New exhibit opening Friday to showcase life in the jungle to students, families

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A new exhibit at Rowe Hall’s Museum of Cultural and Natural History will take visitors through the jungle to learn more about the exotic rainforests and what can be done to save them.

“Journey through the Jungle” will include several sections, including one about nocturnal animals and another about conservation, said Graduate Assistant Chelsea Butcher.

“It’s basically going to be like you’re in the rainforest, showing what animals and plants you would see,” Butcher said.

Troy senior Kellie DeSchutter, a student assistant at the museum, said she was excited for the children’s room, which includes several activities to complete.

“The premise for the (children’s) room is to take a passport,” she said. “After each activity is finished, kids can put a sticker on their passports. When kids finish at least seven activities, they get a special tropical prize.”

Among the activities included in the children’s room are fishing in a pond, searching for insects in a bat cave, coloring anole lizards, making rugs, visiting a tiki hut and experiencing the scents of the rainforest.

Mariah Scott, a junior student assistant, said the conservation room is an important part of the exhibit, not only because it is interesting, but also very educational.

“(The conservation room) will focus on things you can do to reduce the amount of materials you buy that come from the rainforest,” Scott said.

The exhibit was put together by a team of 11 student-workers and three regular volunteers, with the guidance of two graduate students. Staff began working on the exhibit in December.

Senior Gina Cipriano, public relations coordinator and student staff member, said she was excited to see the result and reaction for all their work.

“We’ve been working really hard for the last few weeks; cutting out trees, painting and doing lots of gluing,” Cipriano said.

The exhibit will be unveiled to the public from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday. The event is free and open to the community and campus, and families are especially encouraged to attend, Butcher said.

“It’s going to be super-cool,” Butcher said. “It will be cool for biologists, cool for non-biologists, cool for kids and cool for adults.”