Minutes of the Annual General Membership Meeting of the Highlands Biological Foundation
1. The meeting was called to order at 2pm, Sunday, June 24th2012 at the Highlands Nature Center, 930 Horse Cove Road.
2. Julia Grumbles made a motion to accept the minutes from the June 26, 2011 HBF annual meeting. The motion carried.
3. Reports
PRESIDENT (Julia Grumbles) The release of our new book The Highlands Botanical Garden: a Naturalists Guide is a source of great pride for this organization and the work of Lydia Macauley and her father, Ralph Sargent. Thank you to Dr. Costa for all of his work and dedication to this project. Lydia has not only spent countless hours of work on this project but also significant financial contribution to make this a success. Special thanks to Lydia. We are in better shape than we have ever been as an organization. Membership is particularly important it is critical to this organization, it is the way that the community directly interacts with the Station.
TREASURER (Dick Allison) Investments for the year are approximately the same as they were last year. We have about $700,000 in unrestricted funds in our accounts we have a total of about $1,200,000. The difference between the unrestricted portion and the total assets represents money we have that is restricted for scholarships for the endowment, and funds restricted for the use of the Nature Center and the garden. The budgeting process from the past year, we did fairly well. Our revenues were up by $59,000 but most of the money came from grants that were used to pay for projects that were unbudgeted. So we really didn’t take in more budgeted income than we expected. We received a grant for the Backyard Naturalist program we put a solar hot water heater on Valentine dorm and we built a new outdoor teaching pavilion. We had the money for the teaching Pavilion from the year before. We came out on budget. We believe the budget is a much more accurate representation of our revenue and expenses than ever before. Sonya has been very good about keeping the budget on track. For this year’s budget we have an estimated deficit of roughly $4000.00. Dick asked if anyone had any questions about the Statement of Activities from the previous year’s budget. There were no questions.
Jennie Stowers read the mission statement of the Highlands Biological Foundation: To foster education and research focused on the rich natural heritage of the Highlands Plateau, the biological crown of the southern Appalachians.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (Jim Costa) HBS has hired Dr. Karen Kandl as Associate Director as well as Dr. Tom Martin as Acting Director while Dr. Costa is on sabbatical in Berlin, Germany.
The FY11-12 operating budget was $529,487 broken down by contributions as follows: $265,999 from the State; $102,900 in receipts from housing and tuition; $64,948 from HBF, and $95,640 in grants administered through HBF including the Grassroots Science Museums Collaborative grant for the Nature Center ($65,000 this fiscal year).
The Coker Laboratory renovation has begun. Funding for the East wing came from the State with an additional $300K grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to complete the West wing. Botanical Garden improvements consist of a Rock Outcrop demonstration garden, a Moss demonstration garden, and an outdoor teaching Pavilion.
Backyard Naturalists was made possible by a $25,000 grant from the Eckerd Family Foundation. In other grant news, the Community Foundation of WNC and HBF funded a solar hot water system for the Valentine House, and Mountain Findings donated ~$20,000 for the Pavilion. The Laurel Garden Club donated $3,900 for the construction of a propagation greenhouse. A NOAA grant of $24,420 enabled us to develop a prototype “Phenological observatory” at HBS. HBS partnered with the Institute for the Environment (IE) at UNC-Chapel Hill on a NASA grant, and received funding to host 25 science teachers for a weekend-long October retreat at HBS on the theme of climate change ecology for the next three years. “Highlands Botanical Garden: A Naturalist’s Guide” is finished, printed, and for sale for $25. Contributions from Lydia Sargent Macauley made the project possible.
Dr. Costa summarized 2007-2011 overnight usage of HBS by researchers and college/university groups. During this time, HBS hosted 222 researchers (totaling 3,596 researcher-days) from 13-18 institutions annually, 19 states nationwide, and 5 foreign countries. In this period, 808 students (totaling 2,045 student visitor-days) spent time at HBS in visiting classes, representing up to 14 institutions and 10 states annually, and 3 foreign countries.
2012 Grants-in-Aid funding totaled $15,000 for 12 awardees. Between 2007 and 2011, 6 PhD and 5 MS Grant-in-Aid awardees published their theses and dissertations. In 2011 and 2012, an additional 8 publications stemmed from Grant-in-Aid support. HBS continues to provide 2-week intensive field summer courses. Fall 2012 enrollment for the UNC-IE program is 10 students. Discover Life in America named Jim the 2012 Outstanding Biodiversity Educator of the Year.
In 2007 James Costa and Thomas Wentworth, Chair of the Board of Directors, drafted a Master Plan for campus. The objectives were strategic programmatic and facilities improvement and expansion by upgrading and modernizing infrastructure and facilities; and expanding opportunities for research, education, and outreach through a combination of programmatic additions and new facilities without greatly increasing the HBS ecological footprint.
Several projects outlined in this master plan have been completed, including the sanitary sewer system (~$500K, state funded), Biodiversity lab renovation (~$250K, NSF funded), and Coker Lab renovation (~$1M, State and NSF funded). The Illges Cottage renovation, replacement residence hall, and new Admin/Library/Collections building projects have not been funded. The next phase includes a “Weyman Commons” Building. Other facilities improvements that have been completed under this plan include two solar hot water systems at the Duplex and Valentine House, three new vehicles, a molecular biology laboratory, and State-of-the-art fire alarm systems installed in Valentine and the Nature Center.
Dr. Costa emphasized that our most pressing need is housing. With expansion of teaching and research space now achieved, increased residence capacity will lead to greater financial independence. The second most pressing need is for the Weyman Commons.
The HBF Executive Committee has proposed a new planning process to revisit and update the Master Plan concept. This process will be holistic with professional guidance. Tough problems include strategies for parking, routing of cables underground, improved accessibility, visibility, and visitor navigation on campus.
Dr. Costa asked if there were any questions. Robert Tucker thanked Dr. Costa for all of his dedicated work. Sarah Harkin asked what is going on with the garden and if we had hired a formal landscape architect to redesign the garden. Dr. Costa replied that there are no plans to redesign the Botanical Garden that the planning process is intended to investigate the issues such as parking and land use he identified in his presentation. Harkin mentioned that there is great concern about keeping the gardens ‘natural’ and limiting the accessibility of the garden. Dr. Costa made reference to the newly released naturalist guide and that we intend to maintain the garden as a naturalistic garden.
NATURE CENTER SUPERVISOR (Patrick Brannon) The grassroots grant has for the past several years supplied funding for the Nature Center Director and up till last year for the summer interns as well. This has allowed HBS to retain a full time director for the Nature center and offer year-round programming. Summer programming has maintained continuity. Last year this grant was significantly cut and this year we have received an additional cut. Walk in visitation increased this year over last year. School outreach programming remained the same. Programming increased due to the “Think About Thursdays’ program. The Nature Center brought in over $11,000 in revenue thanks to camp fees, special events and school programs. The new outdoor teaching pavilion has been constructed thanks to funding from Mountain Findings. The fluorescent minerals display has been updated, a new display providing information on hazardous plants and wildlife is now complete. The Nature Center is looking forward to another great year providing quality education.
ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTOR (Sonya Carpenter) Sonya requested that everyone sign the email sheet to be included in our weekly email blasts. Sonya thanked Jim Costa, the staff of HBS. Sonya recognized Michelle Ruigrok, the communications and marketing specialist for HBF. She identified several of the programs both new and continuing. Wildflower Whimsy was a new garden fundraiser that we started this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Highlands Botanical Garden. The “Think About Thursdays” series is continuing this year and remains very popular as a family oriented programming. The Zahner Lectures will be held as a continuous series starting the first Thursday evening in July and continuing through August. The new afterschool program “Backyard Naturalists” was launched in the spring thanks to a generous grant from the Eckerd Family Foundation. The mission of BYN is to inspire a lifelong appreciation of the natural world in children through educational programming that integrates science, art and technology. Participants from grades 5 through 8 will learn the essentials of how to be a naturalist. The established curriculum includes eight weeks of lessons, one afternoon per week, structured to promote a better appreciation and understanding of the natural world by nurturing creativity and independent observation skills using photography, nature journals, illustration and the creation of a wiki. Each week includes lessons on topics including: bird morphology, ecological principles, plant identification, and distinctions between mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles. Sonya then showed a video of the young participants describing in their words what they learned in the class.
4. COMMITTEE REPORTS
Development (Julia Grumbles) Total contributions this year totaled $117,400 this year which represents a 58% increase from last year and a 153% increase from 2010. The Trustees contributed $40,200.00 this year, with 90% board participation, which is excellent, but we are shooting for 100% participation. Julia encourages people to spread the word and encourage their friends and acquaintances in community to participate. Julia encourages people to thank those they know in supporting organizations such as the Eckerd Family Foundation, Mountain Garden Club, and Mountain Findings for their contributions.
Education (Jennie Stowers). Education is a major focus of HBS/HBF. Jennie described and listed the many programs available through the nature center and offered by HBF. Including the new Wildflower Whimsy program held in the spring as a fundraiser for the Botanical Garden, the “Think About Thursdays” series designed to be more inclusive of families, the Zahner Conservation Lectures, the Native Plant Symposium and the many camps, tours and school outreach provided through the Nature Center and Botanical Garden.
Membership (Sonya Carpenter) Membership has increased from 256 in June of 2011 to 298 in June of 2012. We acquired 111 new members this year up from 41 last year. Many of these new members are participants of the new kid’s membership the Salamembers. Many benefits are included in Salamembership including a newsletter, a birthday card and a party held for them in the summer with fun educational games.
Public Relations and Communications (Melissa Delany) We have made huge strides in communication with our community. We are looking into a new color printer for HBF use. We have a new color brochure for the Botanical garden and have done an excellent job of informing both residents and visitors to Highlands that the Nature Center is the first place that they should visit and what we have to offer as a destination. Melissa has worked with OEI to develop a brand for Highlands that includes a conservation ethic and environmental awareness. Currently, guests that stay at OEI have an opt-out choice for $1 for HBF.
Nominating committee (Martha Stibbs)
5. ELECTION OF TRUSTEES
Martha Stibbs made a motion to elect for following Trustees to the board:
Lydia Macauley, Paul Sanger, Susan Sheehan, Sarah Morgan Wingfield, Amy Patterson and a new trustee to the board Elizabeth Sargent. The motion was accepted and seconded and accepted unanimously.
6,7. With nonew business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:45pm.