Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a paleontologist? Celebrate National Fossil Day—an event organized by the National Park Service—with Harvard paleontologists! Take a close look at museum fossils and learn how they are used to help solve mysteries about ancient life. What amazing creatures lived together in ancient oceans? How do fossil tracks, traces, and burrows help us understand how extinct animals lived? How can we reconstruct an animal from just its bones? How did dinosaurs get so big? Bring your curiosity and questions to this online event for kids and families!
What might your life be like if you spent half your day on land and the other half in the ocean? How would you hunt for food if you were only a few inches long? Is one type of snake really all that different from another? Get the answers to these questions and more as human museum staffers Javier and Ryan introduce you to several live animals. Each month we will discuss a different theme while feeding and interacting with some of the museum’s incredible animals!
Reptiles have lived on Earth for millions of years and over that time have evolved some amazing characteristics and...
Arnold Arboretum (125 Arborway, Boston) & American Repertory Theater
Visitors are invited to experience the natural beauty of the Arnold Arboretum on an outdoor, self-guided journey that centers resilience, healing, wellness, and joy. This collaboration between the American Repertory Theater and the Arboretum features multi-genre audio plays for various ages, interactive movement maps, and pop-up performances, all set against the 281-acre backdrop of one of the jewels of Boston’s Emerald Necklace.
The Arboretum is open daily, sunrise to sunset. Visitors entering via the Arborway, Bussey Street, Forest Hills, Centre Street, Walter Street, Peters...
Amanda Vincent, the 2021 Indianapolis Prize winner, has dedicated her career to understanding and advocating for seahorses, which serve as a flagship species for a wide range of marine conservation issues. She is credited with bringing the world’s attention to the 44 known species of seahorses and with developing a collaborative approach to marine conservation that is also improving the status of many other marine fishes, such as sharks, rays, groupers, and eels. Hear how her determination and optimism is saving not only these iconic sea creatures but also our world’s oceans.
The Harvard Museum of Natural History inspires college students and life-long learners to explore a myriad of scientific and creative pursuits. In this program, a group of professionals discuss how their experiences in the museum inspired their careers in science communication and storytelling, while they share images and videos of their favorite museum specimens and stories.
Presented in collaboration with the Harvard University Chapter of Storywish, a student-run organization that empowers chronically ill children to read, write, and share their own...
Are you curious about what fossils tell us about life on Earth—and how dinosaurs and other ancient animals, in turn, awaken our imaginations to create true and imagined tales? Come along on a journey to find out! The adventure will kick off with children’s book author Elizabeth Shreeve, reading and sharing surprising secrets from her newest book, Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas (Candlewick Press, 2021). Elizabeth will make connections between the story of life on Earth and fossils that can be seen in the museum. Harvard College student and...
While most people agree that sex differences in human behavior exist, they disagree about the reasons. But the science is clear: testosterone is a potent force in human society, driving the bodies and behavior of the sexes apart. As Carole Hooven shows in her book T: The Story of Testosterone, the Hormone that Dominates and Divides Us (Henry Holt & Company, 2021), it does so in concert with genes and culture to produce a vast variety of male and female behavior. And, crucially, the fact that many sex...
As the world has sought to understand the causes and impacts of climate change, the topic has long been situated within the domain of science. In the 21st century, data, studies, reports, and academic/technical discourses have been the central mechanisms by which we learn about and process climate change: its consequences, our roles, and possible solutions. In recent years, however, artists and cultural institutions have developed a powerful interest in the topic and begun to employ myriad strategies by which to explore, draw attention to, and process it. There is an evolving...
Explore the rich diversity of frogs by observing and sketching 3D models printed from Harvard’s research collections. Artist and educator, Erica Beade, will introduce techniques for achieving accurate shapes and capturing volume in your drawings, while herpetologist and researcher, Dr. Mara Laslo, will explain how evolution has generated their amazing diversity. Groups will be limited to twelve, allowing ample time for questions and discussion.
Explore the beauty and variety of plant forms with pencil and paper. Taught by a scientific illustrator, the emphasis in this online workshop will be on close observation and realistic representation. We will explore a range of techniques for achieving more accurate drawings and will delve into contour, gesture, foreshortening, and shading to create volume and depth. Groups will be limited to twelve, allowing ample time for individual feedback. All skill levels are welcome.
Capture the beauty of birds with pencil and paper in this online workshop. We will explore avian anatomy, step-by-step methods for developing bird drawings, and techniques for drawing feather textures. Groups will be limited to twelve, allowing ample time for individual feedback. All skill levels are welcome.
What might your life be like if you spent half your day on land and the other half in the ocean? How would you hunt for food if you were only a few inches long? Is one type of snake really all that different from another? Get the answers to these questions and more as human museum staffers Javier and Ryan introduce you to several live animals. Each month we will discuss a different theme while feeding and interacting with some of the museum’s incredible animals!
Predators come in all sizes. Imagine that you are only a few inches long. How would you get around, hunt for food,...
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.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Join us for a free, 90-minute walk through the Arboretum! Tour seasonal plant highlights and learn about Arboretum history from a trained docent. The walk is geared toward adults, and starts from the kiosk in front of the Hunnewell Building at 125 Arborway.
Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway, Boston
Join us for a free, 90-minute walk through the Arboretum! Tour seasonal plant highlights and learn about Arboretum history from a trained docent. The walk is geared toward adults, and starts from the kiosk in front of the Hunnewell Building at 125 Arborway.
