Boston Flora

Tag: Harvard Museum Of Natural History

  • Wednesday, November 9, 6:00 pm – How Much Can Trees and Forests Slow Global Warming?

    Much research and debate in the scientific community is devoted to the question the impact forests have on in the capture or sequestration of carbon dioxide, the primary gas that causes the climate-warming “greenhouse effect.” Are more forests the key to slowing the rate of rising global temperatures or is it too optimistic to think they can capture enough of the world’s CO2 emissions to solve the problem? Hear two of Harvard’s most active climate researchers tackle this question from different perspectives, atmospheric chemist Steven Wofsy and forest ecologist Andrew Richardson, on Wednesday, November 9, beginning at 6 pm. Free and open to the public, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Part of the Challenges and Choices lecture series. For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Thursday, October 27, 6:00 pm – The Emergent Forest of New England

    New England is a naturally forested landscape and has been for thousands of years. On Thursday, October 27, beginning at 6 pm, Peter Del Tredici, botanist and senior research scientist at the Arnold Arboretum, will present an overview of the recent history of the forests of southern New England as impacted by natural disasters, shifting land-use patterns (urbanization and suburban sprawl), introduced pests and pathogens, invasive species, acid rain, and climate change. He will speculate on how the “emergent” forests that develop in response to these factors will differ from those that dominated New England in the past. Free and open to the public, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Cosponsored with the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Part of the Challenges and Choices lecture series.  For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Sunday, October 9, 2:00 pm – Bark: A Field Guide to Trees of the Northeast

    The Harvard Museum of Natural History will sponsor an author talk by Michael Wojtech on Sunday, October 9, beginning at 2 pm at the Museum, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge. Many people know how to identify trees by their leaves, but what happens when those leaves that have fallen or are out of reach? With detailed information and illustrations covering each phase of a tree’s life-cycle, author and naturalist Michael Wojtech will explain how to identify trees by their bark—the one tree characteristic that’s visible all year round. Learn about the structure and ecology of tree bark and how its different traits evolved. Free with museum admission.  For directions and more information, log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Wednesday, October 12, 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm – National Fossil Day

    The National Park Service and the American Geological Institute are partnering to host the first National Fossil Day on October 12, 2011 during Earth Science Week. National Fossil Day is a celebration organized to promote public awareness and stewardship of fossils, as well as to foster a greater appreciation of their scientific and educational value.

    Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge, between 1 – 5 in the afternoon for a variety of hands-on activities with fossils including the amazing prehistoric world of trilobites, dinosaurs, Ice Age mammals, and other creatures. Discover how fossils form and investigate fossilized bones, teeth, claws, and footprints. Fossil Day is offered as part of Earth Science Week, encouraging people everywhere to explore the natural world and learn about the geosciences.  Free with museum admission.  For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Wednesday, August 24 6:00 pm – Superbat: A Documentary Screening

    Harvard’s Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge,  will screen Superbat on Wednesday, August 24 beginning at 6 pm. This 48-minute documentary explores the world of bats and the scientists who study them – including the late Donald Griffin, a Harvard zoologist who was the first to describe their echolocation ability in the 1940s. Using 3-D graphics to recreate the bats’ acoustic vision and shooting with infra-red and high-speed cameras, this film offers an exhilarating “bats-eye” journey into the night.

    Screening to be followed by a discussion by Professor Thomas Kunz of Boston University, one of the world’s leading bat experts. Kunz will answer audience questions and discuss some of his current research on bat biology, aeroecology and behavior, including the latest on the White-Nose Fungal Disease that has devastated bat populations in the Northeast.  Part of Summer Nights at the Museum. Free with museum admission.  For more information log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu, or call 617-495-3045.  Thank you Julie Newmar for the image below, which has nothing whatsoever to do with White-Nose Fungal Disease, but I’ll bet you read the post.

  • Saturday, May 21 – Opening of New England Forests Exhibition

    On Saturday, May 21, 2011 the Harvard Museum of Natural History will debut the new Zofnass Family Gallery with the opening of New England Forests, a permanent multi-media exhibition that explores the natural history and ecology of our regional forests, their responses to human activity, and their environmental significance.  Visitors are invited to explore the ecology of woodland caribou, wolves, and other wildlife of New England; learn about lichen cities that cling to rocks; and the circle of life within and around a forest pond from tiny aquatic insects to giant moose.

    To complement the exhibition, the museum will offer a fall 2011 series of public lectures and symposia featuring Harvard faculty and other experts.

    This new exhibition was made possible by a generous gift from Harvard alumnus Paul Zofnass [AB’69, MBA’73, HLS’73], an avid sailor and outdoorsman, who grew up in Belmont, MA and often visited the public galleries of Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology as a child.  The Harvard Museum of Natural History is located at 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge, and you may visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu, or call 617-495-3045 for hours and more information.

  • Tuesday, May 10, 6:00 pm – The Secrets of Field Notes: Capturing Science, Nature and Exploration

    In a fascinating new collection, Field Notes on Science and Nature, Harvard University Press provides a rare glimpse into the journals and sketches of top scientists such as Charles Darwin, George Schaller, and Kenn Kaufman. Editor Michael Canfield, lecturer in biology at Harvard, will discuss what makes these notes and journals so important, the secrets they reveal, and how they can help us cultivate skills as a gardener, citizen scientist, or adventurer. The free lecture will take place at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street in Cambridge, on Tuesday, May 10, from 6 – 8.  For more information, log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu, or call 617-495-3045.

  • Thursday, April 21, 6:00 pm – Here on Earth: A Natural History of the Planet

    In his newest book, Here on Earth, Tim Flannery, Australian scientist and author, offers a sweeping account of the dual evolutionary history of Earth and the life it supports. Beginning with the birth of stars to the creation of water and the accident of simple life forms, Flannery documents life up through the 2-million-year rise of our human species and ponders our future as a “superorganism” capable of either sustaining or destroying the planet’s ecosystems. This Thursday, April 21 Harvard Museum of Natural History program begins at 6 pm. Free and open to the public, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. For more information log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Sunday, April 3, 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Bioluminescent Animals: Flashlight Fish, Fireflies, and the World of Light Emitting Organisms

    You have probably seen the marvelous flashing of fireflies at dusk in summer, but less well-known are the many different types of luminous organisms in the oceans, and some others on land. On Sunday, April 3, beginning at 2 pm, Harvard’s Woody Hastings, a pioneer in the study of bioluminescence, will explore how and why creatures do this, show live specimens from his collection of glowing dinoflagellates (a type of plankton), and discuss how scientists are discovering new benefits of bioluminescence for medical research. Free with Harvard Museum of Natural History (26 Oxford St., Cambridge) admission. Log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu, or call 617-495-3045 for more information.

  • Monday, April 4, 5:30 pm – William G. Farlow and His Influences on Botany, Academics, and Amateurs

    The Harvard Botanical Club is pleased to welcome its 2011 Distinguished Speaker, Dr. Donald H. Pfister, Asa Gray Professor of Systematic Botany, Curator of the Farlow Library and Herbarium, and Dean of Harvard Summer School. on Monday, April 4, in the Haller Lecture Hall, Room 102, Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge. Dr. Pfister will speak on William G. Farlow and His Influences on Botany, Academics, and Amateurs. For complete information, maps and parking directions, log on to www.rhodora.org.