4 Credit Hours August 3–14, 2026 Instructors: Dr. Rachel Swenie, Harvard University This hands-on course introduces students to the collection, identification, and diversity of macrofungi—including mushrooms—of the southern Blue Ridge Mountains. Students will develop skills in field collection, morphological and anatomical identification, and specimen preservation for continued study. Lecture and discussion topics include: The biology […]

Slow down. Look closer. Breathe. Join Horticultural Specialist Canty Worley for Mindfulness in the Gardens, an unhurried walk through the Highlands Botanical Gardens with plenty of pauses to notice what usually gets rushed past — the light through the canopy, the texture of bark, the sound of water, the scent of the beds after a […]

Science on the Rocks: The Hidden Chemical World of Salamanders📅 Wednesday, August 5, 2026 | 4:00 PM📍 Weyman, Highlands Biological StationFree and open to the public Join Grant-in-Aid researcher Paul Nicolosi for an informal Science on the Rocks conversation about the hidden chemical world of salamanders. Paul’s research focuses on the functional characterization of chemosensory […]

Join Highlands Biological Station and the Blue Ridge Bird Observatory for a morning of bird banding as part of the MAPS, or Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship, program. Established at HBS in 2020, the MAPS bird banding station is part of a larger effort to assess trends in avian demographics across North America. During banding […]

The Seminoles called him Puc Puggy — the Flower Hunter. He earned it. In the spring of 1775, William Bartram rode into the Cherokee mountains of western North Carolina and stayed barely two months. He never stopped writing. Travels, the book he made of that journey, appeared in 1791 and has been keeping readers company […]

Science on the Rocks: Darwin, Wallace, and the Making of The Descent of Man📅 Wednesday, August 12, 2026 | 4:00 PM📍 Weyman, Highlands Biological StationFree and open to the public Join Highlands Biological Station as we close out the 2026 Science on the Rocks series with a special conversation featuring Dr. Jim Costa and his […]

Late summer is one of the most rewarding moments in the Highlands Botanical Garden. Join Dr. Paul Manos of Duke University for an unhurried, guided walk through two of the Garden's most distinctive habitats: the Bog Garden, where saturated soils support a specialized community of plants found almost nowhere else nearby, and the Pollinator Garden, planted to draw in the bees, butterflies, moths, and flies that keep these systems running.