September 3, 2026
BETWEEN RIDGE & RIVER
LIVING WITH WILDLIFE
HIGHLANDS 12:00-1:30
CASHIERS 4:00-5:30
The Plateau is not just where we live, it's where black bears roam, salamanders navigate ancient streams, and songbirds follow routes older than any road on the map. We invite you to our Social House gathering with Jason Love, for a conversation about what it truly means to share this land with the species that call it home. Practical, deeply informed, and genuinely surprising, this is the kind of guidance that only comes from decades spent in the field, best absorbed over good conversation and a light bite. The Plateau is wilder than you think. Come meet your neighbors.
SPEAKER
Jason Love
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF HIGHLANDS BIOLOGICAL STATION
Jason Love is the Associate Director of Highlands Biological Station at Western Carolina University and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He spent 12 years managing the Coweeta Long-Term Ecological Research program, coordinating ecological research with universities and the US Forest Service. Jason has a B.S. in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia and an M.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Resources from West Virginia University. He has authored several scientific papers and the children’s book Shady Streams, Slippery Salamanders. Over his career, Jason has worked with American black bears, salamanders, songbirds, bats, butterflies, small mammals, and the strangest creature of all, humans.