Top Photo: Ellerbe Creek Railway – Engineer Michael. A little out of my realm (I’m usually writing about nature), but every now and then you have to celebrate the people who keep the museum running, literally keep the place on track. The Ellerbe Creek Railway has been closed the past few days due to routine maintenance. Our facilities crew has been replacing railroad ties and recalibrating the tracks to ensure they’re safe for you and your family, friends, or entourageRead more
Posts filed in: Work
Rangers in the Lot
If you’re coming to the museum on a field trip here’s some of the people who may greet you when your bus pulls into the museum’s parking lot. After the students disembark and the buses are safely tucked away, the rangers disperse into the campus to patrol, inform, and assist. There are other rangers to greet you as well (Terrence, Gregory, David, Martha, Robert, or Thad) but this cheery group caught my eye as I was making the rounds theRead more
The People
In February of 2015, I posted a collection of photos of the Museum staff. There were seventy some photos. This post is a follow-up to that with both familiar as well as a few new faces. But, not everyone on staff is included. Some folks don’t like to be photographed. And, you would have had to have made a trip to the outdoor exhibits to be seen by the lens of my camera. So, you may not see yourself inRead more
How Hot, Cloudy, or Acidic is it, anyway?
What’s got Sara and Erin smiling on a steamy morning in mid summer? Well, they just got back from a walk in the Wetlands. Who wouldn’t be smiling after spending time in a swamp full of frogs, snakes, all forms of aquatic (and flying) insects, and of course, muddy water. What were they doing braving the heat and humidity of the day? They were testing locations and equipment in order to collect data on temperature, turbidity, and acidity of the water. WhatRead more
Good Morning Frog!
As I walked up to the Butterfly House this morning I saw Emily staring down at the ground near the outside entrance to the Lep Lab. She was looking at a little frog on the storm drain in front of the doors. “Good morning frog!” ” Morn’n Emily!” Relatives of Emily’s little friend are quite active now, out in the Wetlands. Besides the very vocal treefrogs that are calling on these hot, humid, and thunderstorm prone July days, there areRead more
The Evolution of the Rangers
When I first came aboard the Museum some 3 plus years ago there was a Ranger* on duty during the weekends only. The week days were covered by other members of the staff on an hourly basis on the outdoor exhibits loop** (different individuals from various departments would walk the loops for one hour during each of the Museum’s open hours). Since then we have developed into a full time operation. When the Museum is open there’s a Ranger onRead more
All in a Day’s Work
When not giving directions to Museum guests, checking on the status of the outdoor exhibits, or interpreting the natural history of the flora and fauna at the Museum, a Museum of Life + Science Ranger has also to do small clean-ups around the outdoor areas. This clean-up often involves retrieving sippy cups, water bottles and various other articles that find their way into the Wetlands. Veteran Ranger Kristin and Ranger Recruit Erin show how it’s done. In this case it’sRead more
BLOG WORK AHEAD
The Journal is going through some changes, it’s being formatted in order to maintain continuity with the other Museum Blogs. The column width is now larger, I’ll be able to upload larger images when needed, and a few other, perhaps less noticeable, behind the scenes changes are taking place. If you notice anything strange or odd going on while viewing the Journal, please let me know, and they will be corrected as soon as possible. In the mean time, goRead more