NEWS

A new study co-authored by Roland Kays, Head of the NC Museum of Natural Sciences’ Biodiversity Lab, investigated how humans on trails affect mammals in wild, suburban or rural areas. The results suggest which species will thrive around humans or human infrastructure, and which ones need our help. The study is published in the journal… Read More >

Black Racer (Coluber constrictor). Photo: Jeff Beane. Jeff Beane embraces science communication almost as readily as he grasps wild snakes. A recent book authored by his good friend and former Virginia State Park Ranger Gary Williamson allowed Beane’s varied interests to truly take hold. “The Kauffeld Letters” is told through the eyes of a curious… Read More >

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 >