Harvard Museum of Natural History

12/13/2024

Tomorrow Harvard scientist Melissa Mai (Holbrook Lab, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology) will be the speaker for our Saturday series: Science Spotlights!

From 2-2:30pm tomorrow Melissa will talk about how some plants have adapted to handle extra salt, including a shrub that actually "sweats"! https://tinyurl.com/SciSpotlightsShrubs

Regular museum admission rates apply. 20-minute talk followed by 10-minute Q&A session.

12/11/2024

Sue Martin has been a dedicated volunteer at HMSC since 1998, working with school groups, and is currently a docent in the Glass Flowers. She says, “I am fascinated still by the artistry, accuracy, history, and beauty of the collection. My favorite model is the Bladderwort.”

On working at HMSC Sue shares, “I feel privileged to be able to volunteer at HMSC and enjoy meeting people from all over the world, and the camaraderie of the volunteers.”

We are lucky to have the help of Sue, and our other volunteers. See more stories in the new annual report: https://tinyurl.com/HMSC2024AR

12/10/2024

The fear of sharks is ingrained in our collective psyche. On Animal Rights Day we are pausing to remember how sharks are essential to the health of our oceans.

Visit our exhibition "Swimming with Sharks: A Deep Dive into Shark Biology and Behavior" to find out how to appreciate sharks not as deadly killers but as fascinating creatures—more menaced than menacing. 9am-5pm ET, 26 Oxford St, Cambridge, MA.

Photo © Jessie James

12/05/2024

We appreciate our volunteers on International Volunteer Day, and every day!

Happy International Volunteer Day! We recently launched our annual report, featuring heartfelt stories from our volunteers, and a reflection of our growth and impact over the past year. https://tinyurl.com/HMSC2024AR

Maria Collins is an HMSC volunteer with a passion for sharing what the Harvard Museum of Natural History has to offer. She says, “I get to share my love of the museum with people from around the world! Kids are easy to engage, but adults have played Guess the Skulls, and said 'that was actually really fun!'”

When we asked about her favorite items she said, “The whales! The 'hands' in the flippers, the vestigial pelvic bones, the oil-still-dripping, the sheer size... they never fail to impress.”

Join HMSC as a volunteer! https://tinyurl.com/HMSCVolunteer

12/03/2024

Happy ! Become a member https://tinyurl.com/HMSCGivingTuesday or donate https://tinyurl.com/HMSCGivingTuesdayDonate to sustain our our mission of making science, history, and culture accessible to all.

Harvard Online Membership Form

11/25/2024

Happy Mammal Monday! The Harvard Museums of Science & Culture Kids & Families group is celebrating squirrels this month. On the Harvard campus, Eastern gray squirrels can be seen frolicking about.

Wendy, the Harvard Museum of Natural History Education Director, visited the Museum of Comparative Zoology’s mammalogy collection to ask Curatorial Associate Mark Omura more about squirrels.

𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘?

• Some Eastern gray squirrels appear black due to genes that cause them to produce more melanin in their fur
• Chipmunks and groundhogs are considered ground squirrels? Can you guess another member of this group? Hint: they look really cute standing on their hind legs.
• Scientists use the name Sciuridae for the whole squirrel family (pronounced sai·ur·uh·dee)
• Long fluffy tails are helpful for balancing as tree squirrels leap from branch to branch
• Flattened tails (like ones found on the flying squirrel) help them steer while gliding

Extra credit: What squirrel can be seen in the New England Forests gallery?

Get other factoids, stories, and museum news delivered to your mailbox by signing up for the kids & families newsletter: https://tinyurl.com/HMSCKidsFamiliesSignUp

11/19/2024

Drop in this Saturday, November 23rd for Spanish Story Time and hear a book read in both Spanish and English by bilingual museum educator Javier Marin. https://tinyurl.com/HMSCSpanishStoryTime

This event is designed for families with children ages 3–8 who are Spanish speakers or learning the language. After the story, families are encouraged to join a Spanish-first exploration of museum specimens and natural history in a museum classroom. This is a safe space to practice Spanish conversation and build a community. Whether you’re fluent or just beginning to learn, everyone is welcome!

Saturday, November 23, 2:00–2:30 pm
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St, Romer Hall
Regular museum admission rates apply.

11/17/2024

What is your favorite hiking destination? Between Harvard Forest, the Trustees, and Audubon we have plenty of choices in Massachusetts. While you are out on a hike you can still see leaves falling, and can identify trees based on the shape of their leaves. Test your knowledge in New England Forests gallery!

11/15/2024

Revealing twists, turns of evolution from sprawling to upright posture.

11/10/2024

Our new Sea Monsters exhibition really sparks visitors’ imaginations. See the exhibition for yourself and share your artwork with us at the talk back board. Visit 9am-5pm. https://tinyurl.com/SeaMonstersExhibit

11/04/2024

Have you ever visited our gem and mineral gallery and wondered how crystals form, or why they often have such vibrant colors? Attend the upcoming (11/9) Saturday program "Reactions in Action! Crystal Chemistry" and learn more about what makes a crystal a crystal. https://tinyurl.com/ReactionsinChem

Harvard chemists from Harvard’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology will conduct fascinating demos. Visitors will come away appreciating crystals you can see and touch to the tiniest structures invisible to the naked eye. Recommended for ages 10 and up. Regular museum admission rates apply.

11/02/2024

Happy World Numbat Day! Despite its name, this animal is not a bat, but rather a marsupial native to Australia, also referred to as a banded anteater.

Numbats snack exclusively on termites. Come see our numbat in the Great Mammal Hall and then stop into the Arthropods gallery to visit the new Ants and Termites: Nature’s Super Organisms exhibit.

11/01/2024

Our partner museum Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology is hosting their annual Day of the Dead celebration tomorrow! Stop by and enjoy mariachi music, dancing, crafts, food, and leave a message at the altar. Regular admission rates apply.

Save the date for Saturday, November 2, when we will celebrate our annual Day of the Dead/Día de Mu***os event. Leer en español: https://tinyurl.com/PeabodyDiaDeMu***os.

Learn more about this joyful holiday, a national symbol of Mexico, and join us to:

🌺 Listen to music from Undergraduate Mariachi Véritas de Harvard and watch a dance performance from Harvard Folklorico
🌺 Decorate a sugar skull and savor traditional pan de mu**to (for an extra fee)
🌺 Make papel picado, and write a message to departed loved ones for the altar
🌺 Purchase alebrijes, Oaxacan wood carvings

Saturday, November 2, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Ave, Cambridge
Regular admission rates apply. Free parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

In collaboration with the Consulado General de México en Boston and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard

Photo by EJSP Visual - Julieta Sarmiento Photography

10/31/2024

Happy Halloween! Have you ever had that feeling when swimming that something unseen may nibble at your toes, or worse? The new exhibit Sea Monsters: Wonders of Nature and Imagination, challenges us to face our fears while learning about fascinating creepy creatures and legends that have shaped our view of the deep.

Read the Gazette article about the new exhibition: https://tinyurl.com/GazetteSeaMonsters

The exhibition is guest curated by Peter Girguis, Harvard Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology.

Photos by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

10/26/2024

What is your favorite season in New England? We may be a bit biased. 🍁😉

10/24/2024

Unfortunately, 95% of plastic packaging is not recycled. For the project “Entangled and Ingested” researcher, artist, and activist Dr. Kat Owens creates portraits of animals harmed by plastic pollution by hand sewing film plastic onto canvas.

At our FREE ArtsThursdays event tonight she will collaborate with visitors to create a community art piece. Visitors will pick up a template and sew film plastics onto their base (think like a quilt square). After the event, Kat will combine all the squares into a single art piece – featuring a marine animal impacted by plastic. Learn more about the event and free parking: https://tinyurl.com/ArtsThursdaysSeaMonsters

10/23/2024

Senior integrative biology concentrator spots 121 species during research, teaching intensive in Amazon.

10/22/2024

There are about 2 trillion cell divisions in your body, facilitated by a tiny but mighty molecular machine: the mitotic spindle.

Join Harvard scientist Maya Waarts, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard, the Needleman Lab, this coming Saturday as she guides visitors through what we know about the spindle. Is it soft? Is it squishy? Learn about all the science experiments that help answer this question! https://tinyurl.com/SciSpotlightsMicroMachines

Saturday, October 26, 2:00-2:30 pm
20-minute talk followed by 10-minute Q&A session. Recommended for ages 10 and up.
Regular museum admission rates apply.