Participate in the Arnold Arboretum’s 2021 Tournament of Trees! Get to know this year’s Sweet Sixteen contenders (March 3–9) and cast your votes in this fun bracket style tournament. Let the March Tree Madness games begin.
Join us for a casual evening of conversation with the Peabody Museum’s Curator of Oceanic Collections. Ingrid Ahlgren stewards one of the largest and most historically significant collections in the U.S. from the Pacific Islands, Australia, and Aotearoa/New Zealand. Hear her share some of her recent work, including the exhibit Uncovering Pacific Pasts and the important roles that Harvard University and the state of Massachusetts have played in the history of Oceania. Ingrid will also discuss her upcoming collaboration with Pacific Islanders living in Utah.
A plant that generates heat and attracts pollinators with its stink? Learn more about skunk cabbage in the Arnold Arboretum’s newest winter Wonder Spot, at the Arboretum meadow’s edge or online. Free and open to all.
Break out of the winter doldrums and welcome Harvard science into your home with the all-virtual I Heart Science festival lasting from Friday, February 12 to Monday, February 15. This day’s “Tiny Creatures” theme looks at bacteria, viruses, and other microbial creatures.
During the live webinar, starting at 1:00 pm ET, meet live tardigrades, also known as water bears. Watch recorded videos featuring Harvard scientists who study bacterial resistance, ways to test for viruses, and how bacteria grow.
At home, try your hand at making a water-drop microscope, comparing...
Students have been digging up and learning about Harvard's past through the Harvard Yard Archaeological Project. Meet the Peabody's Trish Capone and current Harvard student Nam Hyun Kim as they talk about the objects they have found and the larger history of what has been uncovered in this long-standing dig on campus.
To register, send an email to members@hmsc.harvard.edu. If possible, please include your member number. A...
Humans are living longer lives than ever before and so it is critical to understand the process of aging. It has become increasingly recognized that successful aging is not just about physical health but also about our social lives.
Chimpanzees are our closest living relative and also lead long and complex lives. In this talk, you’ll learn what chimpanzee aging can tell us about human aging.
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian—Online
The first person who will set foot on Mars is alive right now. We believe this, but even if we're wrong we know the first crew to arrive there will look nothing like the ones that landed on the Moon fifty years ago.
Our world has changed for the better, and ASTRONAUTS tells the story of the women who built this better world. The main character and narrator is Mary Cleave, an astronaut you may not have heard of. It's not because so many people have been to space; only a few hundred have! It’s because this graphic novel isn’t about fame. No astronaut you'll ever meet took the...
Earth is home to a vast diversity of organisms that collectively define the modern biosphere. How did this diversity come to be? Javier Ortega-Hernández will discuss his approach to answering this question by studying organisms that lived more than half a billion years ago in the Cambrian Period (485–541 million years ago). By focusing on the earliest-known animals—some of the most versatile to ever exist—Ortega-Hernández aims to reconstruct the early evolutionary history of major animal groups and contribute to our understanding of Earth’s biodiversity.
Ever wonder what tarantula’s hair feels like? Curious about what vinegaroons smell like? Want to get up close and personal with the business end of a scorpion? If so, then grab a snack and join human museum staff Javier and Ryan as they spend thirty minutes feeding, interacting with, and discussing the museum’s many live arthropods!
Register by 1:00pm on September 23. After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to participate using Zoom.
Sharks are some of the oldest and, from an evolutionary perspective, some of the most successful marine vertebrates ever to have lived. They have spent their entire evolutionary history in the aquatic environment, and the body design in many species has been honed over hundreds of millions of years to increase swimming performance. Learn how body form, fins and even the skin, work in concert, enabling sharks to slice through water and execute complex maneuvers with startling speed and precision.
Investigate the ins and outs of skeletons through a virtual museum experience. Using observations of skulls, bones, and live animals, we will explore how animals use their skeletons for support, protection, and movement, and see how bones and fossils can help us solve ancient mysteries. Extend the fun at home with daily activities. A small packet of materials will be sent to your home upon registration.
Additional supplies needed: Thin cardboard-like poster board about 11" x 11" or two cardboard paper towel rolls, kitchen string, strong tape 3/4" wide or narrower (electrical...
Interested in what a spider crab eats? Want to see a sea star up close? Curious about what a horseshoe crab does with that long tail? Grab a snack and join human museum staff members Javier and Ryan as they spend thirty minutes feeding, interacting with, and discussing these amazing animals. This event is free and will be hosted on the Zoom webinar platform.
Register by 1:00 pm on August 4. After registering, participants will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to participate using Zoom.
This even is free and open to the public, but registration...
Come explore the amazing world of insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, virtually, at the museum! During the live Zoom sessions, see a tarantula up close, help find millipedes, and listen to the hiss of a giant cockroach. Complete your own investigations at home as you learn how to collect and study creepy crawlies. A small packet of special collecting materials will be sent to your home to help with your discoveries.
Additional supplies needed: An empty clear plastic jar with a lid and holes for insect collecting (for example, a cleaned peanut butter or mayonnaise jar);...
Investigate the ins and outs of skeletons through a virtual museum experience. Using observations of skulls, bones, and live animals, we will explore how animals use their skeletons for support, protection, and movement, and see how bones and fossils can help us solve ancient mysteries. Extend the fun at home with daily activities. A small packet of materials will be sent to your home upon registration.
Additional supplies needed: Thin cardboard-like poster board about 11" x 11" or two cardboard paper towel rolls, kitchen string, strong tape 3/4" wide or narrower (electrical...
Ponds are one of many beautiful features of the Arnold Arboretum’s ecosystem and landscape. The Bradley Rosaceous Collection garden is the setting for three eco-rich ponds—Dawson, Faxon, and Rehder—named for former Arboretum staff. Photographer Bruce Wilson brings his now practiced eye to the discovery of shadows, reflections, visitor interaction, and flora in those ponds, as well as in an urban pond in Newton. His pond images complement the trees, emphasize the subtle or saturated colors of water, and capture interactions between visitors and the scenes of rich pondlife.
Dig into Earth Science with this virtual museum experience. Explore volcanoes, crystals, and fossils! During the live Zoom sessions, experiment with “lava,” solve a sandy mystery, and see real museum specimens. Continue your investigations at home as you grow crystals, collect rocks, and make your own fossils! A small packet of special materials will be sent to your home to help with your discoveries.
Additional supplies needed: An empty clear plastic jar with a lid (for example, a cleaned peanut butter or mayonnaise jar), a handful of small rocks (will be used for an activity...
Dig into Earth Science with this virtual museum experience. Explore volcanoes, crystals, and fossils! During the live Zoom sessions, experiment with “lava,” solve a sandy mystery, and see real museum specimens. Continue your investigations at home as you grow crystals, collect rocks, and make your own fossils! A small packet of special materials will be sent to your home to help with your discoveries.
Additional supplies needed: An empty clear plastic jar with a lid (for example, a cleaned peanut butter or mayonnaise jar), a handful of small rocks (will be used for an activity...
Come explore the amazing world of insects, spiders, and other invertebrates, virtually, at the museum! During the live Zoom sessions, see a tarantula up close, help find millipedes, and listen to the hiss of a giant cockroach. Complete your own investigations at home as you learn how to collect and study creepy crawlies. A small packet of special collecting materials will be sent to your home to help with your discoveries.
Additional supplies needed: An empty clear plastic jar with a lid and holes for insect collecting (for example, a cleaned peanut butter or mayonnaise jar);...
Join the Harvard Museum of Natural History for a public lecture with Susan Alberts, Robert F. Durden Professor of Biology and Evolutionary Anthropology at Duke University.
The social environment—both in early life and adulthood—has major effects on human health and survival. But how and why does the social environment get “under the skin” to also affect our physical health? Susan Alberts pursues this question by studying wild baboons in Kenya. Baboons, like humans, evolved as savannah dwellers. They rely on social relationships to solve problems and—like humans...
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge
Explore the wondrous world of fungi! Join Harvard students for a closer look at the mushrooms, yeasts, and molds found in gardens, forests, and labs—even in our own refrigerators. This is an opportunity to investigate fungal diversity and participate in hands-on activities led by Harvard students.