Established | 1879 |
---|---|
Location | Raleigh, North Carolina |
Coordinates | 35°46′56″N78°38′22″W / 35.782186°N 78.639422°W |
Type | Natural history museum |
Visitors | 1.2 million (annually) |
Director | Dr. Denise Young |
Website | naturalsciences |
This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(April 2021) |
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) is a museum in Raleigh, North Carolina. The museum is the oldest in the state. [1]
The museum is made up of six facilities, divided between five campuses. The newest facility, the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Greenville, was announced in 2020 and opened to the public on September 18, 2021. [2] NCMNS is a division of the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. [3]
The North Carolina State Museum was created in 1879 by combining two existing state-owned collections of geologic and agricultural specimens. [1] The museum was originally housed in the Briggs Building on Fayetteville Street. [4] The museum's collections, outreach and education programs, and status grew over the next 60 years under the stewardship of Herbert Brimley. [1] In 1887 the museum was placed under the management of the Department of Agriculture, and was moved to the department's office building: a former hotel on Edenton Street across from the capitol building. [5] An annex was added in 1899 as the collection grew, and the entire facility was moved to a purpose-built building in 1924. [5] The facility was later renamed the North Carolina State Museum of Natural History. [6]
In the 1950s and again in the 1990s, shifts in education further expanded the museum's holdings as universities donated their collections to the state. [1] In 1986, the museum was renamed to The North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences. [4]
In 2000, the museum expanded with the opening of the Museum of Forestry in Whiteville. This facility was later overhauled and reopened in 2015 as the NC Museum of Natural Sciences in Whiteville. [1] Another location was added in 2004, with the opening of the Prairie Ridge Ecostation for Wildlife and Learning. [1] The museum expanded its downtown campus in 2012 with the adjacent Nature Research Center. [1] The collection contains over 1.7 million specimens, [7] including amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, mammals, invertebrates, invertebrate and vertebrate fossils, plants, geology, and meteorites. [8]
NCMNS is administered by the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. [9] [3] [4]
On July 14, 2014, a dinosaur replica along with other items were stolen from NCMNS by two accomplices. The offenders turned themselves in on July 17. The replica, along with the other items were recovered. [10]
The Center is located on Jones Street in downtown Raleigh.
The Nature Research Center (NRC) is an 80,000 sq ft (7,400 m2), four-story wing across the street from the Nature Exploration Center. [12] The NRC and NEC are connected by a breezeway. [13] The initial opening (April 20, 2012) lasted for 24 hours and drew 70,000 visitors. [14]
The NRC provides hands-on activities and visitor-viewing of scientists working in the NRC's four research laboratories. The museum also makes use of distance learning to broadcast lessons and virtual field trips to classrooms around the state. [15] [16]
The Nature Research Center's three investigate labs are open-to-the-public hands-on educational spaces.
The Nature Research Center's four research labs are part of the museum's Research and Collections department. These spaces (normally used for behind-the-scenes work) have transparent glass walls through which the public can observe research scientists. The atrium is home to the LCD sculpture Patterned by Nature .
Prairie Ridge Ecostation (45 acres (180,000 m2)) is a satellite facility and outdoor classroom located 6 miles (9.7 km) from the museum's downtown Raleigh locations. It includes Piedmont prairie, forest, ponds, a stream, and sustainable building features integrated with a wildlife-friendly landscape. [25]
Prairie Ridge is part of the museum's mission of enhancing public understanding and appreciation of the natural environment by providing an outdoor learning space while acting as a model for renewable and sustainable energy.
The facility opened a Nature PlaySpace on Saturday, September 28, 2013. [26]
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Whiteville, North Carolina formerly known as the North Carolina Museum of Forestry, is a satellite facility of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Its mission is to celebrate the natural history and cultural heritage of North Carolina's forests through interpretive exhibits, educational programming, and the preservation of natural and man-made materials that demonstrate the ongoing relationship of forests and people. [27]
Displays and interactive exhibits include an outdoor Tree Trail and Fossil Dig Pit, and the museum offers educational program experiences and special events. [27]
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Contentnea Creek, formerly known as the Grifton Nature & Science Center, is a satellite facility and outdoor classroom located in Grifton, North Carolina. It features hiking and paddling trails centered around Contentnea Creek, along with an observatory and outdoor classroom. [2]
The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences at Greenville, North Carolina formerly known as A Time For Science (ATFS), is a satellite facility of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences located in Greenville, North Carolina. It and the Grifton Nature and Science Center were acquired through a partnership between NCMNS and ATFS. The center was renovated with new exhibits being added and reopened in September 2021. The Museum at Greenville is largely based on the Raleigh facility, but with more exhibits focusing on subjects relevant to northeastern North Carolina such as pirates and pollinators, and includes resources from East Carolina University. [2]
NCMNS hosts many special events through the year. The most notable are:
The Dueling Dinosaurs is an extremely well-preserved and scientifically important specimen from Montana of a Triceratops and Tyrannosaurus possibly locked in combat. First found in 2006, there were unsuccessful attempts by the fossil's finders to sell it to museums or private collectors for over a decade until the NCMNS reached out in 2016, prompting negotiations to purchase the fossil, with funds being raised by the nonprofit Friends of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. Legal issues significantly slowed these negotiations until they were resolved in 2020, leading the museum to announce its acquisition of the fossils as part of its permanent collection. The fossils are set to be put on display in the Nature Research Center. [22] [37] After construction delays, the DuelingDinosaurs exhibit will open in 2024. [38]
Raleigh is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeast, the 41st-most populous city in the U.S., and the largest city of the Research Triangle metro area. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees, which line the streets in the heart of the city. The city covers a land area of 147.6 sq mi (382 km2). The U.S. Census Bureau counted the city's population as 467,665 in the 2020 census. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. The city of Raleigh is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, who established the now-lost Roanoke Colony in present-day Dare County.
Wake County is located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. In the 2020 census, its population was 1,129,410, making it North Carolina's most-populous county. From July 2005 to July 2006, Wake County was the 9th-fastest growing county in the United States, with Cary and Raleigh being the 8th- and 15th-fastest growing communities, respectively.
Cary is a town in Wake, Chatham, and Durham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh-Cary, NC Metropolitan Statistical Area. According to the 2020 census, its population was 174,721, making it the seventh largest municipality in North Carolina, and the 148th largest in the United States. In 2022, the town's population had increased to 180,388.
The Science Museum of Minnesota is an American museum focused on topics in technology, natural history, physical science, and mathematics education. Founded in 1907 and located in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution has 385 employees and is supported by volunteers.
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The Paleontological Research Institution, or PRI, is a paleontological organization in Ithaca, New York, with a mission including both research and education. PRI is affiliated with Cornell University, houses one of the largest fossil collections in North America, and publishes, among other things, the oldest journal of paleontology in the western hemisphere, Bulletins of American Paleontology.
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The North Carolina Department of Public Safety (NCDPS) is an umbrella agency that carries out many of the state's law enforcement, emergency response and homeland security functions. The department was created in 1977 as the Department of Crime Control and Public Safety. In 2012, the North Carolina Department of Correction and the North Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention were merged with Crime Control & Public Safety to create the new agency.
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The North Carolina Science Festival (NCSF) is a month-long, yearly celebration encompassing hundreds of events throughout the state of North Carolina. The festival is organized by Morehead Planetarium and Science Center on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus with the goal of highlighting the educational, cultural and economic impact of science in the state. NCSF events include hands-on activities, talks, lab tours, exhibits and performances for all ages. The event has grown into the largest science festival in the world.
Lindsay E. Zanno is an American vertebrate paleontologist and a leading expert on theropod dinosaurs and Cretaceous paleoecosystems. She is the Head of Paleontology at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and an Associate Research Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at North Carolina State University.
The Dueling Dinosaurs or Montana Dueling Dinosaurs is a fossil specimen originating from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana. It consists of the fossilized skeletons of an adolescent Tyrannosaurus rex and a Triceratops horridus entangled with one another, and entombed in sandstone. The "dueling" inference comes from the numerous injuries sustained by both dinosaurs, including a tooth from the Tyrannosaurus embedded within the Triceratops, although it is not known whether they were actually buried fighting one another. Despite the scientific importance of the specimen, it has remained relatively obscure due to a lengthy legal dispute over property rights to the specimen, which has since been resolved. The fossil is currently in the possession of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.