Author: Elise Carroll, QAR Lab Manager
Most people know the Queen Anne’s Revenge Conservation Lab as the place charged with the preservation of artifacts removed from this important archaeological site. This, however, is not our only responsibility. In addition to archaeological research, we are also responsible for educating the public on what we do at the lab and why we do it! This notable shipwreck is near and dear to the hearts of many North Carolinians, so we take this duty seriously. With the limited amount of staff, we strive to be as productive in the lab as we can, while also engaging with our local communities. We provide a variety of different opportunities throughout the year!
Besides leading tours of the QAR Lab, which will be detailed in a future post, we offer a few different types of educational activities. We host two Saturday events in our lab each year: Saturday at the QAR Lab in the fall and Blackbeard: The Science of Pirates in the spring. This year, Saturday at the QAR Lab will be held on Saturday, November 2, 2019! This event gives people who are busy during the work week a chance to come visit our facility on a guided tour with staff and volunteers. Registration is required for this event due to limited space, but you can register up to the day before.
Blackbeard: The Science of Pirates is held on a Saturday each April as part of the NC Science Festival. This is a family-oriented event that allows for guests to participate in hands-on educational activities and talk to professionals about their work. Visitors learn all about how science applies to conservation and underwater archaeology! We have activities for all ages and prior registration is not required. An upcoming date has not yet been selected, but please look out for the announcement in early 2020, and read about the previous event here!
Outside of the lab, we offer educational experiences for local schools and organizations and participate in community events. We strive to be an available educational resource for the community. We recognize many schools are not able to readily provide field trips, so we are set up to bring history, conservation, and archaeology to you! We provide lectures and/or activities for school-aged children (K-12) to allow for everyone to be able to learn about an important part of North Carolina history, in the comfort of your classroom. Another important resource that can be accessed anywhere, anytime is Tales from the Queen Anne’s Revenge, an educational, interactive video by the NC Museum of History. Simply fill out the form, and view for free!
We are happy to provide lectures to various community and educational groups. We give talks covering many of the different things that you would learn during a tour of our facility. We also regularly participate in different community events when invited such as Pirate Fest in Greenville, NC and Pirate Invasion in Beaufort, NC. We ask for at least three months’ notice for requests for potential event participation, so that we have ample time to assess our availability, to prepare for the event, and to plan our schedule accordingly!
We look forward to sharing our lab space with you; answering questions about science, history, and archaeology; and facilitating your interest in of North Carolina’s rich history. Please remember, if you are unable to come to us, we can come share our experiences with you! If you are interested in learning more about tours and lectures, please feel free to contact us at QAR@ncdcr.gov!