My job, in a nutshell, is to teach people to pay attention to the little things and then, ASK WHY? You’ve heard it from me before and I’ll continue to say it here (but this time with a little help from my friend Alexandria Lupton). The best way to hone your science skills is to…
Most of us love to travel. The thought of getting on an airplane and taking off on far-flung adventures gets the blood pumping a little, but there’s no question that air travel is not good for the environment. We know that burning massive amounts of jet fuel lead to dangerous chemicals being released in the…
I just love it when a special science week comes around and we can all focus on learning about something new: new organisms, new habitats, new science concepts. We are coming up on National Moth Week, which incorporates a global citizen science movement to help spot and identify moth species all around the world. If…
Here at the North Carolina Science Trail, there are a few things we talk about often: recognizing science in your everyday life, embracing the ability to explore the world around you, and learning to make observations. If I am talking with a group of teachers who want to engage their students with science in more…
This summer, the NCST Science Trail Intern, Sammie, has been visiting our partners in the Piedmont West region with Michele. The first stop was the Carolina Raptor Center – Michele’s old stomping grounds! Sammie learned all about raptors at CRC and discovered that this is a truly great place for a summer adventure, whether it…
Most people view vultures as pests. They seem dirty to us. We see them eating roadkill and circling in the skies over some unknown carcass hiding in the woods. But, as if often the case with our first impressions of wildlife and nature, what you see is not always what you get. Think about it…
This summer, the North Carolina Science Trail is very pleased and very thankful to have Sammie Ross, a Davidson College student, as our Sustainability Intern. One of the wonderful things about connecting with college students in this manner is that we are getting to see exactly how much sustainability issues and practices are impacting the…
We talk about Citizen Science pretty frequently on the NC Science Trail. We highlight important Citizen Science Events, we mark our partners information pages with their Citizen Science endeavors, and we even have a big button on the front page that says, “Be A Scientist.” You haven’t hit that button?? Well, please go ahead and…
Last summer we were so lucky to have Sara Gagné, an urban ecologist from UNC Charlotte, share several great blog posts about exciting ways to explore the nature in your neighborhood during summer. This year, Sara is back to help us do more summer exploring with our Summer 2025 Blog Series: Explore Your Nature Neighborhood.…
One of the things we love to write about on this NC Science Blog are special people who have a passion for STEM and want to share that with the world. This week I’m going to tell you about a high school student, Juliana Jones, who was so devastated by the impact COVID had on…