Prairie Ridge fields burn under the supervision of the North Carolina Forest Service and Raleigh Fire Department.

Burning fields brings new life to Raleigh ecostation

January 22, 2024

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — Fields at the Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh were on fire Thursday, but for good reason. “It’s used as a management technique to take what’s above the ground, burn it back,” explains Emma Blackford, head of the Ecostation. “It exposes seeds and it adds nutrients to the soil through the ash… Read More >


Astronomy Days 2024: a blue moon is partially separated from its planet by a pink and purple nebula.

Asteroids and meteorites abound at Museum’s Astronomy Days event, Feb. 3-4

January 17, 2024

[RALEIGH, N.C.] — It’s time for lift off when the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences hosts Astronomy Days, Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 3–4, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Go on a celestial adventure that explores the wonders of the universe through technology, telescopes, engaging talks and plenty of hands-on activities. This year the Museum highlights asteroids… Read More >


Ultra-fast harpoon! (Stenos beetle)

Video: This beetle hunts with a sticky harpoon!

December 13, 2023

  Dr. Adrian Smith, head of the Museum’s Evolutionary Biology & Behavior Research Lab, says of his latest video: I finally found and filmed a Stenus beetle! These rove beetles are famous for hunting springtails by using a projectile mouthpart (a modified labium) with sticky pads at the end. I collected the individual in this… Read More >


Camera trap photo of an eastern cottontail on the edge of the woods.

In Hotter Regions, Mammals Seek Forests, Avoid Human Habitats

December 4, 2023

The cool of the forest is a welcome escape on a hot day. This is especially true for mammals in North America’s hottest regions, according to a study from the University of California, Davis. The study indicates that, as the climate warms, preserving forest cover will be increasingly important for wildlife conservation. The study, published… Read More >


A coyote passes a trail camera near the Savannah River in South Carolina.

Coyote scavenging affects small carnivore behavior

November 29, 2023

Bobcats may act leery when coyotes have recently visited a gut pile For a study published recently in Ecosphere, Alex Jensen, a postdoctoral researcher at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, and his colleagues placed 75 trail cameras across a variety of forest habitats in early 2020, and again in early 2021…. Read More >