In Community Programs several special events are designed to highlight community culture and appeal to community participation. Programs are designed for youngsters, and family involvement is emphasized. The museum also participates in local and statewide decoy and seafood festivals, marine awareness conferences, and school special events. In Cooperative Programming the museum conducts underwater archaeology with East Carolina University, shares workshops in marine biology and ecology with the Duke University Marine Laboratory and the NOAA, and conducts programs with North Carolina Sea Grant and North Carolina Marine Fisheries. The Cape Lookout Studies Program involves youth and the elderly in dolphin behavior and migration, turtle nesting statistics, and barrier island ecology.
Scholarships are available to disadvantaged students.
Evaluations are conducted for all museum programs and exhibits by the general public and by museum peers through written and oral questionnaires conducted by the staff and volunteers. Written surveys are distributed at all workshops and conferences. Volunteer Enhancement is a priority at the museum. Programs on maritime cultural history, coastal environment, traditional boatbuilding, marine biology, waterfowl, endangered species, dolphin behavior, and turtle nesting are made available to the museum's supplementary staff. Museum Educational Programs are developed with input from community teachers, educators, and environmental leaders.