Check out this exciting citizen science opportunity coming up at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences on June 5!

Have you ever wondered what gives dirt its distinctive smell? Or what that fuzzy stuff growing in the soil of your houseplant is? Come see (and smell) for yourself in this special opportunity for citizen scientists on Thursday, June 5, from 5-9p at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences!

You’ll get to work alongside Dr. Julie Urban and Dr. Julia Stevens in the Museum’s Instrumentation Lab to grow the microbes from your own backyard.

We’ll be opening the doors to the Instrumentation Lab in the Nature Research Center (3rd Floor) during the Science Thursday event on June 5th from 5:00 – 9:00 PM. The first 100 people who stop by will have the chance to grow their own soil microbes and learn what lives in the soil with the plants, bugs, and worms.

Don’t come empty handed – We want you to bring in the soil from your garden, your compost bin, the crack in the sidewalk, anywhere that piques your interest. Fill a quart-size plastic bag with the soil of your choice and join us in the Instrumentation Lab on the 3rd floor of the Nature Research Center.

You will learn how to culture the bacteria and fungi right out of the soil. Then, follow the Museum’s scientists on Twitter (@julesunderwater or @julie_urban), where your results will be shared, to get the microbial fingerprint of your backyard!