can be seen flowering from May to July along the Bog Boardwalk.  Pitcher Plants are adapted to nutrient-poor, boggy soils and have evolved mechanisms for trapping insects in order to acquire the nitrogen they need.   Several species native to wetlands in the Southern Appalachians and the Coastal Plains of the Carolinas can be found in the Botanical Garden, including S. purpurea, S. jonesii, S. rubra and S. flava, as well as  possible hybrid species.

The Station offers several courses each summer at the advanced undergraduate/graduate level dealing with the special biological features of the Southern Appalachians and with areas of study that are appropriate for investigation at a mountain field station.  Credit for all courses is available through either UNC-Chapel Hill or Western Carolina University.

In addition to our regular summer courses, HBS often schedules one-week workshops that are tailored for non-traditional students.  These workshops provide opportunities for in-depth study of special topics of relevance to the southern Appalachians and are open to the general public.  Workshops, costs, and additional information can be found on this page below the course offerings.

Click here for more information

The Highlands Biological Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of Backyard Naturalists.  The mission of Backyard Naturalists is to inspire a lifelong appreciation of the natural world in children through educational programming that integrates science, art, and technology. The program will draw from the considerable educational resources of the Highlands Nature Center, where staff has provided hands-on science-learning opportunities to help educate the community and promote conservation for over 60 years. Backyard Naturalists has been developed in partnership with Meet Your Neighbours, an international photography project designed to help connect people with the wildlife in their own communities. Backyard Naturalists will utilize the images produced by MYN to capture the attention of a generation of children fully integrated in technology.

For more information, click here or visit www.backyardnaturalists.com