NEWS

Blue Ghost Fireflies dance above the ground in a moist area near a stream in Pisgah National Forest in late May. Photo: Jordan Mitchell. By Jerry Reynolds, Head of Outreach Earlier this year Dr. Clyde Sorenson,  a professor at North Carolina State University, contacted me to help recruit people for a ghost hunt. (Who you… Read More >

By Greg Skupien, Naturalist Center Curator With the return of warm weather, you’re more likely to find lizards and other reptiles basking in the sunlight. Recently, we received a photo from Durham of a common North Carolina native lizard. The Eastern Fence Lizard, Sceloporus undulatus, can be found in most of our state except the Outer Banks… Read More >

“Many amateurs in malacology are doing a good job and working with professionals in museums or universities,” says Art Bogan, the Museum’s Research Curator of Mollusks. “However, there is a problem in systematics with amateurs describing a large number of new species that are in fact not new.” In a paper published April 26, Bogan… Read More >

The Museum has hosted birthday parties for over 20 years, providing an opportunity for friends and family to gather and make memories celebrating a beloved child’s birthday while also learning about the natural world. When, due to the pandemic, the Museum had to close and prohibit all in-person programming, we had to cancel 30 birthday parties. We knew that all of these… Read More >

By Jerry Reynolds, Head of Outreach and Dandelion Seed Dispersal Talking politics in a mixed crowd can stir up some strong opinions and make for lively discussions. Bringing up the dandelion in a mixed crowd can stir up similarly strong opinions and perennial arguments. What’s so divisive about such an innocent-looking plant that has people… Read More >