Research

The Uihlein Foundation (HUF) supports interdisciplinary research examining how agricultural practices—past and present—interact with soil and forest health, climate dynamics, and avian and wildlife ecosystems and habitats. This work is informed by cultural and historical research that explores the evolution of rural agricultural communities, including family farming traditions, land-use practices, and working landscapes that have shaped ecological conditions over generations. Particular attention is given to how these agricultural systems have influenced wildlife habitat conservation, biodiversity, and the coexistence of farming and healthy animal populations. By partnering with scientific, educational, & historical institutions, the Foundation seeks to generate knowledge that values rural agricultural heritage, strengthens stewardship of its lands, and advances environmental sustainability for a healthier and more resilient future.

Grassland Bird Research

Since 2020, the Uihlein Foundation has partnered with Paul Smith’s College, Adirondack Watershed Institute (AWI) to study the effects of climate change on grassland bird habitats and to identify landscapes that can function as climate refugia. Climate refugia are areas that remain relatively buffered from ongoing climate change, allowing important ecological, physical, and sociocultural resources to persist over time. This research supports the long-term goal of developing Heaven Hill and Uihlein Farms as model landscapes for grassland bird conservation that can be adapted by other landowners across the Adirondacks.

Cultural & Historical Research

Scientific research programs assist with sustainably managing the foundations’ lands ecological and cultural resources.
In 2023 the Uihlein Foundation contracted with Hartgen Archeological Associates Inc. to do an archeological and historical investigation of the Uihlein lands. The goal for this broad study was to assess the historical resources making the property important to national history, and to inform future public interpretation and management efforts.

2023 Archeological and Historical Investigation

In 2025 the Foundation once again contracted with Hartgen Archeological Associates Inc. to do a more targeted cultural resource investigation of the Epps family historic site. The purpose of this report was to help the foundation identify the boundaries of the archeological site of the Epps family homestead, constructed by Henry and Ruth Thompson in 1859 and purchased by the Epps’s in 1863.

2025 Archeological Investigation-Epps