As the #GRAIL #NASATweetup event gets closer, NASA is introducing all the participants to their followers on Twitter. Here’s my 15 seconds of fame.
Category Archives: NC Museum of Life & Science
Behind-the-Scenes Museum animals
This post, by Museum of Life + Science Animal Keeper Kimberly, provides a glimpse into one of the behind-the-scene areas that I help out with at the museum–the Education Holding Room (EHR). Each of the animals has such a personality! Be sure to click through to see the original post and pics of all the animals.
Gordon, our crested gecko (and one of my favorites)
Did you know that I also tweet for the museum? Follow the fun at @lifeandscience!
Bear Feeding at NC Museum of Life & Science
This is a reposting of my post at the Animal Keepers blog on the NC Museum of Life and Science website.
Every now and then the Museum offers special opportunities for Members to experience some behind-the-scenes aspects of life at the museum. This past Sunday, Animal Department Director Sherry Samuels led an enthusiastic group of parents and children down to the bear exhibit to help feed the bears (I tagged along and took some photos). Normally, visitors are never allowed to feed any of the animals! Each animal has a special diet which must be followed for their health and wellness. So this was a very special opportunity to not only observe and learn about the 5 bears who live here, but to also help feed them by tossing in the fruit, nuts, and vegetables that Sherry gave the participants. The bears gave quite a show and demonstrated many of the behaviors that the keepers regularly observe, but which members may not have seen before. Check out this schedule and then register to join us for a future Bear Feeding! The next one is a morning feeding on Sunday, April 17th.
The group walked down to the Bear Overlook after the museum closed.
The kids loved tossing in nuts, apples, sweet potatoes, and a few other goodies for the bears to eat.
Poison Dart Frogs at NC Museum of Life & Science
Ruby and I wandered around the NC Museum of Life & Science today. I love how this iPhone photo captured a moment of wonder in Ruby’s reflection on the glass of the poison dart exhibit. Always keep your eyes open and your camera at the ready.
Ruby contemplates the Poison Dart Frogs at the NC Museum of Life & Science
Blogging with the Animal Keepers
Working in the Farmyard (scooping poop!)
I’ve been working with the keepers in the Animal Department at the NC Museum of Life and Science recently. I love it. I was thrilled when I was asked to join the blogging team for the Animal Department. I want to direct you to two recent posts I’ve written over there.
What’s for Dinner? A Photo-journal of the food preparations for the animals.
The Scoop on Snake Poop. I wrote this while I was volunteering, before I started officially working part-time with the Museum.
iPhone Camera Macro
I’m still playing with my iPhone 3GS and macro photography. I have had some success using a small Bausch & Lomb 20x Hastings lens held directly to the camera lens on the phone body. My main frustration is with the curved back of the iPhone 3GS. I am very much looking forward to next year when we can trade up to the flat-backed iPhone 4.
In the meantime, I’ll keep experimenting. Here is one recent project.
This leaf was found on the Explore the Wild trail at the NC Museum of Life and Science in May 2010. I was attracted to the delicate structure of the vascular system of the leaf.
Reference Shot of Decayed Leaf
Leaf structure magnified
More than just bears
You might get the impression from my Tweets and blog posts that I only pay attention to the bears at the NC Museum of Life and Science. While it’s true that the bears hold a special place in my heart, we are non-discriminatory when it comes to giving attention to all the critters at the museum. To prove this, I present two pieces of supporting evidence for my claim.
First, not all the excitement is with the animals that move around a lot. This little frog was sitting quietly on the path and was hoping we would ignore it. I only wish I had a macro lens with me to try and get a better shot of his eye. Such interesting patterns!
Second, as we were leaving today, we walked past the barnyard and saw Lightning (the donkey) kicking up quite a storm. Check out these ball handling skillz!!