The Arnold Arboretum, in conjunction with Jamaica Plain Open Studios, will host a juried group exhibition devoted to art inspired by the plants, landscape, and collections of the Arnold Arboretum. The theme for this year’s show is “Looking Closely.â€Â Join the Arboretum staff on Wednesday, September 19th at 6 pm for a reception with the artists in the Hunnewell Building Lecture Hall at the Arboretum. The show will run through November 18, 2012.
The Harvard Museum of Natural History welcomes Emily Monosson on Thursday, August 16 at 6 pm for a free lecture and book signing at The Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge. Toxic chemicals: They have shaped our bodies, our world, and all life around us. Today, species are rapidly evolving in response to toxins like PCBs, dioxins and pesticides. Emily Monosson, adjunct professor at UMass Amherst and author of the new book, Evolution in a Toxic World (Island Press), will discuss how life on Earth survives in the face of increased amounts of both age-old and new synthetic chemicals in our environment. Dr. Monosson is an environmental toxicologist. A diversity of past research experience, and data synthesis of the health and environmental impacts of contaminants from nanoparticles, to organochlorines, and personal health care products have laid the groundwork for Monosson’s current academic interest – investigating the evolutionary history of the toxic response.
Beyond academics her interest in increasing public awareness about their role in the environment and the importance of science education, has led to her service on the Gill-Montague School Committee and on the board of the Montague Reporter, where she occasionally contributes as a writer. For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu. Photo from toxicevolution.wordpress.com.
In her newest book, Sparrow, science author Kim Todd explores the complex history, biology, and literary tradition of the sparrow. From the Sparrow War of the late 1800s in the United States (a battle over the sparrow’s introduction which climaxed at Boston Common), to the recent mysterious decline of house sparrows globally, the sparrow has been at the center of the invasive species debate for over 150 years. Kim will appear at The Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, on Saturday, August 4, at 12 noon. For directions and parking information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu. Regular admission rates apply. Free for members.
Meet horticulturist and Arnoldia Editor Nancy Rose in the locust collection (west of Meadow Road and north of the ponds) to learn about Robinia pseudoacacia, a member of the pea family, at the Arnold Arboretum on Thursday, July 19 at 5:30 pm. The nearest gates are the Arborway or Forest Hills Gates, with parking along the Arborway, or the Centre Street Gate, where parking is limited. Part of Tree Mob! (trademark) For more information visit www.arboretum.harvard.edu.
Several local green space organizations have joined together to present the following educational program about tick awareness and tick bite prevention. More Ticks in More Places: How the ever-changing ecology of tick-borne diseases in the Northeastern US affects you! will be presented by Thomas N. Mather, Ph.D, Director, The University of Rhode Island Tick Encounter Resource Center, on Thursday, May 17, 6:30–8:00pm in the Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston.
In New England, 2011 was an exceptionally “ticky†year, and there are predictions for a possible 20% increase in the tick population in 2012. 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. Learn about tick life cycles, environmental factors contributing to Lyme disease, and what you can do to protect yourself so that you can continue to enjoy the green spaces in and around Boston. Reserve now. Space is limited.
Free, but registration requested.
Register online at http://my.arboretum.harvard.edu or by phone at 617-384-5277.
Sponsored by Boston Natural Areas Network; Mass Audubon’s Boston Nature Center; Brookline Parks & Open Space; Emerald Necklace Conservancy; Franklin Park Coalition; Friends of the Blue Hills; New England Mountain Bike Association; Olmsted National Historic Site, NPS; and Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.
In 1812, four remarkable men met at Cambridge University: Charles Babbage, John Herschel, Richard Jones and William Whewell. Recognizing that they shared a love of science (as well as good food and drink), they began to meet on Sunday mornings to talk about the state of science in Britain and the world at large. Inspired by the great seventeenth-century scientific reformer and political figure Francis Bacon, the Philosophical Breakfast Club plotted to bring about a scientific revolution—one which privileged an evidence-based, inductive method of discovery, and one which asserted the need for science to serve the public good. In her book, The Philosophical Breakfast Club, Laura Snyder follows the intertwined lives and works of these men over the next 60 years, and shows that by the end of their lives they had succeeded, even beyond their wildest dreams, in bringing about a scientific revolution. She will speak about one aspect of the revolution they wrought: the shift from the amateur natural philosopher to the professional scientist. Dr. Snyder, Associate Professor of Philosophy at St. John’s University, will speak at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum on Wednesday, May 9, from 7 – 8:30 pm. Register online at www.my.arboretum.harvard.edu. Fee: Free for Arboretum members; $15 nonmembers.
From meadows and forests to desert or barren glacial till, how do cultures in different environments satisfy their need for gardens? Is the focus on planned order or wild nature, on plants or man made structures? Are there favorite plants or flowers? How do the residents interact with their gardens? Wellesley College Professor Emerita Mary Coyne’s extensive travels to many lands always include garden visits. With her as our guide, we’ll armchair-wander to the Arctic, Europe, Asia, South and North America, and Africa to take a peek at gardens old and new. After many years teaching in Wellesley College’s Department of Biological Sciences, Mary Coyne embarked on a retirement career as a landscape designer. She received her Certificate from the Landscape Institute in 2010. The Harriet B. Creighton Educational Garden (below) across the driveway from the Visitor Center is designed and maintained by her. The May 21 lecture will be preceded by tea at 2 pm. Co-sponsored by the Wellesley College Friends of Horticulture and by the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, the cost to attend is $10 for members of either sponsoring organization, or $15 for non-members. Register at www.wellesley.edu/WCFH.
Once limited to a handful of tried-and-true choices, gardeners today can choose from an abundance of cultivars when creating a perennial garden. Creating that dramatic garden is a matter of both choosing the right plants and knowing how to combine them to best effect. Join the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and Laura Eisener of Laura Eisener Landscape Design on Thursday, May 17, at 7 pm at Elm Bank in Wellesley. Register online at www.masshort.org. Based in Saugus, Massachusetts, Landscape Designer Laura Eisener also teaches at the Arnold Arboretum Landscape Design Institute of Harvard University.
In conjunction with the new exhibition, Mollusks, the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge, will screen Shellshocked, a new documentary by Emily Driscoll, on Saturday, May 12 beginning at 2 pm. The film follows efforts to prevent the extinction of wild oyster reefs, which keep oceans healthy by filtering water and engineering ecosystems. Due to overfishing and pollution, much of the world’s wild oyster reefs have been declared “functionally extinct.†Followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker and George Buckley, of the Sustainability and Environmental Management Program at Harvard Extension School. Regular admission rates apply. For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.
As part of the celebration to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the gift of flowering cherry trees from Japan to the US, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston will be the recipient of a tree grafted from the original Japanese trees in Washington’s Tidal Basin. On Wednesday, April 25 at 9:00 am, when the Museum’s renowned Tenshin-en Japanese garden opens for the season, the cherry tree will be presented to Museum of Fine Arts Boston Director Malcolm Rogers by Consul General of Japan in Boston Takeshi Hikihara.
The more than 3000 trees which were planted in Washington in 1912 were a gift from Tokyo Mayor Yukio Ozaki to express Japan’s appreciation to the U.S. for its role in brokering the Treaty of Portsmouth which ended the Russo-Japanese War. The cherry trees have become a symbol of the close relations between Japan and the United States.
The Greater Boston-Japan Cherry Blossom Festival 2012, marking the centennial of the trees, began in March and will continue through May. Upcoming events include Haru Matsuri, a Japanese-style festival in Copley Square, a Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo concert at Harvard University as well as other performances, lectures and exhibits. For further information visit:
Consulate General of Japan in Boston: www.boston.us.emb-japan.go.jp/
Japan Society of Boston: www.japansocietyboston.org/sakura/eng
For national information, see:
Embassy of Japan in Washington DC: www.us.emb-japan.go.jp/sakura100
For questions regarding this event, contact: Richard Winslow, r.winslow@cgjbos.org or 617 973-9772 x137
