Chase Kennedy - Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education

I chose to visit the Centennial Campus Center for Wildlife Education. I have been without a car for the past couple of weeks; so, I had no other choice than to visit something close by. Fortunately though! the education center is quite interesting and surprisingly informative and hands on, especially for its relatively hidden location.

The center seems to be set up for a slightly younger age group, but is still very interesting and contains a lot of information about the wildlife and ecosystems of North Carolina. Probably the most interesting part of the exhibits is the giant high-resolution satellite map that visitors see in the entrance. Much like a map that would be found on googleEarth, this is solely of North Carolina, and is blown up to about 10-15 feet wide.

From the entrance, I was led through various exhibits about mammals, fish, reptiles, birds, and bugs that inhabit North Carolina. It was within sifting through images and interactive programs that I found out Bald Eagles are actually residents of North Carolina that have migrated from the Appalachian mountains, and a couple of alligator species are mostly found in my home-region of North Carolina. (I’ve never seen a wild alligator there, but I guess its true!) Finally, there is a history of wildlife in North Carolina, relating to laws/hunting/species movement, and a great wall of photos from a recent wildlife photography contest.