Daily Archives: September 27, 2012

Saturday, September 29 – Cockroaches Mini-Exhibit Opening

by

These adaptable arthropods are some of the oldest land-living animals on Earth. They thrived in lush coal forests 300 million years ago, survived multiple mass extinctions, and today encompass 4,500 species, including some of the most beautiful and colorful insects on the planet. Nurturing parents, these insects often carry and protect their young, and some species even feed them with a kind of “milk” made from their own bodies! Who are they? The answer may surprise you. They’re cockroaches!

You’ve already heard the negative propaganda. Now come learn the real and amazing truth about these much maligned and misunderstood insects in a new mini-exhibit at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.

The exhibit is the latest installment in the museum’s Exploring Diversity series in the exhibition Arthropods: Creatures that Rule. It opens to the public on Saturday September 29, 2012. The Harvard Museum of Natural History is located at 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, a 7-8 minute walk from the Harvard Square T station. The Museum is handicapped accessible. For general information please call 617 495 3045 or visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

With a mission to enhance public understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the human place in it, the Harvard Museum of Natural History draws on the University’s collections and research to present a historic and interdisciplinary exploration of science and nature. More than 198,000 visitors annually make it the University’s most-visited museum.  Image from www.godofinsects.com.

Tuesday, October 2, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – Birch: More than Meets the Eye

by

White-barked birches hybridize freely, suggesting that current species are too narrowly defined. Even the well-known common native North American paper-bark or canoe birch (Betula papyrifera) causes consternation. Birch expert Hugh McAllister of University of Liverpool and Ness Botanic Garden will explain a bit about the white-barked birches’ propensity to cross-pollinate and thus confound taxonomists, on Tuesday, October 2, from 6:30 – 8 at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum. He will discuss birch distribution around the world while showing images of his research travels and herbarium specimens and posing some as-of-yet unanswered questions that keep this botanist awake at night. Free, but registration requested at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

Friday, October 5, 6:00 pm – Patterns of Exotic Species Colonization in a Forested Landscape

by

The New England Botanical Club will host Dr. Chad Jones, Assistant Professor of Botany and Environmental Studies, Connecticut College, for a meeting to be held Friday, October 5 in the Haller Lecture Hall (Room 102), at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge.  The meeting is open to the public.  Dr. Jones will speak on Patterns of Exotic Species Colonization in a Forested Landscape. Chad Jones is interested in a wide range of topics in plant ecology. His research has involved two major themes: plant succession and invasive species.

Professor Jones has studied plant colonization following a broad array of disturbances ranging from volcanic eruptions and the retreat of glaciers to gopher mounds in mountain meadows. Among other topics, he has examined spatial patterns of dispersal, factors that limit plant colonization and effects of disturbances on plant diversity.

A second area of research involves investigating patterns of spread of invasive species. He uses statistical models and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to predict the potential distributions of invasive species at several scales.

For more information, visit www.rhodora.org.