From bears and bobcats to eagles and elk, 22,893 species have been documented so far in Great Smoky Mountains National Park — and nearly half of them are insects. Becky Nichols, the park’s long-time entomologist, has dedicated her career to learning about and protecting lifeforms like bees, wasps, moths and butterflies. 

As a child in rural Washington state, Nichols gravitated toward nature and animals of all sorts. She knew from a young age that she wanted a career related to the environment. 

The Highlands Biological Foundation is welcoming celebrated author and nature writer Georgann Eubanks as the featured speaker for the next installment of the 2025 Zahner Conservation Lecture Series. Her talk, titled “Finding the Fabulous Ordinary,” will take place at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7, at the Highlands Nature Center. This event is free and open to the public, with a small reception to follow. 

More than two centuries after William Bartram explored the Southern Appalachian foothills, his words, like his footsteps, still echo through the ridgelines and river valleys he once traversed.  

The Pisgah Conservancy’s Invasive Plant Management Crew celebrates one year of tackling non-native invasive species in the forest this month. 

The Invasive Plant Management Crew is the first and only of its kind fully dedicated to working in the Pisgah Ranger District.

As days grow shorter in the Great Smoky Mountains, the colorful landscape hums with life. Creatures large and small scurry through the blanket of fallen leaves gathering nuts and berries, crafting intricate homes to wait out the winter, and preparing for the stillness of the season ahead. 

In a single-day BioBlitz aimed at documenting biodiversity in the Craggy Mountains, 100 people photographed 1,603 organisms representing 647 species.

A collection of 47,000 plants and animals currently tucked away in various rooms of Western Carolina University’s Stillwell building will soon have a new home thanks to a $517,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.