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On July 5-14, 2012, Dr. Meg Lowman, director of the new wing at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, will lead a group of educators and naturalists on an amazing, nine-day trip to the Amazon rainforest. The best part: visitRaleigh.com and the museum are giving you a chance to go along!

Now through Tuesday, May 15, enter to win a spot on this rainforest expedition and become part of a team of educators and naturalists studying in the Amazon basin of Peru. The visitRaleigh.com sweepstakes prize includes the workshop cost, in-country air and international air round-trip to Lima.

The winner of the “Raleigh’s New World” prize package can:

• work side-by-side with scientists in one of the most biologically diverse environments on the planet
• ascend over 115 feet on a ¼-mile Rainforest Canopy Walkway, one of the few of its kind in the world
• interact with indigenous people and see how they use the forest for medicine, food and shelter
• get up-close with as many as seven kinds of primates at Monkey Island’s conservation project
• use hand lenses, binoculars, maps and taxonomic keys for identification of insects, butterflies, plants, birds and more

You just need to be a legal U.S. resident, be 18+ and have a valid passport, and you could be selected the grand prize winner on May 16! (See official rules for full details.) This dynamic journey is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a Lifelong Learner.

Enter now, and remember to get a jump-start on your nature research experience at the grand opening of the new wing at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences, April 20-21, in downtown Raleigh.