Featured Equipment

HydroSense II

HPR Plus Handheld PIT Tag Reader

CIRAS-3 Portable Photosynthesis System

SAPS II Plant Water Status Console

Eppendorf Mastercycler Pro

Double Beam Spectrophotometer

SC150 Immersion Circulator

Oconee Bell in bloom at HBS. Photo by Jason P. Love.

Lab Equipment Rentals

Highlands Biological Station has an array of equipment available for students and researchers, from tape measures to automated stream water sampling units.

** Please note we are currently updating our equipment list and pricing structure. For availability for specific equipment you will need to contact us at hbs@wcu.edu.

Access to the lab equipment below is available for $20/day:

  • Fume hood
  • DI water filtration system
  • Refrigerators, freezers (-20° C and -80° C)
  • ThermoFisher Forma reach-in environmental control chamber (model 3940, 29 cu. ft., precision temp and RH control)
  • Autoclave
  • Analytical balances
  • Drying oven and desiccation chambers
  • Water baths, including precision temp control water bath
  • pH meters
  • 33 feet x 20 inch artificial streams with retractable shades.
  • Mesocosm tanks

Field Equipment

HBS maintains an extensive menu of field equipment available to researchers and visiting classes.  Email our Program Specialist at svickery@wcu.edu for inquiries and reservations.  Fees apply for some equipment.

General

  • GPS units (Garmin GPSmap 62s & GPSMap 66i)
  • Kestrel 5500 hand-held weather meters (temp, barometric pressure, wind speed)
  • Geological hammers
  • Tape measures
  • Flagging tape, pin flags
  • Counters
  • Timers
  • Thermometers
  • HOBO stream temperature loggers
  • Sieves
  • Snake gaiters
  • Snake hook
  • Compound and dissecting scopes are available.

Entomology

  • Aerial and sweep nets
  • Kill jars
  • Pinning equipment (pinning blocks, spreading boards; insect pins not provided)
  • Hand lenses
  • Black lights
  • Light traps
  • Berlese funnels
  • Malaise traps
  • Emergence traps
  • Beat sheets
  • Aspirators

Aquatics

  • Kick nets
  • D-nets
  • Seines
  • Surber Sampler
  • Secchi disks
  • Buckets, specimen trays
  • Two ISCO automated stream samplers, including pressure transducers for measuring stage
  • Waders
  • Hach 2100Q turbidity meter
  • Orion pH meter
  • Self-leveling rotary laser kit for measure stream gradients

Botany / Forest Ecology

  • Plant presses (blotting paper, frame, straps)
  • Pressed plant dryers
  • Hand lenses
  • DBH tapes
  • Tree corers – up to 32” length
  • Spherical densiometers

Ornithology

  • Binoculars
  • Mist nets (must have banding license to use)

Mammalogy

  • Sherman small mammal folding traps