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Harvard Museum of Natural History

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Protecting the World’s Penguins

Geological Lecture Hall 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

Join Dr. Pablo Borboroglu, the 2023 Indianapolis Prize Winner for animal conservation, as he recounts his lifelong journey to save penguins. Dr. Borboroglu will highlight the challenges of conservation work, from protecting 32 million acres of ocean and coastal habitat to cofounding the Global Penguin Society, an international conservation coalition for the world’s penguin species. Hear about the risks and rewards he has experienced while trying to save penguins in some of nature’s wildest places.

Soil to Foil: Aluminum and the Quest for Industrial Sustainability

Haller Hall 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth’s crust. It is also ubiquitous in the modern world, from aircraft to soda cans. Today, the efficiency with which we use—and reuse—aluminum is vital to addressing key environmental challenges and understanding humanity’s fraught relationship with the earth. In Soil to Foil (Columbia University Press, 2023), Saleem Ali tells the extraordinary story of aluminum.

Science Spotlights: Fantastic Flowers and Their Many Forms

Harvard Museum of Natural History 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

Hear from speaker Andrea Appleton, Harvard Kramer Lab Graduate Student, on the importance of the evolution of flowers and the breadth of their diversity. Flowers exhibit extreme variation in their shape, size, color, and even the type of parts they are made of, but how? Let’s break some of the coolest flowers down to their basic components and talk about how floral variation has evolved. Learn more about this important topic. Event recommended for ages 10 and up.

Drawing Plants and Flowers in Colored Pencil

Explore the beauty and variety of plants using colored pencils. This course will focus on a diverse range of techniques for using colored pencils to capture flowers, leaves, fruits, and vegetables, from quick monochrome sketching to richly layered, full-color images.

I ♥ Science

Harvard Museum of Natural History 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

Break out of the winter doldrums and let your inner scientist loose. Meet amateur and professional scientists who study and collect fossils, mushrooms, and meteorites. Talk with experts who build telescopes, track invasive species, and grow carnivorous plants. Try your hand at finding bugs or exploring sand. Craft a piece of art from polarized light. Watch a live ice sculpture demonstration in front of the museum. This popular annual event has something for everyone and is appropriate for children and adults of all ages.

Regular museum admission rates apply.

Free parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

Landscape Sketching

Landscapes are an appealing subject for drawings, but it can be difficult to know where to start. In this program we will learn how to select a landscape, create a sense of depth and volume, and use a variety of marks to capture a dynamic variety of textures.

ArtsThursdays: Edible Insects and More!

Harvard Museum of Natural History 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

Join us for a free, fun night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture. Come with a date, come with friends, or make new friends while strolling through the galleries. Explore the new exhibit: Ants and Termites: Nature’s Super Organisms and participate in fun activities.

National Fossil Day

Harvard Museum of Natural History 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

What treasures are found in the Harvard University paleontology collections? Meet Harvard paleontologists to find out! See their favorite fossils, learn about their research, and ask them your questions. Join us to celebrate National Fossil Day with short talks and table-top presentations for all ages.

Regular museum admission rates apply. Presented in collaboration with the Stephanie Pierce Lab of Vertebrate Paleontology and the Javier Ortega-Hernández Lab of Invertebrate Paleontology. Free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage.

ArtsThursdays: Sea Monsters

Harvard Museum of Natural History 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

Join us for a free, fun night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture! Come with a date, come with friends, or make new friends while strolling through the galleries. Visit the exhibition Sea Monsters: Wonders of Nature and Imagination and explore the allure of serpents, krakens, and other mysterious creatures of the deep sea. Let your imagination run wild and create a felt sea “monster” with Alex Makes Art. Suggested ages 10 and up. Guided by visual artist Kat Owens, participate in the creation of a community art piece, and reflect on the impact of plastics on marine animals. Meet scientists from Harvard’s Bellono Lab to learn about the behavior and unique characteristics of octopuses. Learn about unique, unusual—and even spooky—marine specimens in the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Purchase drinks at the cash bar (valid government ID required to consume alcoholic beverages). Embark on a scavenger hunt to find sea monsters in the museum! Free and open to the public.

Exploring the World of Rot

Harvard Museum of Natural History 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

We may not always notice, but our world is rotten. Rot—the process of breaking down once-living materials of our planet—is, in fact, a major part of what makes our world livable. Join environmental educator Britt Crow-Miller for a fun, curiosity-filled and hands-on journey through her book, World of Rot (Storey Publishing, 2024). In this one-hour session, participants will learn the what, where, when, and why of decomposition and get up close to some of the organisms at work in nature’s recycling system. Get ready to meet some hungry fungi, slimy slugs, and wiggly worms–some of these will be alive!

Sea Monsters on Maps: Myth, Mystery, and Marine Life

Geological Lecture Hall 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA, United States

For centuries, sea monsters have adorned maps, serving as both warnings and wonders of the unknown ocean. These artistic depictions reflected early attempts to understand the deep, blending legend with reality. From krakens to serpents, cartographers illustrated creatures based on sailors’ tales, inspiring fear, and curiosity. Over time, these mythical beasts influenced marine biology, shaping early studies of unknown species. Join us as we explore the fascinating history of sea monsters on maps and their role in unraveling the mysteries of the ocean.