Highlands Biological Station announces 2026 workshop series
There are places where learning happens quietly—under the shade of hemlocks, along the edge of a bog, in the careful unfolding of a fern. At Highlands Biological Station, education is not confined to a classroom. It is lived, held in the hand, and carried home.
Highlands Biological Station, a multicampus center of Western Carolina University, fosters research, education and conservation focused on the natural heritage of the Southern Blue Ridge, a global biodiversity hot spot.
The station’s 2026 workshop series invites learners, scientists, makers and the curious to participate in programs that celebrate knowledge and connection—to landscape, to craft and to one another.
This year’s workshop offerings form a tapestry as diverse as the Southern Appalachians themselves. From field-based explorations that deepen ecological understanding to hands-on artistic practices that translate nature into form, each experience is designed to immerse participants in the richness of place.
There are workshops that slow you down—inviting careful observation of mosses, fungi and flowering plants—and others that ask you to build, shape and create. Paper botanicals take root in practiced hands. Natural materials become vessels for storytelling. Science and art move together, not as separate disciplines, but as parallel ways of seeing.
Each workshop is guided by instructors whose expertise is matched by their passion for sharing it. Whether participants arrive with years of experience or none at all, they are welcomed into a space where curiosity leads and discovery follows.
More than a schedule of offerings, the 2026 workshop series reflects a broader philosophy: that meaningful learning happens when we engage directly with the world around us. Here, knowledge is not abstract—it is tangible, seasonal, and deeply local.
Participants will find themselves not only gaining skills, but also becoming part of a community grounded in inquiry and appreciation for the natural world. Conversations extend beyond the workshop hours. Observations made in the field linger long after the day ends. And often, what begins as a single workshop becomes an ongoing relationship with the Station.
Come ready to learn. Leave changed by what you’ve seen, made and understood.
Registration for all 2026 workshops is now open. Space is limited and many sessions are expected to fill quickly.
For a full list of workshops and registration, visit: highlandsbiological.org/explore-more.
- Sarah Vickery
University Program Associate
Highlands Biological Station