The Dragon Research Collaborative (DRC) at Roanoke College has received a $20,000 grant from the Virginia Humanities to assist in the creation of a child-focused exhibit connecting the natural history of Appalachia to the stories of other areas and cultures.
The museum exhibition, Fossil Tales, opened to the public on Oct. 28 at Wonder Universe in Christiansburg.
The DRC includes a culmination of 10 years of interdisciplinary research led by Lisa Stoneman, associate professor of education, and DorothyBelle Poli, professor of biology. The DRC’s aim is to use a scientific approach with dragons as a research focus across diverse disciplines of plant biology, history, literature, computer sciences, business, environmental science and more. The exhibit will permanently house an exploration of the DRC’s plant fossil-folklore hypothesis of a link between Lepidodendron plants and the lore of dragons. This display will include pieces of work collected or donated since the program’s inception in 2013.
Wonder Universe is located at Uptown Christiansburg (New River Valley Mall), 782 New River Rd., Christiansburg.
Submitted by Roanoke College