A MODERNIZED AQUATICS LABORATORY FOR RESEARCH AND TRAINING AT HIGHLANDS BIOLOGICAL STATION

近90年来，高地生物站(HBS；Highlandsbiological.org)一直是科学研究、教学、培训以及公共教育和丰富的中心，重点关注南部蓝岭陡峭地区的生物丰富性。长期以来，蓝岭悬崖流域以及水生生态和生物群的研究一直是哈佛商学院的一项重要研究活动，因为空间站靠近北卡罗来纳州、南卡罗来纳州和佐治亚州的几个主要水系的源头。这些河流既有大西洋的排水系统，也有海湾的排水系统，支持着北美一些最丰富的水生生物多样性。哈佛商学院水生实验室建于20世纪50年代末，50多年来一直很好地服务于科学界，为全国范围内的本科生、研究生以及联邦和州机构生物学家的教学和培训提供了大量的科学研究和专门的水生课程。该项目旨在对这个现已过时的实验室进行现代化改造和扩建，而此时蓝岭出口流域正在经历从开发到降水模式再到大坝拆除的加速变化，这些活动影响或预计将以复杂的方式改变森林水文学以及溪流和河流的健康。作为美国大陆东部最潮湿的地区，南部山区及其水生资源是一个天然的实验室和教室，是了解流域和河流系统如何在生态上发挥作用并对环境变化做出反应的理想环境。该项目旨在通过(1)通过升级过时的电气、照明、暖通空调、绝缘和管道来实现实验室基础设施的现代化；(2)重新安排和更换现有的研究水箱和人工流；(3)扩大研究实验室以提供长凳空间、洗手间和容纳升级的研究设备；以及(4)通过更换室外人工流和为现场设备创建存储来重新组织和升级邻近的外部空间。升级后的哈佛商学院水生实验室将支持对区域河流和河流系统生态进行更广泛的受控实验室和实地研究，提高对这些系统的科学理解，从而提供为规划、管理和缓解提供信息所需的信息。扩建该设施的目的也是为了与哈佛商学院日益增长的公共教育和丰富活动相衔接，向K-12学生和终身学习者介绍水生科学的设备和方法。

For nearly 90 years the Highlands Biological Station (HBS; highlandsbiological.org) has been a center for scientific research, teaching, training as well as public education and enrichment focused on the biological richness of the southern Blue Ridge Escarpment region. The study of Blue Ridge escarpment watersheds and aquatic ecology and biota has long been an important research activity at HBS because of the Station's proximity to the headwaters of several major river systems of upland North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. These river systems have both Atlantic and Gulf drainage and support some of the richest aquatic diversity in North America. The HBS Aquatics Laboratory was built in the late 1950s and has served the scientific community well for over 5 decades, supporting numerous scientific studies and specialized aquatics courses for teaching and training undergraduates, graduate students, and Federal and State agency biologists nationwide. This project aims to modernize and expand this now-dated laboratory at a time when Blue Ridge Escarpment watersheds are experiencing accelerated changes, from development to precipitation patterns to dam removal, activities that affect or are projected to alter forest hydrology and stream and river health in complex ways. The wettest region in the eastern continental US, the southern mountain region and its aquatic resources are a natural laboratory and classroom, and an ideal setting for learning about how watersheds and river systems function ecologically and respond to environmental changes. This project aims to reconfigure, update, and expand the HBS Aquatics Laboratory by (1) modernizing the lab infrastructure by upgrading outdated electrical, lighting, HVAC, insulation, and plumbing; (2) rearranging and replumbing existing research tanks and artificial streams; (3) expanding the research lab to provide bench space, restroom, and accommodate upgraded research equipment; and (4) reorganizing and upgrading the adjacent exterior space by replumbing outdoor artificial streams and creating storage for field equipment. The upgraded HBS Aquatics Laboratory will support a greater breadth of controlled laboratory and field studies of regional riverine and stream system ecology, improving the scientific understanding of these systems and thus providing the information needed to inform planning, management, and mitigation. Expansion of the facility is also designed to dovetail with the growing public education and enrichment activities at HBS, introducing K-12 students and life-long learners to the equipment and methodologies of aquatic sciences.