Highlands Biological Foundation
265 N. 6 St. | P.O. Box 580, Highlands, N.C. 28741 (828) 526-2221 www.highlandsbiological.org th
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
Year of the Salamander
HBS has always been known as a center of salamander research, our region being renowned for the diversity of these amphibians. This year might as well be “The Year of the Salamander,” as reckoned by the remarkable number of diverse salamanderrelated research projects and publications. Faculty and/or students came from Ohio State, Western Carolina, Appalachian State, South Florida, and Washington State to study: ecotoxicology, biomechanics of salamander climbing, salamander population demographics in wildfire-burned areas, salamander energy allocation as a function of temperature, stream salamander ecology, and salamander persistence in regenerating timber cuts. Several of these projects were supported by HBS Grants-in-Aid. Two former GIA recipients Damien Wilburn (now a postdoc at the University of Washington) and Eric Riddell (now a postdoc at UC-Berkeley) had papers published in PLoS One and Ecological Monographs, respectively, the culminations of their HBSbased salamander research. The icing on the cake this year is the publication of the proceedings of the 2016 Special Highlands Conference on Plethodontid Salamander Biology! Former HBS director Richard (Dick) Bruce published an outstanding history of salamander research at HBS in the September 2017 Herpetological Review (memorably entitled “Lungless in Highlands: A Brief History of Research and Education on Plethodontid Salamanders at Highlands Biological Station”), and the September 2017 issue of Herpetologica is dedicated to no fewer than nine review papers from the conference, plus the cover photo. (Special thanks to conference co-organizer Sarah Woodley of Duquesne University for serving as lead editor on this special issue!) Yes, HBS certainly shines in salamander research, but that does not take away from other exciting research at HBS this year: students researching fire ants, mice, and sand myrtle; faculty looking at glowworms and fungi in soil; and more. James Lendemer of the NY Botanical Garden and Jessi Allen, one of our GIA awardees and now a postdoc in Switzerland, turned a project conducted with students in their HBS lichens course into a paper in Castanea, and our own Patrick Brannon was lead author on a paper exploring the educational uses of small mammal skeletal remains found in discarded bottles. The service HBS provides to the scientific community by supporting research, teaching, and training the next generation of scientists is recognized nationally as evidenced by our latest NSF grant for the renovation and expansion of our Aquatics Laboratory. This updated facility, once complete, may just launch a future “Year of the Fish” or “Year of the Stream” in the annals of HBS research. But there will always be salamanders... -Jim Costa, Executive Director, HBS
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Letter from the Director North Campus Update Artist in Nature Memorable Events Research Grants
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Institute for the Environment Internship Program Photo Contest Nature Center News Film Forays © Clay Bolt | meetyourneighbours.net