Highlands Biological Station Ecological Enhancement

Highlands, NC

Beginning in 2015, RDE worked with a multidisciplinary team to masterplan and rehabilitate the Highlands Biological Station, a research campus of the University of North Carolina. Built around Lake Ravenel, the property is used for field trips, workshops, and research. RDE worked collaboratively with the project architect and landscape architect to design a trail system and a teaching pavilion that extends over the lake and is integrated into the lake shore littoral shelf habitat. The team also collaborated with experts in pollinators, amphibians, and native plant communities to compose a lake enhancement plan. RDE’s main roles in the enhancement plan include the design of a cold water siphon, design of a littoral shelf habitat along the lake shore, regulatory compliance for temporary wetland impacts, and a sediment management plan for the tributaries flowing into the lake. The project was completed in 2021.