From an early age growing up in Jackson and later Oxford, MS, Charles Knight was drawn to the outdoors and roamed wild places for hours at a time, exploring, fishing, and hunting. He also often spent time on the water watching his dad, an aquatic biologist and university professor, at work.
Charles received a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Mississippi and a master’s degree in biology from Southeastern Louisiana University. He pursued a Ph.D. at the University of Arkansas for several years but left in 1993 and returned to Mississippi to accept the Ichthyologist (Fish Biologist) position with the Museum of Natural Science. As a boy in the 1970’s, he had visited the museum at its old location across from the Mississippi State Fairgrounds. He was amazed by the experience and felt almost as if the museum had been built just for him. Twenty years after that first visit, he jumped at the opportunity to work there.
As the state ichthyologist, Charles traveled the state collecting fish and studying the aquatic environments. He was promoted to the museum’s Coordinator of Scientific Research and Collections in 1997, and Assistant Museum Director in 2007. Although originally hired as a fish biologist, Charles brought an interest and experience in conservation education and museum exhibits and played a major role in the construction of the current museum facility that opened in 2000. He not only led the planning effort for the scientific facilities, but also conceived of and developed many of the exhibit and aquarium themes, layouts, and components.
In 2012, Charles was named Museum Director. Under his leadership, the museum excelled despite having to navigate significant cuts to personnel and budgets and the challenges of the COVID pandemic. The museum staff continued to produce top quality educational programming and perform scientific research of the highest standards.
One area of focus became addressing changing attitudes about leisure time and attractions in the digital age by developing new strategies and adjusting museum services and offerings. Another became renovating and updating exhibits and public facilities after years of wear and tear from entertaining thousands of museum visitors and the need to address outdated technologies. Over a 10- year period, most of the exhibit lighting was updated, text labels were rewritten and redesigned, and several new exhibits were installed.
Plans were also developed for a major museum-wide renovation that included the lobby, admissions, gift shop, restrooms, education wing, exhibits halls, an outdoor activity area, and much more. As Charles retires on June 30, 20024, funding is in place. This major project is scheduled to begin in the fall of 2024 and be completed in the summer of 2026.
