Boston Flora

Tag: Harvard

  • Wednesday, May 2, 6:00 pm – Why Evolution is True and Why Many People Still Don’t Believe It

    Jerry Coyne, a professor of Ecology and Evolution at the University of Chicago and author of the seminal book, Why Evolution is True, is one of the world’s most eloquent defenders of evolutionary science in the face of legal, religious, and cultural opposition. In this Wednesday, May 2nd talk beginning at 6 pm, Coyne will explore the multifarious evidence for evolution, why Americans are so resistant to accepting the theory, and what can be done to make the country more evolution-friendly. Free and open to the public, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Free parking available in the 52 Oxford Street garage. Part of the Evolution Matters lecture series. Supported by a generous gift from Drs. Herman and Joan Suit.  For more information visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Saturday, April 28, 9:30 am – 12:00 noon – Arnold Arboretum 2012 Members’ Tour Day

    Enjoy the brilliance of spring and reconnect with the landscape on Arnold Arboretum’s Members’ Tour Day. Members are invited to come for refreshments and staff-led tours in the living collection on Saturday, April 28 beginning at 9:30am. This year, reserve space for Members’ Tour Day via an online registration system, or contact the membership office. Please respond by Friday, April 20. The staff hopes you’ll join us for a morning of fun, seasonal highlights, and the fellowship of our staff and members on April 28!  Fraxinus lanuginosa, in bloom at the Arboretum in April, pictured below.

  • Saturday, April 21, 2:00 pm – The Race for What’s Left: The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources

    Visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History on Saturday, April 21 at 2 pm for an author talk and book signing by Michael Klare. In his newest book, The Race for What’s Left, Michael Klare, Five College Professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College, describes a world facing an unprecedented crisis of resource depletion—from oil to coal and natural gas, copper and cobalt, water, and arable land.
    Regular admission rates apply. Part of the Cambridge Science Festival.  For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Friday, April 20, 7:00 pm – What If? Alternative Histories of Science

    Imagine that phrenology, the 19th-century study of mind by measuring bumps on people’s heads, had turned out to be true? Or that Darwin hadn’t been invited to go on the voyage of the Beagle? Or that the luminiferous ether had turned out to actually exist? Now imagine historians in discussion with stand-up comedians on these subjects, and you have “What If…?” Join moderator Anne Harrington and guests Andrew Berry, David Jones, Roberto Lalli and comedians Kevin Harrington, Raj Sivaraman, and Rob Crean as they improvise alternative histories of science, at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge on Friday, April 20, beginning at 7 pm.  Free and open to the public. Free parking available in the 52 Oxford Street garage. Part of the Cambridge Science Festival.  Kudos to www.triggerandfreewheel.com for the fabulous comic below.

  • Tuesday, April 10, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Consequences of Multiple Species Invasions

    Tufts Professor Frances Chew will be the featured speaker at the Cambridge Entomological Club’s April meeting on Tuesday, April 10, from 7:30 – 9.  She will talk about the Consequences of Multiple Species Invasions: A Native Butterfly Confronts Exotic Plants and Parasitoids.   CEC meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month from October through May. The evening schedule typically includes an informal dinner (6:15 to 7:15 PM) followed by our formal meeting (7:30 – 9:00 PM) in MCZ 101, 26 Oxford Street, Harvard University. The latter begins with club business and is followed by a 50 minute entomology related presentation. Membership is open to amateur and professional entomologists.  For more information, email CEC President Jessica Walden-Gray at jessisoutside@gmail.com.  Photo from www.lepcurious.blogspot.com.

  • Tuesday, April 3, 6:00 pm – Learning From Insects: How Our World is Shaped by Bees, Ants, and Other Social Insects

    Discover why many of the world’s top scientists have devoted their careers to the study of social insects in Learning From Insects: How Our World is Shaped by Bees, Ants, and Other Social Insects, a dialogue and booksigning with Thomas Seeley, Biology Professor at Cornell, and Bernd Heinrich, Profession Emeritus at the University of Vermont, on Tuesday, April 3, at 6:00 pm at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge. Moderated by Professor Naomi Pierce, Curator of Lepidoptera in the MCZ at Harvard. The speakers will discuss their research and why it’s critical that we study and learn from insects.

    Following the presentation, there will be reception and book signing in the Museum’s galleries. Cosponsored with Harvard University Press. Free and open to the public. Free parking available in the 52 Oxford Street garage.  For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Tuesday, April 3, 1:00 pm – 1:45 pm – From Seed to Tree

    Did you know that almost all of the new plants in the Arboretum begin their lives in the Dana Greenhouses? Get a behind-the-scenes look of the greenhouse growing process, from seed to sprout to seedling to tree, on Tuesday, April 3, beginning at 1 pm. Meet at the Bonsai Collection. There is a 15-person maximum. There is no fee, but registration is required by emailing arbweb@arnarb.harvard.edu, or by calling 617-384-5209. The address for the Dana Greenhouse is 1050 Centre Street, Boston.

  • Tuesdays, beginning April 3, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm – Plant Kingdom Diversity: Bacteria to Flowering Plants

    Through lectures and work in the laboratory, Dr. Gandhi will provide a deeper understanding of the plant kingdom, from the simple plants to those that are highly evolved. He will outline the structure and reproduction of bacteria, cyanobacteria, algae, fungi, mosses, ferns, pines, and flowering plants, in this 6 session course taking place Tuesdays beginning April 3 (excluding April 17) at the Harvard University Herbaria, 22 Divinity Avenue in Cambridge.

    You will learn about the fundamental differences in the plant structure of these groups and also their capabilities in reproducing both sexually and asexually. The role of xylem, phloem, fruits, and seeds in the success of flowering plants will be discussed. Cost: $145 for Arnold Arboretum members, $180 for nonmembers. To register, call 617-524-1418, or email adulted@arnarb.harvard.edu.

  • Tuesday, March 13 – Margaret Pokorny to Receive Park Partners Award

    Tuesday, March 13 – Margaret Pokorny to Receive Park Partners Award

    Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department will present the first annual Park Partners Award to Margaret Pokorny of the Back Bay during the Boston Flower & Garden Show Preview Party at the Seaport World Trade Center on Tuesday, March 13. The Park Partners Award recognizes Boston citizens who make a significant contribution to beautification and the city’s parks.

    A longtime advocate for protecting the natural resources in her neighborhood, Margaret Pokorny has worked closely with residents and city officials to beautify Commonwealth Avenue Mall since she first moved to Back Bay in 1980. She was instrumental in efforts to revive the turf along the Mall, supported the creation of the Women’s Memorial, and has been active in fundraising and caring for trees along the Commonwealth Avenue.

    “Margaret has gone above and beyond in order to preserve the quality of life in the neighborhood by advocating for policies which protect trees and encourage use of Commonwealth Avenue Mall by residents and visitors,” Mayor Menino said. “She is vigilant about engaging her neighbors to help water, replace, and protect trees, especially the Dutch elm population. She is always gracious, honest, and direct. The city is lucky to have such an advocate for our green space.”

    A hands-on booster for Boston’s parks, Pokorny’s personal slogan is “Born to Prune.” Her in-depth knowledge of her neighborhood parks was evident in her final thesis in the Radcliffe Seminars program in Landscape Design in 1992: a history and master plan for Commonwealth Avenue Mall. She was mentored in the project by her friend and neighbor, the late Stella Trafford, known as the Grande Dame of Boston parks for her own involvement with Commonwealth Avenue Mall, the Public Garden, and Boston Common.

    Pokorny worked with Trafford on issues related to the Mall, and became an active member of the Board of the Friends of Copley Square, the Friends of the Public Garden, and the Board of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay. She also served as Co-President of the Garden Club of the Back Bay and joined the Board of The Esplanade Association when it was founded in 2000. Margaret has also received the Boston Bowl from the Boston Committee of the Garden Club of America.

    Tickets are still available for the March 13 Boston Flower & Garden Show Preview Party taking place from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on the eve of the 2012 Boston Flower & Garden Show which opens to the public on March 14. In addition to the award presentation, Dr. Gustavo Romero will speak about the Glass Flowers Collection at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and gardening expert Patti “Garden Girl” Moreno will give a talk on Urban Sustainable Living and the five things everyone can do to live more sustainably in the city.

    For more information or to purchase tickets, please call the Parks Department at (617) 635-4032 or visit www.cityofboston.gov/parks/ttd/flowershow.asp.

  • Tuesday, March 13, 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm – Pretty and Poisonous: The Role of Plant Defenses in Flowers

    Lynn Adler, Associate Professor of Entomology at UMass Amherst, will be the featured speaker on Tuesday, March 13 at the Cambridge Entomological Club.  She will present a lecture entitled Pretty and Poisonous: The Role of Plant Defenses in Flowers.  CEC meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month from October through May. The evening schedule typically includes an informal dinner (6:15 to 7:15 PM) followed by our formal meeting (7:30 – 9:00 PM) in MCZ 101, 26 Oxford Street, Harvard University. The latter begins with club business and is followed by a 50 minute entomology related presentation. Membership is open to amateur and professional entomologists.  For more information, email CEC President Jessica Walden-Gray at jessisoutside@gmail.com.