What Highlands Biological Foundation, Inc. does

Highlands Biological Foundation, Inc. (HBF) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit incorporated in North Carolina that exists specifically to support Highlands Biological Station (HBS), a multi-campus center of Western Carolina University. Founded in 1927 and approaching its Centennial in 2027, the Foundation raises funds to operate the Nature Center, fund student research grants, host community events, and maintain the Highlands Botanical Gardens in the Southern Blue Ridge, a recognized global biodiversity hotspot. The organization employs 11 people and serves students, academic institutions, and the general public through research, education, and conservation programming.

The Foundation's core offerings span four categories: free public programs at the Nature Center (daily activities, Nature Center Nights, summer camps), research infrastructure for visiting scientists (labs, housing, the E.E. Reinke Library, natural history collections, and a near-real-time precipitation data stream), seasonal education programming (Zahner Conservation Lecture Series, Science on the Rocks, biennial Native Plant Celebration symposium), and grant-in-aid funding for undergraduate and graduate fieldwork. Revenue is generated through donations, a $30/year membership program, ticketed events, and campaigns such as the 2025 Fall Campaign with a $15,000 goal.

Highlands Biological Foundation's business model is event-driven and community-focused, with multi-channel outreach via email newsletters, social media, the website, and in-person campus programming. The Foundation operates two Highlands, NC locations (265 North Sixth Street and 2465 Cashiers Road) and maintains core partnerships with Western Carolina University (providing state-funded operations) and Blue Ridge Bird Observatory (MAPS bird banding program). The organization is governed by a Board of Directors and supports the UNC-Chapel Hill Highlands Field Site, with no venture or institutional investor ownership.

Name

Highlands Biological Foundation, Inc.

Legal name

Highlands Biological Foundation, Inc.

Website

https://highlandsbiological.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1927

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Highlands Biological Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that raises funds for Highlands Biological Station, supporting Southern Appalachian biodiversity research, free Nature Center programs, student grants, and community events in Highlands, North Carolina.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Education and Research Services

NAICS

Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Land Trusts & Protected Areas (BPAGAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Conservation & Research Lodges (Citizen Science, Field Stations with Guests) (THAAAHAJ), Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB)

Keywords

• Environmental education
• Biological research
• Conservation programs
• Botanical gardens
• Biodiversity studies

Headquarters

HQ city

Highlands

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: Tax-deductible gifts to support environmental research, student research grants, long-term ecological studies, and collaborative conservation efforts. The 2025 Fall Campaign set a goal of $15,000.
2. Membership Program: Any gift of $30 or more to HBF automatically includes a one-year membership with benefits including early program registration, members-only events, newsletters, and voting rights at the Annual Meeting.
3. Symposium and Event Tickets: Ticketed events including the annual Native Plant Celebration symposium, with proceeds supporting the Highlands Botanical Gardens as the Station approaches its Centennial in 2027.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Highlands Biological Foundation, Inc. is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that supports Highlands Biological Station, a multi-campus center of Western Carolina University. The Foundation funds a Nature Center with free public programs, operates the Highlands Botanical Gardens, provides research facilities and grants-in-aid for visiting scientists, and runs community events including the Zahner Conservation Lecture Series, Science on the Rocks, Nature Camps, and the biennial Native Plant Celebration symposium.

Product overview

Highlands Biological Foundation, Inc. operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in partnership with Western Carolina University's Highlands Biological Station. The organization offers a portfolio of educational, research, and conservation programs centered on the Southern Appalachian biodiversity hotspot. Core offerings include the Nature Center with free daily programs, the Highlands Botanical Gardens with trails and plant collections, the Research Station with academic facilities and grants, and seasonal programming including Nature Camps, the Zahner Conservation Lecture Series, and Science on the Rocks gatherings. The organization also provides environmental data services through its precipitation monitoring program and hosts biennial symposiums celebrating native plants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Nature Center
• Highlands Botanical Gardens
• Research Station Facilities
• Education Programs
• Zahner Conservation Lecture Series
• Science on the Rocks
• Nature Camps
• MAPS Bird Banding
• Grants-in-Aid of Research
• HBS Precipitation Record
• Celebrating Native Plants Symposium

Quantifiable outcome

• Six consecutive seasons of MAPS bird banding data collected in partnership with Blue Ridge Bird Observatory.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Blue Ridge Bird ObservatorycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Partnership for the MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) bird banding program. In 2025, HBS hosted the sixth consecutive season of banding, with data on bird handled totals and species diversity collected and analyzed.
• Western Carolina UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHBS is a multi-campus center of Western Carolina University (WCU), part of the UNC System. WCU operates the Station with state funding covering core operations, while HBF provides supplementary support for research infrastructure and programs.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• Southern Environmental Law Center: A Southern-focused environmental nonprofit based in Asheville, NC that works on conservation advocacy and policy. While not a direct programmatic peer, it competes for the same regional environmental donor base and operates adjacent to HBF's mission space.

Broad incumbents

• Appalachian Trail Conservancy: A nonprofit that conserves and manages the Appalachian Trail corridor through the same Southern Appalachian region, blending land stewardship, public education, and donor-supported conservation—mission-adjacent to HBF's nonprofit conservation focus.
• The Nature Conservancy (North Carolina): The largest global environmental nonprofit with active North Carolina operations including Southern Appalachian conservation—an incumbent that competes for the same conservation donor pool while operating on a vastly larger scale than HBF.

Direct peers

• Mountain Lake Biological Station (University of Virginia): A university-affiliated biological field station in the Appalachian Highlands offering research infrastructure, visiting-researcher lodging, and public educational programming—closely mirroring HBF's resident research station + community programming model.
• Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory: An independent mountain biological research station supporting visiting scientists and citizen science in the Rockies—an analogous seasonal field-station model with research, education, and grant-funded programming comparable to HBS.
• Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont: An Appalachian environmental education nonprofit delivering field-based programs, school outreach, and youth camps in the Southern Appalachians—closely aligned with HBF's Nature Center, school outreach, and Nature Camps offerings.
• Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust: A conservation land trust serving the same Highlands-Cashiers Plateau region as HBF, with overlapping donor and partner networks, mission focus on Southern Appalachian land protection, and similar community-based nonprofit operating model.
• Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory / LTER: A long-running ecological research site in the Southern Appalachians conducting long-term forest, hydrology, and biodiversity monitoring—an analog to HBS's SRGHBS precipitation records and MAPS bird-banding longitudinal datasets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/highlandsbio
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCcIkvRtbasIRQpkcmnocREA
• Facebookfacebook.com/highlandsbiologicalstation
• Instagraminstagram.com/highlandsbiostation/?hl=en
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/highlands-biological-foundation-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Highlands Biological Foundation, Inc.