National Fossil Day Celebration at the Aurora Fossil Museum | Eastern North Carolina Now

Press Release:

    Stuart Clayman: A Remarkable Patron of the Aurora Fossil Museum

    We want to take a moment to recognize Stuart Clayman for his ongoing support of the Aurora Fossil Museum. Mr. Clayman first contacted us in 2016 to seek the identification of his fossil finds. Of course, we arranged for Stuart to have one-to-one time with Dr. George Oliver, Jr. After a few "Dr. George Workshops," Stuart progressed into helping others identify their fossils.

    Throughout the years, Stuart has made many donations and contributions to support the museum and has volunteered to help us with projects, programs, events, and activities. From funding renovations to supporting us during the global shutdown to helping promote the Aurora Fossil Museum, Stuart has been a significant contributor to the success of the Aurora Fossil Museum.

    Recently, Stuart supported our acquisition of fossil displays from another museum. The fossil displays, dubbed "The Clayman Collection," will allow us to offer rotating exhibits and provide content to update our exhibit rooms.

    Please join us on Saturday, October 28th at Noon in the Aurora Fossil Museum's Learning Center as we celebrate Mr. Clayman's support during our National Fossil Day Celebration!

    Celebrate National Fossil Day at the Aurora Fossil Museum!

    Join us to celebrate National Fossil Day at the Aurora Fossil Museum on Saturday, October 28, 2023 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. We'll have scavenger hunts, music in the park and of course FOSSILS! We'll even do the Pungo Crawl! Join us for FIN-tastic Fossil Fun!

    New Teen Science Café Program at the Aurora Fossil Museum

    The Aurora Fossil Museum is proud to announce that our Executive Director, Cynthia Crane, has been chosen to be a 2023-24 Science Café Moonshot Leader, and part of the STEMNext Million Girl Moonshot Project! The Aurora Fossil Museum is excited to launch a new science café program! Teen Science Cafes are a free, fun way for teens to engage in lively conversations with STEM experts that explore the advances in science and technology that affect their lives. In these events, teens socialize over teen-friendly food and drink and have a lively conversation with local scientists and engineers about current cutting-edge developments in their fields, all in a relaxed and informal out-of-school setting. Teen Science Cafés are for teens, by teens. Teen Science Cafés are not just for the science geeks; they are for all curious teens. Along the way, teen organizers gain a host of leadership skills. Cafés are typically run about an hour and a half once per month during the school year. More information to come!

    2023 Explore Science Voyage through the Solar System kit

    The Aurora Fossil Museum applied for and has been awarded a NISE Network Voyage through the Solar System physical kit! Only 350 kits were awarded to successful applicants from eligible organizations. This new toolkit of hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) activities is based on NASA's continuing pursuit of human exploration of the Moon and Mars and a mobile app that launches users further into the solar system.

    October Outreach Events & Activities

    There are so many fun outreach events and activities going on in October! We hope to see you at some of them!

    10/01: KidsFest Spooktacular, Greenville, NC Convention Center

    10/07: Tar River Community Science Festival, Greenville, NC

    10/07-8: The North Carolina Seafood Festival, Morehead City, NC

    10/14-15: MumFest, New Bern, NC

    10/21: John Lawson Legacy Days, Grifton, NC

    10/21: Smoke on the Water, Washington, NC

    10/21: Dismal Swamp Days, South Mills, NC

    10/28: Chicken Mull Festival, Bear Grass, NC

    10/28: National Fossil Day Celebration at the Aurora Fossil Museum! 10am-4pm

    Thank You for Making us a 2023 Great Nonprofit!

    The GreatNonprofits Top-Rated Awards program is widely known as the most influential "people's choice" awards for outstanding nonprofits, large and small!

    Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to leave us a review!!

    Meg Plate Update

    The NC DOT DMV Special Plates Unit is now entering the applications into their system. This is the last and most tedious step before production of the plates occurs!

    Please be aware that if there's an issue with your application, you will be contacted by the Special Plates Unit requesting updated information. If responses aren't received, it will delay the process for all.

    Please Leave us a Review!

    We adore hearing from our wonderful visitors and seeing their amazing experiences captured in photos! Have you had the chance to explore our museum lately? We'd be thrilled if you could take a moment to share your thoughts and leave us a review on Google and/or Trip Advisor! Your feedback means the world to us and helps others discover the magic of our museum too!