Warm wishes from the Wagner staff to our wonderful community - have a happy holiday season and we look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
THIS WEDNESDAY, Sept 21, 6pm WEEKNIGHTS AT THE WAGNER is back!
"Flowers, Flies and Fermentation: the Pollination Ecology of Pawpaw" with Dr. Kate Goodrich, Associate Professor in the Department of Biology at Widener University
Come join us IN-PERSON at the Wagner for this evening talk to learn about the pollination ecology of the native Pawpaw! The pawpaw (Asimina triloba) is a fascinating local tree that produces the largest native fruits in North America. Goodrich is a botanist and a chemical ecologist, whose research focuses primarily on volatile chemical blends (aka scents) used by plants to communicate with other organisms in the environment. Apparently the pawpaw is really good at that! Come find out more & maybe even get to see our 3 pawpaw trees in our Teaching Garden! The video is of the Pawpaw tree in our garden and shows how we processed the fruit, turning the pulp into pawpaw butter. For the most recent batch we are planning on turning it into icecream!
https://loom.ly/8UAyTxQ
Season Greetings!
We are grateful for having our Wagner community & look forward to seeing you in some form or fashion in the New Year!
Thank you for your support and have a happy holiday!
Images: The Wagner staff in their holiday finery enjoying holiday cheer!
Marking Time in Nature: The Quarantine Herbarium in Historical Perspective
Historian of science Dr. Elaine Ayers's crowdsourced Quarantine Herbarium adapts 19th-century botanical collecting for a digital, pandemic present.
A Weeknights at the Wagner online lecture, July 8, 2020.
Launched at the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Quarantine Herbarium is a participatory project designed to connect people to the plants growing in their immediate vicinities: to the grasses, weeds, trees, and kitchen plants that we often overlook in our busy everyday lives. Intended to mark the passage of time during a season of socially distanced walks, victory gardens, and escapes to nature, the project offers a low-stakes, open-ended way for anyone, regardless of skill level, to contribute to a floral map and diary of how we interact with our environments when we’re stuck inside. The Quarantine Herbarium now holds over 250 images of plants collected all over the world, and it’s growing day by day.
Ayers contextualizes this project within the history of botanical exchange networks that inspired it, drawing attention to the ways in which nineteenth century men and women—many of whom were considered “hobbyists”—collected, preserved, and built communities around the plants in their local environments. By looking outside of more formalized professional botanical institutions and by thinking critically about the history of “citizen science,” we can begin to untangle the systems of inequality built into the plant sciences that have elevated some voices and silenced others while making a place for the oftentimes unnamed contributors to environmental knowledge systems.
About Elaine Ayers, Ph.D.
Elaine Ayers teaches in the Program in Museum Studies at New York University and holds a Ph.D. in the History of Science from Princeton University. She works on the intersections of art, science, and collecting in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and is currently writing her first book, Strange Beauty: The Art and Science of Botany in the Nineteenth Century
Ending the Anguish of Spotted Lanternfly Infestations
Learn how to identify and control the Spotted Lanternfly at all stages of its life cycle—and why that matters with Amy Korman, Ph.D. of Penn State Extension.
A Weeknights at the Wagner online lecture, June 24, 2020
How do I kill Spotted Lanternfly nymphs? Should I sticky trap or spray my trees? What does a Spotted Lanternfly eat? As one of the most recent insects to be introduced to the United States, the Spotted Lanternfly is particularly challenging because of the lack of basic knowledge of this insect. In this talk, Amy Korman, Ph.D. Horticulture Extension Educator with Penn State Extension, covers the latest news of basic Spotted Lanternfly biology, its impact on the landscape, evaluating methods of control that homeowners can consider, and a review of what the research world has revealed about this insect.
About Amy Korman:
Amy Korman is a Lancaster County, PA native and a graduate of Penn Manor High School. She received her B.S. (biology) from Juniata College and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees (entomology) from North Dakota State University and Louisiana State University, respectively. Commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army, Korman spent over 23 years as an active duty Army entomologist and served in various capacities in military entomology and administration. She joined the Penn State Extension Horticulture/Green Industry Team following her military retirement and is a horticulture educator based in Northampton and Lehigh Counties.
Make Your Own Seed Bombs for Earth Day
Seed bombs are a fun and meaningful way to celebrate Earth Day. Seed bombs become wildflowers for pollinators to visit. In this video, Wagner's children's education team (and children) teach you how to make your own. This activity is for all ages, but an adult needs to help with the blender or food processor step.
You will need:
• 3-6 pieces of newspaper or scrap paper
• 2 cups of water
• Seeds (preferably native wildflowers, but any seeds will work)
• Blender or food processor
• Mixing bowl
• Strainer
Directions:
1. Tear up all paper and put it in blender or food processor.
2. Add 2 cups of water to blender or food processor and blend until the paper is in tiny pieces and mixed well with the water.
3. Place a strainer over a small bowl and pour paper mixture into the strainer. Allow to sit for 5 minutes while water strains out.
4. Transfer drained paper mixture to a bowl. Mix in seeds.
5. Press mixture into balls, squeezing out excess water as you go.
6. Once you have formed all of the mixture into balls, use a towel to press on each seed bomb to remove any excess moisture.
7. Allow seed bombs to dry for 24-48 hours.
8. Toss your seed bombs! Some target ideas: bare dirt in your yard, vacant lots, and roadsides.
We tried to ring in the new year early today with our ringing rock...it didn't go as anticipated. (Maybe we should have waited till midnight?)
We wish you a new year of resounding happiness! We are closed on New Year's Day but resume normal hours on Thursday, January 2nd.
Hopping with Spotted Lanternflies
The Spotted Lanternfly has entered the green oasis of the Wagner's yard. Among our lovely trees is a large Ailanthus altissima, or Tree-of-heaven. Tree-of-heaven is both invasive and historical, having been purposely introduced to the U.S. in the Philadelphia area from China/Taiwan in 1784. While the Spotted Lanternfly arrived from China over two centuries later, Tree-of-heaven is its preferred tree. Site Manager Don Azuma caught these Lanternflies on ours today and stopped en route to the freezer to give an up-close view.
Stop the Spotted Lanternfly: https://extension.psu.edu/spotted-lanternfly
A Raccoon Visits the Wagner
We had a rare daytime visitor in our yard yesterday: a trash panda! While unexpected, it's normal for raccoons to be active during the day. They may be finding a new sleeping spot or looking for food, especially if they're caring for babies. You should only be worried about a raccoon out in daytime if it is acting sick or aggressive, or if you have an unprotected bag of tasty trash nearby.
Hanging a Freshly Cleaned Tarpon
Fin-al Friday at the Wagner: the second tarpon, freshly cleaned, rejoined its pair on the museum wall. This tarpon was owned by Godfrey S. Mahn, a prominent Philadelphia cigar manufacturer and seller in the early 20th century. Many of Mahn's cigars came from Key West, as did this tarpon.
Behind the Scenes: Cleaning a Wagner Tarpon
Site manager Don Azuma spent part of this week cleaning one of our tarpons. The label for this tarpon reads, "This Tarpon weighed 157 lbs. and was 6'5" long. It was caught with a rod by Mr. Amos R. Little in April 1893 [in Charlotte Harbor, FL], and was presented by him to the Institute." This is (by a little) the smaller of the Wagner's two tarpons!
Entomological Musings: the Wondrous World of Insects
Our first fall free course starts tonight! Come to the Fishtown Community Branch of the Free Library at 6:15 p.m. for the first class of "Entomological Musings: the Wondrous World of Insects." Taught by Professor Greg Cowper, this free, adult-level class will meet Mondays from 6:15 - 7:45 p.m. through November 5th. Register by filling out a form at the first class.
More information: http://www.wagnerfreeinstitute.org/edu_adult_sched.shtml
End-of-Year Egg Drop at Kearney School!
Last week was the end-of-year celebrations for our GeoKids and Science Nature and Art in Philadelphia (SNAP) classes! We celebrated another year of partnering with three Philadelphia public schools to enhance students' science learning. Thank you to our Saint Joseph's University student Fellows!
Science On Tap: the Physics of Baseball
Thanks to everyone who came out to Science on Tap - Philadelphia: The Physics of Baseball on Monday! Here are some of the highlights from Scott Paulson's talk. Join us on June 11th for the next Science On Tap at National Mechanics!
Want to learn more about the physics of baseball? The Exploratorium has a great page with explanations and activities: http://www.exploratorium.edu/baseball/index.html
Spring Chickens!
Chicks are often associated with spring holidays like Easter because they symbolize this time of year as a time when both life on earth and the earth itself are reborn. They're also great for teaching life cycles to GeoKids! And they're so cute!
Happy Easter, Chag Sameach, and enjoy any of the other holidays that celebrate spring!
Wondrous Impalement of the Hymenoptera
#FavoritesFriday with Adam!
