I studied the community at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences for my Ethnography. This community included a diverse group of individuals. It ranged from visitors of the museum to employees, interns, volunteers, security guards and research scientists. The Museum is located in downtown Raleigh and it is comprised of two different buildings connected by a bridge. One building is the Nature Research Center and the other is the main museum building. According to the Museum of Natural Sciences’ website, the mission of the museum is “to illuminate the interdependence of nature and humanity” (Mission & Values, 2015). As I observed at the museum, I could see this mission being brought to life. The museum combined the natural world with the human world, and showed the visitors how we as humans interact with the planet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The museum began in 1879 and has been growing in both attendance and size ever since. According to the Museum’s website, one of the founders of the museum, H.H. Brimley, stated, “The building of a museum is a never-ending work. A finished museum is a dead museum, and such a one must deteriorate and begin to lose usefulness from the time its growth stops” (Museum History, 2015). The Museum of Natural Sciences has taken this quote to heart because over the years there has been tremendous growth. They expanded their facility and opened the Nature Research Center in April 2012 and that alone helped boost the Museum attendance to 1.2 million in 2012. That made it the most visited cultural attraction in the state. According to the article by Schwan, Grajal and Lewalter, “Science museums, science centers, zoos, and aquariums (MCZAs) constitute major settings of science learning with unique characteristics of informal science education” (Schwan et al., 2014, p. 70). With the use of interactive exhibits and shows, the museum is able to educate the visitors in innovative and interesting ways. I observed that the museum creates an environment for learning that is fun for the visitors. The Museum of Natural Sciences works to teach the visitors about the Earth and how humans affect it.