Blurred Lines: Research, Exhibits, and Education Merge in the Public Eye

In 2012 the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences opened a 80,000 square foot facility where research occupies center stage every day. Walls of glass provide unobstructed views into conservation genomics, astronomy, paleontology and biodiversity labs. A robust digital infrastructure supports public presentation spaces, hands-on education labs, reports from the field and the research labs themselves. The new modes of public engagement are interlaced with inventive citizen science projects.