RALEIGH — From the Bald Head Island Conservancy to the Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute, 54 science centers across the state will soon be receiving grant awards as part of the second year of the $2.39 million North Carolina Science Museums Grant Program. The Rowan County Nature Center and Wildlife Adventures at Dan Nicholas Park is one of those recipients.

The program is one of the many ways that the State of North Carolina invests in sustaining and advancing one of the most diverse and widespread networks of science museums in the country. Grants were awarded based on criteria that promote the priorities of state government, with a primary goal of enhancing science, technology, engineering and mathematics education opportunities for the public, particularly in low resource communities.

“These grants are investments in our local communities and our children,” said Susi H. Hamilton, secretary of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. “They make it possible for smaller institutions, particularly those in rural and economically depressed areas, to provide science education to citizens across North Carolina, and I am thrilled to see how this grant program is making a difference throughout our state.”

The awards, which ranged from $15,688.91 to $75,000.00, will be applied to the 2017-2018 fiscal year budgets of these science centers.

“We are excited to support the great work done by these museums in increasing science literacy across North Carolina,” said Charles Yelton, chief of regional networks for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and lead administrator of the Grant Program.

Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, the 40 most economically distressed counties are designated as Tier one (which received the largest awards), the next 40 as Tier two and the 20 least distressed as Tier three. The Rowan County Nature Center and Wildlife Adventures falls under tier two.

For more information about the North Carolina Science Museums Grant Program or to apply for the next grant cycle, visit ncmuseumgrant.naturalsciences.org.