Boston Flora

Tag: Geological Lecture Hall

  • Monday, March 5, 6:00 pm – Wild Diagnosis: Human Health and the Animal Kingdom

    Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, and Co-Director, Evolutionary Medicine Program, UCLA; Visiting Professor, Department of Human and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, will speak on Monday, March 5 at 5 pm in the Geological Lecture Hall of the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street, on Wild Diagnosis: Human Health and the Animal Kingdom.

    Sudden cardiac death in kangaroos. Breast cancer in jaguars. Compulsive disorder in polar bears. All animals, including humans, are subject to a wide range of physical and psychological illnesses. Using pathological specimens from Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, Barbara Natterson-Horowitz will discuss disorders in both living and extinct species. She will also examine the importance of comparative and evolutionary perspectives in deepening scientific understanding of disease and increasing our compassion toward affected patients—both human and non-human animals. Free and open to the public. Free event parking at 52 Oxford Street Garage.

    This event will be livestreamed on the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture Facebook page. Check https://hmnh.harvard.edu/event/wild-diagnosis-human-health-and-animal-kingdom  the day of the program for a direct video link. A recording of this program will be available on our YouTube channel approximately three weeks after the lecture.

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  • Thursday, May 11, 6:00 pm – The Evolution of Beauty: How Darwin’s Forgotten Theory of Mate Choice Shapes the Natural World – and Us

    Richard O. Prum, William Robertson Coe Professor of Ornithology and Head Curator of Vertebrate Zoology, Peabody Museum of Natural History, Yale University, will speak in the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, on Thursday, May 11 at 6 pm as part of the Harvard Museum of Natural History’s Evolution Matters Lecture Series. Can adaptation by natural selection truly account for everything we see in nature? How do animal mating displays and mate choice drive evolutionary change? What insights can they offer about the evolution of human sexuality? Drawing from his new book, The Evolution of Beauty, Richard Prum will consider Charles Darwin’s long-neglected theory of sexual selection, in which the act of choosing a mate for purely aesthetic reasons is an independent engine of evolutionary change. In a reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, Prum will reveal how mating preferences—what Darwin termed “the taste for the beautiful”—create the extraordinary range of ornament in the natural world.

    The Evolution Matters Lecture Series is supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit. Free and open to the public.

  • Thursday, November 5, 6:00 pm – How Nature Can Save Us

    We live in the Anthropocene, the age of humans, and not since cyanobacteria transformed Earth’s early atmosphere has one species–Homo sapiens–had such an outsized influence on the diversity of life on the planet. Saving nature in the human age is a challenging proposition, but perhaps a more relevant question might be how nature can save humankind. In an epic journey across 24 countries accompanied by a film crew from PBS and National Geographic, M. Sanjayan, Executive Vice President and Senior Scientist, Conservation International. compiled awe-inspiring stories that illuminate the inextricable link between the environment and human beings. In this program, he will discuss his journey and the basic truth it revealed: that saving nature is really about saving ourselves.

    Presented in collaboration with the Harvard College Conservation Society. This program is located at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge. Free parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. Free and open to the public.

  • Thursday, April 23, 6:00 pm – Islands: Natural Laboratories of Evolution

    Tahiti, Bermuda, Madeira, Bali. Everyone loves islands, but no one loves them more than an evolutionary biologist. From the dwarf elephants of Crete to the carnivorous caterpillars of Hawaii and the snaggly-fingered aye-aye of Madagascar, islands present a cornucopia of biodiversity. Darwin drew much of his inspiration from island stopovers on his fabled Beagle voyage, as did Alfred Russel Wallace on his own perambulations through the East Indies. Ever since Darwin and Wallace jointly proposed their theory of evolution by natural selection, biologists have returned to islands to gain fresh insights. Jonathan Losos, Monique and Philip Lehner Professor for the Study of Latin America, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator in Herpetology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, will discuss the relevance of islands to our understanding of evolution and its processes on Thursday, April 23 at 6 pm at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free and open to the public. Free parking is also available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

  • Tuesday, April 14, 6:00 pm – Ethnobotany in the 21st Century

    For more than four decades, Michael J. Balick, Vice President for Botanical Science at the New York Botanical Garden, has studied the relationships between plants and people — the field known as ethnobotany — in the Amazon Valley, Central and South America, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and most recently in Micronesia and Melanesia. In this Tuesday, April 14 lecture beginning at 6 pm he will discuss the relevance of working with indigenous cultures to document their knowledge of medicinal plants and evaluate their potential for broader applications. He will also highlight some of the medicinal plants used by non-Western cultures, such as ashwagandha and maca, which are becoming available and popular in the West and are discussed in his most recent book, Rodale’s 21st Century Herbal: A Practical Guide for Healthy Living Using Nature’s Most Powerful Plants.

    This free Harvard Museum on Natural History lecture and book signing will be held at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

  • Tuesday, November 18, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm – Protecting the Ash Tree: Wabanaki Diplomacy and Sustainability Science in Maine

    Brown ash trees sustain the ancestral basket-making traditions of the Wabanaki people of Maine and play a key role in their creation myths. These trees are now threatened by the emerald ash borer, a beetle that has already killed millions of ash trees in the eastern United States. Wabanaki tribes and basket makers (see basket image below from Hood Museum at Dartmouth) have joined forces with foresters, university researchers, and landowners to develop and deploy actions aimed at preventing an invasion by this insect. Anthropologist Darren Ranco, PhD, Associate Professor of Anthropology and Coordinator of Native American Research, University of Maine discusses how the stakeholders involved in this interdisciplinary effort are making use of sustainability science and drawing from Wabanaki forms of diplomacy to influence state and federal responses to the emerald ash borer, and prevent the demise of the ash trees that are so central to Wabanaki culture. The program will take place on Tuesday, November 18, from 7 – 8 at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, and is sponsored by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, in collaboration with the Harvard Museums of Science and Culture. Visit the exhibits in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology and the Harvard Museum of Natural History, open for special evening hours following the lecture. Free event parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. Free and open to the public.

  • Wednesday, May 7, 7:00 pm – The Extreme Life of the Sea

    Drawing on his newest book, The Extreme Life of the Sea, marine scientist Stephen Palumbi will explore the spectacular life forms, such as blind zombie worms, ageless jellyfish, and the unicorn-like narwhal, that thrive at the ocean’s most brutal limits. From the icy Arctic to boiling hydrothermal vents and pitch-dark trenches, Palumbi looks at extreme habitats and considers how humans may be driving dramatic changes to the ocean’s ecosystem. The lecture and book signing will take place Wednesday, May 7, beginning at 7 pm at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, and is sponsored by the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Stephen is the Jane and Marshall Steel Jr. Professor of Biology and Director of Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford University. Free and open to the public. There is free event parking in the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

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  • Thursday, November 21, 6:00 pm – Seeing Earthquakes Before They Happen

    Geophysicist Brendan Meade, using satellite technology, generates images of current fault-line activity to help predict earthquakes and to better understand earthquake cycles and the tectonic development of continents. Find out more about his research and the progress being made in predicting the timing and magnitude of earthquakes on Thursday, November 21, at 6 pm, in a lecture sponsored by the Harvard Museum of Natural History. Free and open to the public. Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free event parking is available in the 52 Oxford Street Garage after 5:00 pm.

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  • Saturday, October 26, 11:00 am – 8:00 pm – Alfred Russel Wallace Day

    Although Alfred Russel Wallace co-discovered the theory of evolution by natural selection with Charles Darwin, he has held a relatively obscure place in the history of science. This year marks the centenary of his death and the Harvard Museum of Natural History, in conjunction with the Cambridge Science Festival, is celebrating Wallace’s rich legacy with “Wallace Day” on Saturday, October 26.  Learn more about a brilliant scientist, a heroic naturalist, and a passionate social reformer.

    Event Schedule
    11:00 am – 4:00 pm (In the galleries, free with museum admission)
    Explore the HMNH galleries and see a one-day-only display of Wallace-related specimens and objects from the Museum’s zoological collections. Come see Wallace’s spectacular birds of paradise and birdwing butterflies. At 2:00 pm
, join Alfred Russel Wallace himself (impersonated by Wallace historian and evolutionary biologist Andrew Berry) for a live presentation about his remarkable life as scientist, author, and social activist.

    Evening program (below): Admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are available by online registration only.  Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free event parking is available after 3:00 pm in the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

    4:00 pm
    Who was Alfred Russel Wallace?
    A panel discussion with: James T. Costa, Professor of Biology at Western Carolina University; John Durant, Director of the MIT Museum; James Wood, Professor of Literary Criticism at Harvard University and staff writer for The New Yorker. Moderated by Janet Browne, Aramont Professor of the History of Science at Harvard University, and acclaimed biographer of Charles Darwin.

    Parallel Lives: Edward O. Wilson & Alfred Russel Wallace
    A conversation with Edward O. Wilson, Pellegrino University Professor Emeritus, Harvard University, and Andrew Berry, Wallace historian and Lecturer on Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University.

    The evening program will conclude with a reception in the HMNH galleries for all ticket holders.

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  • Tuesday, March 12, 6:00 pm – From the Big Bang to Broadway: How Things Evolve

    Robert Hazen, Research Scientist, Carnegie Geophysical Laboratory and Professor of Earth Sciences at George Mason University, will speak at the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge on Tuesday, March 12, beginning at 6 pm. The concept of evolution by natural selection has long been a lightning rod for anti-science rhetoric. Such attacks are usually aimed at the biological realm, but Darwin’s opponents must now face evidence that complex evolving systems also drive phenomena beyond life science, such as the diversification of minerals on earth. Part of the Evolution Matters Lecture Series, supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit. Free and open to the public. Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free event parking for evening lectures in the 52 Oxford Street garage.