Boston Flora

Tag: Massachusetts Institute Of Technology

  • Thursday, May 3, 6:00 pm – Apples: A New England History

    Rowan Jacobsen, author and Knight Science Journalism Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will speak in the Geological Lecture Hall of the Harvard Museum of Natural History on Thursday, May 3 at 6 pm on Apples: A New England History.

    No other fruit embodies the horticultural and cultural range of the apple. Originally from the mountains of Kazakhstan, apples have seduced bees, intoxicated monks, nourished colonists, and inspired artists, from Paul Cézanne to Rudolf Blaschka, who created Harvard’s collection of botanically precise glass apples (now on view in the Glass Flowers gallery). James Beard Award- winning author Rowan Jacobsen will discuss his book, Apples of Uncommon Character, and will explore the surprising ways in which the apple has shaped New England history. A tasting of heirloom ciders from Vermont’s Eden Specialty Ciders will follow the talk.

    Advance registration required at https://hmnh.harvard.edu/Apples.   Free and open to the public. Free event parking at 52 Oxford Street Garage. Reception sponsored by the Harvard Chapter of Sigma Xi
.

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  • Wednesday, October 18, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – On the Wing Part II

    On Wednesday, October 18 at 6:30 pm, the Arnold Arboretum hosts Lorna Gibson, PhD, Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in a free lecture (registration required at 617-384-5277, or email adulted@arnarb.harvard.edu).

    What do you get from a bird-lover who is a materials science engineer? A close look at feathers. In this second installment of On the Wing, Lorna Gibson discusses how down keeps a bird warm, how the structure of the feather shaft reduces its weight, and how adaptations of flight feathers produce or suppress sound.

  • Friday, October 20, 6:00 pm – 10:00 pm – Party Under the Harvest Moon

    Support local hunger relief and food rescue on Friday, October 20 from 6 – 10 at Morss Hall at MIT. Party Under the Harvest Moon is a fundraiser for Food For Free. Eat, drink, dance, bid, celebrate and support. Enjoy beer, wine, nibbles and desserts from Bandit Wines, Cabot Cheese, Cambridge Brewing Company, Dave’s Fresh Pasta, Flour, Henrietta’s Table, iCater, Mainely Burgers, Manoa Poke, Nubar, Q’s Nuts, Royal East Restaurant, Russell House Tavern, Spindler Confections, Sub Zero Ice Cream and Yogurt, Veggie Galaxy, Viale, and more! Every dollar spent on tickets, auction bids, sponsorships, and donations helps get healthy food to people who need it.  To purchase tickets ($75) and for more information visit www.foodforfree.org.

  • Thursday, September 21, 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm – The Foundation of Our Landscapes: Understanding Site Analysis and Soil

    Soil is vital. Often geologic history can be seen in soil profiles, and in this lecture by John Swallow, we will be focusing in on the unique conditions present at our site, Great Hall Lodge at Cedar Hill Girl Scout Camp, 265 Beaver Street in Waltham. He will also outline the different types of organic matter that are present in soils, explain why different soils hold varying levels of moisture, and examine the impact of microbes on soil. This workshop will also include a review of proper techniques for collecting soil samples, instruction on how to interpret standard soil analyses, and an examination of the hidden history revealed by the profile of a soil pit dug at our garden. The class will take place on Thursday. September 21 beginning at 1 pm.

    John Swallow is a Principal and co-founder of Pine & Swallow Environmental, a renowned landscape-engineering firm that has created soils for Lusitania Field at Fresh Pond in Cambridge, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the High Line in NYC, and many other projects around the world. He holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Grow Native Massachusetts members $38, nonmembers $48. For more information, visit us at http://grownativemass.org/programs/workshops, or call 781-790-8921.

  • Tuesday, May 9, 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm – On the Wing

    What do you get from a bird-lover who is a materials science engineer? A close look at feathers. In this talk, Lorna Gibson, PhD, Matoula S. Salapatas Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology will speak  at the Hunnewell Building of the Arnold Arboretum about the microscopic structure of feathers and explain how their structure makes hummingbirds feathers iridescent, ducks feathers water repellent and owl ruff feathers collectors of sound.  Free, registration requested.  Register at my.arboretum.harvard.edu or call 617-384-5277.

  • Monday, May 1, 5:30 pm – 8:00 pm – The Future of Energy: The Energy We Need

    With well-known sources like hydro, wind and solar at the forefront, many countries have made impressive strides transitioning to clean energy. Still, the challenges are immense: Consider that only 13 percent of the electricity produced in the United States comes from renewable sources. As the essential push toward a low-carbon future accelerates, though, how do we balance the benefits with the potential risks to nature? What are the tools—technology, policy, markets and beyond—that will help us produce the clean energy we need in New England and globally, while protecting the health of our rivers and minimizing energy sprawl and other impacts? What role can lesser known renewable sources like biomass and tidal power play? Join the Nature Conservancy at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center, 1 Memorial Drive in Cambridge on Monday, May 1 for a panel discussion on The Future of Energy. There will be a reception at 5:30 and talk begins at 6:30. Tickets are $10, and may be reserved online at https://support.nature.org/site/Ticketing?view=Tickets&id=10065

    PANEL INCLUDES:
    Katherine Hamilton, Partner, 38 North Solutions;
    Jessika Trancik, Associate Professor of Energy Studies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
    Nels Johnson, Director, North America Energy Program, The Nature Conservancy.
    Moderator: Dan Delurey, President, Wedgemere Group

    The Future of Nature Boston Speaker Series is made possible by the generosity of Marilyn and Jay Sarles, Tom Jones, David and Susan Leathers, and Eaglemere Foundation.  Special thanks to media sponsor WBUR.

  • Saturday, April 9, 3:00 pm – Heroic: Concrete Architecture and the New Boston

    From 1960 to 1976, concrete was used by some of the world’s most influential architects in the transformation of Boston including Marcel Breuer, Eduardo Catalano, Henry N. Cobb, Araldo Cossutta, Kallmann and McKinnell, Le Corbusier, I. M. Pei, Paul Rudolph, Josep Lluís Sert, and The Architects Collaborative—creating a vision for the city’s widespread revitalization under the banner of the “New Boston.”  On Saturday, April 9 at 3 pm at the Cyclorama, 539 Tremont Street, come and explore what some have coined “Brutalist” architecture, and the compelling story of a legacy Boston is just beginning to appreciate. Complimentary AD20/21 show admission. A book signing with the authors will follow.

    As the subject of “Brutalist” concrete architecture and its heritage have been taken up on a global scale, due in part to ongoing preservation debates around iconic—yet controversial—buildings, Heroic thoroughly examines the compelling story of the city, the material, and the movement, recording the intentions and aspirations of this generation and considering anew its legacies—both inspired and troubled.

    Mark Pasnik, Michael Kubo, and Chris Grimley are collaborators in over,under, an award-winning, Boston-based architecture and design practice with work ranging from university buildings and museums, to city districts, to exhibitions and books. They are co-directors of the pinkcomma gallery, where they have curated several shows on modernism and Boston’s urban transformation. Mark Pasnik teaches at Wentworth Institute of Technology, Chris Grimley at Northeastern University, and Michael Kubo is a Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Free, but registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/heroic-concrete-architecture-and-the-new-boston-tickets-22290933783

  • Kate Fichter Named New Executive Director of The Esplanade Association

    The Esplanade Association is pleased to welcome Kate Fichter as its new Executive Director. Kate has extensive experience in civic design, project management, and long-term planning, having worked for both the Massachusetts House of Representatives and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. A native Bostonian, she grew up in the Back Bay and has known the Esplanade since her childhood. She is a graduate of the
    University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

    Kate will be taking over from Margo Newman, The Esplanade Association’s Executive Board Chair, who has graciously been our interim volunteer Executive Director for the past year. Kate’s duties will include direction of all the operations of the organization, including capital projects, program activities, park care, and advocacy. To read more about The Esplanade Association, visit www.esplanadeassociation.org.

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  • Wednesday, March 30, 6:00 pm – New Directions in EcoPlanning Annual Lecture

    Anne Whiston Spirn is an award-winning author, photographer, and professor of landscape architecture and planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work is devoted to promoting life-sustaining communities: places that are functional, sustainable, meaningful, and artful, and help people understand the relationship between the natural and built worlds. This Harvard Museum of Natural History program will take place at 6 pm on Wednesday, March 30. Free and open to the public, Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Reception to follow. Supported by a generous gift from Michael Dyett (AB ’68, MRP ’72) and Heidi Richardson. For more information log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Thursday, October 14, 10:00 am – Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes

    The October meeting of The Garden Club of the Back Bay will be held Thursday, October 14, beginning at 10 am at The College Club, 44 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston.  The Club begins its year long examination of Water with a lecture on hurricanes, quite appropriate for the season, we believe.

    Dr. Kerry Emanuel is a Professor of Atmospheric Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has been on the faculty since 1981, after spending three years as a faculty member at UCLA. Professor Emanuel’s research interests focus on tropical meteorology and climate, with a specialty in hurricane physics. His interests also include cumulus convection, and advanced methods of sampling the atmosphere in aid of numerical weather prediction. He is the author or co-author of over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and two books, including Divine Wind: The History and Science of Hurricanes, released by Oxford University Press and aimed at a general audience, and What We Know about Climate Change, published by the MIT Press.

    “Imagine standing at the center of a Roman coliseum that is 20 miles across, with walls that soar 10 miles into the sky, towering walls with cascades of ice crystals falling along its brilliantly white surface. That’s what it’s like to stand in the eye of a hurricane.”

    Kerry Emanuel, one of the world’s leading authorities on hurricanes, gives us an engaging account of these awe-inspiring meteorological events, revealing how hurricanes and typhoons have literally altered human history, thwarting military incursions and changing the course of explorations. Offering an account of the physics of the tropical atmosphere, the author explains how such benign climates give rise to the most powerful storms in the world and tells what modern science has learned about them. Interwoven with this scientific account are descriptions of some of the most important hurricanes in history and relevant works of art and literature.  The lecture is free and open to the public, but reservations are essential.  There will also be a luncheon following the meeting, for which we must charge $20 per person.  To reserve, or for more information, email info@bostonflora.com. Members of The Garden Club of the Back Bay will receive written notification of the meeting.

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