Boston Flora

Tag: Harvard University

  • 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.

  • Monday, September 19, 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm – More Ticks in More Places: How the Ever-Changing Ecology of Tick-Borne Diseases in the Northeastern US Affects You

    The Arnold Arboretum will host a lecture on Monday, September 19, from 6:30 – 8 in the Hunnewell Building, 125 The Arborway, by Thomas N. Mather, Ph.D., Director of The University of Rhode Island Tick Encounter Resource Center. Occurrences of Lyme disease and related tick-transmitted illnesses (babesiosis, anaplasmosis (formerly human granulocytic ehrlichiosis or HGE) have reached near-epidemic proportions in some areas of New England. In Massachusetts, however, there was a statewide decrease of 35.6% in reported cases of Lyme disease from 2009 to 2010 according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Don’t be fooled though into thinking ticks and disease are going away, because 2011 has been an exceptionally ‘ticky’ year so far. Dr. Thomas Mather will discuss current trends in tick encounter risk as well as his efforts to help individuals and communities prevent tick bites and Lyme disease. Fee: Free for Arnold Arboretum members, $15 nonmembers.  Register at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

  • Wednesday, August 10, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – From Genomics to Small Scale Agriculture: Tale of the Cherimoya, an Ancient New Crop

    Iñaki Hormaza, Arnold Arboretum Research Associate and Professor, Mayora Research Station of the Spanish Council for Scientific Research, will be discussing the cherimoya, a potentially sustainable fruit tree originating in the Andes, and his project which unites conservation, research, and production methods. In Central America, the cherimoya is called the Anona and in English speaking countries it is sometimes referred to as the “custard apple” or “sugar apple.” It should be a wonderful evening linking research to the lives of small scale farmers in Central and South America. The cherimoya holds potential as a sustainable crop for the countries of that region and beyond. A wealth of genetic diversity, excellent organoleptic qualities (sensory food appeal), and high nutrition content make this fruit a potential component of Andean food security. Iñaki Hormaza, a visiting plant biologist at the Arboretum, is coordinating a project to capitalize on the species’ potential and will talk about his work that unites conservation, research, and production methods. The program will take place Wednesday, August 10, beginning at 7 pm at Weld Hill, 1300 Centre Street, Boston. Registration is requested by alling Amie Evans at 617-384-5241, or emailing her at amieevans@fas.harvard.edu.  Photo by Axel Kratel.

  • Arnold Arboretum Interpreter Training

    Expand your knowledge of the Arnold Arboretum and share your passion for plants with others.  Arboretum Interpreters will be trained to talk knowledgeably about the Arboretum and plants.  In addition to training on Arboretum history, plant terminology, and the landscape, volunteers will learn interpretive techniques to effectively engage with visitors of all ages.  As an Arboretum Interpreter, you will have casual interactions and conversations with visitors, one-on-one or in small groups.  You’ll help people find their way through the landscape, explore the fascinating world of plants, communicate how the Arboretum is a living museum, and make Arboretum history come alive.  Fall 2011 training will be held at the Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway in Boston,  and there is no no fee.  Punctuality and attendance at every session, as well as commitment to the program, are very important.  The training will be held on three Tuesdays and two Saturdays in September:

    Saturdays, September 10 and 17, 10 am – 3 pm

    Tuesdays, September 13, 20 and 27,  6 pm – 8:30 pm

    The Arboretum Interpreter program is a partnership: you provide your time, commitment and enthusiasm, and the Arnold Arboretum provides rich resources, experienced staff, and special benefits for volunteers.  It is also a wonderful opportunity for self-growth and for reaching out to Arboretum visitors to communicate the importance of plants in our lives.  An application form may be found at www.arboretum.harvard.edu (click on Get Involved, then click on Volunteer.)  After receipt of your application, a staff member will contact you.  An interview will then be scheduled.

     

  • Saturday, June 4, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – E.H. Wilson: A Century Past

    It’s been one hundred years since Wilson returned from his last major Chinese collecting expedition.  Wilson is credited with introducing over one thousand Asian plants into Western horticulture, including the paperbark maple, regal lily, Chinese tulip tree, and beautybush.  Learn more about this fascinating explorer and view a selection of Wilson’s introductions growing at the Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway in Boston, including some grown from seeds he collected, on Saturday, June 4, from 1 – 2:30, on a walking tour led by Jim Gorman.  The walk is free, and for more information call 617-384-5209.

  • Thursday, May 26, 5:30 pm – Founding Gardeners: How the Revolutionary Generation Created an American Eden

    Andrea Wulf’s new book Founding Gardeners. How the Revolutionary Created an American Eden will be published in  late March 2011 by Knopf.  Ms. Wulf will travel to Boston and speak on Thursday, May 26, in a program co-sponsored by the Massachusetts Historical Society and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.  The talk will take place at the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1154 Boylston Street in Boston, with a reception at 5:30 pm and the lecture at 6:00 pm. The program is free but registration is required :  log on to www.arboretum.harvard.edu for more information.

    The Founding Gardeners offers a fascinating look at the revolutionary generation from the unique and intimate perspective of their lives as gardeners, plantsmen and farmers.

    For the founding fathers, gardening, agriculture and botany were elemental passions, as deeply ingrained in their characters as their belief in liberty for the nation they were creating. Andrea Wulf reveals for the first time this aspect of the revolutionary generation. She describes how, even as British ships gathered off Staten Island, George Washington wrote his estate manager about the garden at Mount Vernon; how a tour of English gardens renewed Thomas Jefferson’s and John Adams’s faith in their fledgling nation; how a trip to the great botanist John Bartram’s garden helped the delegates of the Constitutional Congress to break their deadlock; and why James Madison is the forgotten father of American environmentalism. Taken together, these and other stories are a revelation of a guiding, but previously overlooked ideology of the American Revolution.

    The Founding Gardeners adds depth and nuance to our understanding of the American experiment, and provides us with a portrait of the founding fathers as they’ve never been seen before.

  • Wednesday, April 27, 5:30 pm – Ancient Grains for Modern Meals

    Food writer Maria Speck’s passion for propelling Old World staples such as farro, barley, polenta, and wheat berries to the forefront of new American cooking is beautifully presented in Ancient Grains for Modern Meals. In her inspired and highly personal book, Maria Speck draws on food traditions from across the Mediterranean and northern Europe to reveal how versatile, satisfying, flavorful, and sophisticated whole grains can be. Her lecture, to be held Wednesday, April 27 beginning at 5:30 pm in Emerson 210 at Harvard University, is free and open to the public. For directions, log on to www.harvard.edu.

  • Tuesday, May 10, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – The Secret Lives of Honey Bees

    Most people are familiar with the sight of a honey bee forager as she visits flowers in a garden or park, but few people know the rich story of the life of a colony within the darkness of a hive.  Heather Mattila studies the social organization of honey bees at Wellesley College, where her hives lend a lively presence to the arboretum.  Heather will unravel the secret life of honey bees, including the different kinds of bees that are found in hives and the jobs that they do, as well as the means by which honey bees communicate to ensure a healthy and productive colony, in this lecture on Tuesday, May 10, from 7 – 8:30 at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain.  The program is co-sponsored by the Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture.  Members of either sponsoring organization will pay $10, non-members $15.  Register at www.wellesley.edu/WCFH, or call 781-283-3094.  Image from www.treehugger.com.

  • 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.