Membership Department Central Park West at 79th Street New York, New York 10024-5192 amnh.org
VOL. 35 NO. 2 MARCH/APRIL 2010 MEMBERS’ NEWSLETTER
General Information MUSEUM SHOPS The following Museum Shops are open during HOURS regular Museum hours: Please join us for Museum: Daily, 10 am–5:45 pm The Museum Shop (first and second floors) The Museum is closed on Thanksgiving and DinoStore (fourth floor) a Members-only Christmas. The Shop for Earth & Space (Rose Center, Space Show: Every half hour, 10:30 am–4:30 pm lower level) reception for the major except on Wednesdays, when first show is at 11 am. Cosmic Shop (Rose Center, second floor) new exhibition Research Library: Tuesday–Thursday, 2–5:30 pm Silk Road Shop (third floor) Hours are subject to change. Online Shop (amnhshop.com) ENTRANCES PHONE NUMBERS During Museum hours, Members may enter Museum Information 212-769-5100 RACE TO through the subway (lower level), Central Park Membership Office 212-769-5606 West at 79th Street (second floor), the Rose Central Reservations 212-769-5200 Center/81st Street, and the Columbus Avenue AMNH Expeditions 800-462-8687 THE END OF entrances. The 77th Street entrance is open for Communications 212-769-5800 events and programs. Development 212-769-5151 TRANSPORTATION AND PARKING Education 212-769-5304 THE EARTH Subway: B (weekdays) or C to 81st Street; Event & Conference Services 212-769-5350 e
1 to 79th Street Library Services 212-769-5400 g d i 7 10 11 104 79 Museum Shop 800-671-7035 FRIDAY, MAY 28 r
Bus: M ,M ,M , or M to th Street; b
M79 to Central Park West Patrons Circle 212-769-5153 m a C Planetarium Information 212-769-5900 Parking Garage: Open daily, 8 am–11 pm; enter f o 81 Planned Giving Office 212-769-5119 Exhibition opens from West st Street. Members receive a y t i
discounted rate of $10 if entering after 4 pm. To Volunteer Office 212-769-5566 s exclusively to members r e
receive this rate, you must show your Membership Website amnh.org v i LIZARDS & SNAKES: ALIVE! Card or event ticket when exiting the garage. n at 4 pm. Reception U ,
For more information, call 212-313-7275. e t
will be held in the u t i
FOOD SERVICE t
s RETURNS MARCH 6 n
Museum Food Court: Daily, 11 am–4:45 pm Theodore Roosevelt I
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(lower level) c r
Rotunda from 6 to 8 pm. a
Café on One: Daily, 11 am–4:45 pm (first floor) e s Starlight Café: Saturday and Sunday, e R
Kindly RSVP r 11 am–4:45 pm (first floor) a l o
Café on 4: Daily, 11 am–4:45 pm (fourth floor) P
to 212-769-5606. t Hours are subject to change. t o c S
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Museum Notes
OPENING roads, the subject of this compelling A 2010 Celebration Lizards & Snakes: Alive! photo exhibition featuring more than In 2010 the Museum will celebrate the 35 images of cliff-side passages, 10th anniversary of the opening of Opens Saturday, March 6 suspension bridges, and other road the Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Gallery 77, first floor segments set against stunning Rose Center for Earth and Space and Members’ tickets are $12 adults, Andean landscapes. the 75th anniversary of the opening $7.50 children Courtesy of the Consulate General of Peru in New York. of the original Hayden Planetarium. Featuring more than 60 live lizards and The presentation of Highway of An Empire at the Visit amnh.org throughout the year snakes from five continents, Lizards & American Museum of Natural History is made possible for details about upcoming events. Snakes: Alive! introduces visitors to a by the generosity of the Arthur Ross Foundation. diversity of legged and legless creatures HAYDEN PLANETARIUM and showcases their remarkable adap- Alfred Russel Wallace Cabinet Discover the secrets of the Great Lakes in the new IMAX feature at the Museum. | © Gary and Joanie McGuffin tations, from projectile tongues, deadly Grand Gallery, first floor ISAAC ASIMOV Lizards and Snakes: Alive! showcases amazing reptile MEMORIAL DEBATE venom, and amazing camouflage to adaptations. | © AMNH/R. Mickens Free with Museum admission in collaboration with the California Academy of CELEBRATE A CHILD’S BIRTHDAY surprising modes of locomotion. Moon, Mars and Beyond: Sciences, San Francisco; GOTO INC, Tokyo, Japan; A Victorian rosewood cabinet that Where Next For the Papalote • Museo del Niño, Mexico City, Mexico; and AT THE MUSEUM Lizards & Snakes: Alive! is organized by the American The Butterfly Conservatory: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, houses green-jeweled beetles, extinct Manned Space Program? Linda Kaye’s Partymakers will throw Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org), Tropical Butterflies Alive in Winter Washington, D.C. moths, and more collected by the Monday, March 15 an unforgettable bash for kids ages in collaboration with the Fernbank Museum of Whitney Hall of Oceanic Birds Journey to the Stars was created by the American Natural History, Atlanta, and the San Diego Natural 19th-century naturalist and 7:30 pm Museum of Natural History, with the major support four and up. Choose from Dinosaur Members’ tickets are $12 adults, History Museum. contemporary of Charles Darwin is Members' tickets are $13.50 and partnership of NASA, Science Mission Directorate, Discoveries, Safari Adventure, Heliophysics Division. Presented with appreciation to $7.50 children now on display. Underwater Treasures, and Cosmic Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland. Director of the Hayden Planetarium Made possible through the generous sponsorship of A perennial favorite, the Butterfly Blast-Off, which includes an option to Neil deGrasse Tyson will moderate. Lockheed Martin Corporation. Conservatory lets visitors mingle with Spider Silk Textile see Journey to the Stars. Parties are an CURRENTLY ON VIEW This year’s subject: should NASA return And proudly sponsored by Accenture. up to 500 live, free-flying butterflies Grand Gallery, first floor exclusive benefit for Contributor and to the Moon or proceed to Mars? Super-computing resources provided by The Texas Traveling the Silk Road: Ancient in an enclosed habitat that replicates Free with Museum admission Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of higher-level Members. For more Pathway to the Modern World a lush, tropical environment. Made possible through the generosity of the Texas at Austin through the TeraGrid, a project of the information, visit partymakers.com or This spectacular and extremely rare Asimov family and friends. National Science Foundation. Gallery 3, third floor textile—the only one of its kind on call 212-288-7112. Free for Members Highway of An Empire: display anywhere in the world— was IMAX MOVIE COVER: The Eastern green mamba is among more The Great Inca Road This intriguing exhibition transports woven from golden-colored silk thread Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Theater than 60 live animals featured in Lizards and Snakes: IMAX Corridor Alive! | © AMNH/R. Mickens visitors to one of the greatest trading produced by one million spiders in Members' tickets are $12 adults, Free with Museum admission routes of all time, showcasing the Madagascar. The contemporary textile $7.50 children goods, technologies, and cultures The Inca Empire owed its reach and took four years to make using a SAVE A TREE painstaking technique developed Mysteries of the Great Lakes The current issue of Rotunda is now available from four representative cities: Xi’an, power to an extensive network of online! Download it at amnh.org. If you’d China’s Tang Dynasty capital;Turfan, more than 100 years ago. Deep blue and beautiful, these five like to stop receiving paper copies, please email [email protected]. a verdant oasis; Samarkand, home of freshwater lakes hold the key to prosperous merchants; and ancient untold stories—and strange Baghdad, a hub of commerce and phenomena—explored in this scholarship. Live performances exquisite giant-screen film. To watch organized by the Silk Road Project take the trailer, visit amnh.org. ISSN 0194-6110 place in the exhibition every Sunday Stars are forming in stellar nurseries in the Orion USPS Permit #472-650 For showtimes, visit amnh.org or Vol. 35, No. 2, March/April 2010 afternoon. Visit amnh.org/silkroad for Nebula. | © AMNH call 212-769-5100. Lewis W. Bernard, Chairman more information. Ellen V. Futter, President Traveling the Silk Road is organized by the American SPACE SHOW Lisa J. Gugenheim, Senior Vice President of Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org), MORE FOR KIDS Institutional Advancement, Strategic Planning, Journey to the Stars and Education in collaboration with Azienda Speciale Palaexpo, Roma, Louise Adler, Director of Membership Italy and Codice. Idée per la cultura srl, Torino, Italy; the Members’ tickets are $12 adults, Sleepover Program National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australia and $7.50 children A Night at the Museum Rotunda is published bimonthly,except for a combined Art Exhibitions Australia; the Museum of Science, Please visit amnh.org/sleepovers for issue in July/August/September and a single issue in Taichung, Taiwan and United Daily News, Taipei,Taiwan. This spectacular Space Show sends December,by the Membership Office of the American more details. Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at The Presenting Sponsor of Traveling the Silk Road is visitors through time and space to 79th Street, New York,NY 10024-5192. MetLife Foundation. experience the life cycle of the stars. This after-hours extravaganza thrills Phone: 212-769-5606.Web address: amnh.org. Additional support has been provided by Museum Membership of $70 per year and higher Produced by the American Museum of Natural Museum fans ages 7 to 13. The includes a subscription to Rotunda. © 2010 American Mary and David Solomon. History, the Rose Center for Earth and Space, and the evening includes a flashlight tour Museum of Natural History.Periodical postage paid The Silk Road Project residency is generously supported Hayden Planetarium. and wraps up with a campout among at New York,NY,and at additional mailing offices. by Rosalind P.Walter. Postmaster: please send address changes to Rotunda, Journey to the Stars was developed by the American Museum icons. Membership Office, AMNH, at the above address. Visitors check out the live silk worm exhibit in Traveling the Silk Road.| © AMNH/D. Finnin Museum of Natural History, New York (www.amnh.org),
2 | rotunda | amnh.org amnh.org | rotunda | 3 Where the Bees Are... KNOW YOUR CITY BEES
For the Great Pollinator Project, broad categories of bees: bumble would-be New York City bee watchers bees, honey bees, green metallic bees, are asked to complete a brief carpenter bees, and “others” for the orientation, transplant an annual rest. (See “Know Your City Bees.”) sunflower and six native plants to a Aside from mapping bee patterns sunny location, and watch for bees for across the city, another goal of the half an hour at least once every two Great Pollinator Project is to increase weeks, then submit their observations public awareness of bees. online. If a volunteer doesn’t have— or can’t coax a neighbor into letting “When you talk of bees, people think Bumble Bees Green Metallic Bees of the honey bee and maybe the them use—a yard, terrace, patio, Large and fuzzy, Bombus species can Think green: this category includes rooftop, community garden, or other bumble bee,” says Johnson.“But over be distinguished by their banding all green bees, including those with suitable outdoor spot for the plants, the years, Museum scientists have pattern. This male Bombus perplexus green heads and black abdomens or they are encouraged to participate documented more than 225 species of was photographed last summer in green heads and striped abdomens, by visiting public gardens or parks bees in the five boroughs.” Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. like this female Agapostemon virescens. and record observations there. There are more than 19,000 species of (Information about suitable locales, bees worldwide, according to John as well as orientation dates, This male carpenter bee was photographed in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. | © John Ascher Ascher, manager of the Museum’s Bee can be found online at Database Project, who worked with greatpollinatorproject.org.) colleagues around the world to Mapping Pollinators with the Museum Identifying bee species can be compile all valid bee names for the World Bee Checklist (available at his spring, stop and smell the implications for the ecosystem. difficult, sometimes requiring close ITIS.gov.) These include 4,000 species roses. Even better, count the Researchers are interested in how inspection of body parts such as wing in North America, 800 of which are bees on them! frequently bees visit the flowers to veins, so bee watchers are schooled in found east of the Mississippi. Some determine what plants and habitats the general characteristics of five The Museum’s Center for 28 different bee species have been T best support healthy bee populations. Honey Bees Carpenter Bees Biodiversity and Conservation (CBC), identified in one small community More bees usually lead to better in collaboration with the New York BEE WATCHING 101 garden in East Harlem alone. Compared to bumble bees, honey These huge bees have no stripes, pollination for wild plants in city City Department of Parks & Recreation, bees are lanky and lean. They can like this Xylocopa virginica spotted parks as well as for vegetables The Great Pollinator Project will use is looking for volunteer bee watchers Become an NYC Bee Watcher. be golden or dark brown. One in Queens’ Jamaica Bay Wildlife in neighborhood gardens. the data collected to carry out a land- in all five boroughs for its Great Sign up on greatpollinatorproject.org, distinguishing characteristic: Refuge, which is also a great place then follow these simple steps use analysis that will serve as an aid hairy eyes. for bird watchers. Pollinator Project this spring and “Ninety percent of flowering plants in the field: to land managers in maximizing bee summer. Now in its fourth year, the require an animal pollinator, and bees habitats. As a preliminary step, in program tracks the pollination patterns are the primary pollinator in the : Get out the sun screen. The ideal February 2009 the CBC and GNPC of New York City’s native bees with a Northeast,” says Johnson.“Different time for bee watching is on a organized a workshop that was view to conserving and improving bee bee species have unique adaptations sunny day with no wind. attended by 120 people from the Parks habitat and plant pollination. specifically for carrying pollen. : Print out a data collection sheet Department and other organizations, Butterflies, wasps, flies, and beetles so you can record the necessary “By having all those different eyes out to consider ways to improve existing also pollinate, but they are generally information. there, we are able to collect a lot more habitats. Among the topics discussed considered less efficient at moving data than we ever could ourselves,” : Choose one of the recommended were the introduction of native plants pollen around.” says Liz Johnson, CBC manager of the plants listed on the site. and the importance of nesting Metropolitan Biodiversity Program, Citizen scientists have played an : Write down the name of the plant habitats. Similar brainstorming who works on the Great Pollinator important role in other broad efforts, and the number of open flowers. sessions are in the offing, but their Project with Ed Toth, director of the including assessments of water ultimate success depends on the : Watch for 30 minutes or until five …And More Department of Parks & Recreation’s quality that relied in part on public bees have landed on the open invaluable information patiently
Other bees buzzing around New York City include leaf-cutter bees, r
Greenbelt Native Plant Center (GNPC), observations of aquatic insects. Some flower heads, recording time and gathered one volunteer bee watcher e h
wool carder bees, and giant Asian resin bees like the one above, c and Kevin Matteson, an urban surveys, like those tracking birds and type of bee. at a time. s A snapped at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. n
ecologist at Fordham University. amphibians, rely more on volunteer : h Take notes. If fewer than five bees o J ears than eyes. A recent example is The Great Pollinator Project has been partially funded Moving from flower to flower, both come, or none at all, record that © the Cricket Crawl, the first auditory by the New York City Environmental Fund. male and female bees transport too—that’s important data. insect survey in New York City, pollen, a process without which the : sponsored last fall by the Museum Remember to submit the data plants might produce fewer seeds once you've finished collecting it! To learn more about the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, visit cbc.amnh.org. and the U.S. Geological Survey. or no seeds at all, with serious
4 | rotunda | amnh.org amnh.org | rotunda | 5 For tickets, call 212-769-5200, Monday–Friday, 9 am–5 pm, or visit amnh.org. Programs are available to Members only, Please have your credit card, your Membership number, and the program name and number ready. Members’ Programs unless a non-Member price is given. All Members’ programs require advance registration.
BEHIND-THE-SCENES TOURS LOCAL WALKS & CRUISES EXPEDITIONS Behind the Scenes Foraging in Central Park Howl with the Wolves in Anthropology Saturday, March 13 MW031310 Saturday, March 20 MO032010 Thursday, March 18 Sunday, April 11 MW041110 9 am–5 pm 6:30 pm MB031810A Sunday, May 9 MW050910 $95 7 pm MB031810B 9:30–11:30 am Listen to packs of tundra, timber, and 7:30 pm MB031810C $45 each, $120 for the series arctic wolves high up on the ridge of the $35 Hundreds of fascinating and delicious Kittatinny Mountains at New Jersey’s Go behind the scenes with Scientific wild shoots, greens, roots, herbs, Lakota Wolf Preserve. On a half-mile Assistant Mary Lou Murillo and and flowers thrive in our backyards, nature walk, it will be easy to imagine See shorebirds and more at Brigantine National Wildlife Museum Technician Michael Quigley parks, and forests. As spring turns the days when the most densely Refuge. | Courtesy of Lloyd Spitalnik for a glimpse of the Anthropology to summer, environmental educator populated state in the nation was a Division’s vast collection. This tour will Steve “Wildman” Brill will lead wilderness. Cost includes transportation Birding at Brigantine focus on artifacts that highlight the three Central Park walks with a focus by private coach and lunch at The Saturday, May 15 MO051510 cultures and crafts along the Silk on foraging. Forge restaurant in Blairstown. 8:30 am–6:30 pm Road. Since 1989, the Anthropology $120 Division, with major support from the Queens for a Day National Endowment for the Saturday, April 17 MO041710 Grab your binoculars, put on your Humanities, has been preserving its Sunday, April 25 MO042510 hiking shoes, and join ornithologist collections in a database that is now 10:30 am–2:30 pm Paul Sweet for a day of birding at the accessible online. Collections Manager $45 Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge John Hansen will offer an inside look in southern New Jersey. You’ll see Pack your lunch and join geologist at this innovative program. Take a day trip to discover Queens with geologist Sidney Horenstein. | © John Roleke migrating shorebirds in breeding Sidney Horenstein for a whirlwind plumage as well as resident breeding tour that runs from the iconic Pepsi- species of the coastal salt marshes HALL TOURS on the hidden stories of specimens tree, beginning in the Gottesman Hall Cola sign to the Queensboro bridge such as herons, skimmers, and terns. and beyond. Stops include the Once Upon a Fossil that were reorganized and remounted of Planet Earth with our most distant in the 1990s. cousins—viruses, bacteria, and Noguchi Museum and the Socrates Tuesday, March 23 MH032310 Whale Watch Weekend archaea—and ending in the Spitzer Sculpture Park, an illegal dumpsite 6:30–8:30 pm Watch for timber wolves at the Lakota Wolf Preserve. | Friday, May 21– Hall of Human Origins with an over- turned outdoor museum. Cost © Jim Stein $35 FREE HALL TOURS Sunday, May 23 MD052110 view of species in the Homo genus. includes admission. $750 per person, double occupancy How do you move a 20-ton fossil? Join Things That Creep, Crawl, Magnificent Mine and $850 single occupancy Paleontology Collection Manager Carl Slither, and Sting Ireland: Fables and Some Facts Cruise New York Harbor Minerals Tour Mehling for a unique tour that focuses Saturday, March 27 MH032710 Sunday, March 14 MF031410 on Tugboat Pegasus Museum educator Jay Holmes leads an Saturday, May 1 MO050110 3–4:30 pm 3–4:30 pm Saturday, May 8 MO050810 excursion to Provincetown, Mass., to 8:30–5 pm Registration required Registration required 1-4 pm discover the ecological riches of Cape $95 $95 Cod Bay. Relax with a New England Creatures that slither, slide, wiggle, Come with Museum docent Wanda Journey back in time with Museum lobster bake on Friday evening, and squish come in all sizes, shapes, Finch and hear again, or for the first Built in 1907 to serve the waterside scientist Paul Nascimbene and visit explore charming Provincetown on and colors. Some are extinct, some time, Irish legends and the science refineries and terminals of Standard the Franklin Sterling Hill mining area Saturday morning, and enjoy two are endangered, and some thrive. (if any) behind them. Oil, tugboat Pegasus hadn’t been seen in northwestern New Jersey. You will private whale watching cruises with Join AMNH tour guide Larry Bassett on New York’s waterways in several tour an underground zinc mine to Dolphin Fleet. Also on the schedule: for a unique afternoon focusing on Northwest Coast Indians Tour years. Now, thanks to the Pegasus explore stunning minerals. At the a visit to the Mystic Aquarium and creepy creatures on display in the Sunday, May 2 MF050210 Preservation Project, this veteran is Franklin Mineral Museum, peruse an a guided bird walk. Cost includes Museum’s halls. 3–4:30 pm back in service. Join geologist Sidney extensive selection of minerals before transportation by private coach, meals Registration required Horenstein for a unique cruise that collecting at the site. Cost includes at the hotel, two boat excursions, Climbing the Tree of Life explores the nooks and crannies of Join Museum docent Berna Villiers transportation by private coach and lodging for two nights at the Sunday, April 18 MH041810 New York Harbor. for a tour of the Museum's oldest and admission. Provincetown Inn Seaside Resort. 3–4:30 pm hall, the Northwest Coast Indians Please register before May 1. Registration required Hall, which showcases research Museum docent Sasa Tomic leads a conducted during the Museum's Find out what it takes to move a T. rex. | tour that follows our evolutionary first research expedition. Please be aware that ticket sales are final. All Members’ programs go ahead, rain or shine; no refunds are issued unless the event is cancelled by AMNH. © AMNH/D. Finnin and C. Chesek
6 | rotunda | amnh.org amnh.org | rotunda | 7 Lang Science Program Seeks Kids With Passion Behind the Scenes at UNESCO Heritage Sites
en years ago, Eugene M. Lang— he UNESCO World Heritage Ankara’s historic citadels and includes who gained national attention List—a roster of 890 of the trips to the underground cities of for his 1981 promise to 61 world’s most treasured central Anatolia and snorkeling amid sixth graders in East Harlem natural and cultural underwater ruins. A visit to Istanbul’s Tproperties—reads like a traveler’s illustrious mosques and churches, Tto personally pay their college tuition if they stayed in school—established wish list: spectacular national parks, including the Hagia Sophia, caps off the Lang Science Program at the ancient ruins, and sweeping the trip. American Museum of Natural History. monuments across the globe. But “Ethiopia’s Hidden Treasures” it’s one thing to visit the sites as a Through this initiative, he hoped (October 12–22) is an extraordinary tourist and quite another to travel to increase participation in science journey through Ethiopia’s ancient by minority children and those with UNESCO experts and site cities, holy sites, and dramatic Discover World Heritage Sites in Ethiopia with AMNH managers, with the benefit of behind- from lower-income families. The mountain landscapes, accompanied Expeditions. | © ATA the-scenes access and insight into businessman-turned-philanthropist by Getu Assetu Wondimu, director conservation efforts. underwrote the new program with of National and World Heritage Sites and visits to the National and an initial $1 million grant from the That’s why AMNH Expeditions has Management. Travelers will have a Ethnographic Museums. Eugene M. Lang Foundation and been working with UNESCO’s World chance to visit the tombs of Ethiopia’s a subsequent grant of $250,000. For more information, including Heritage Centre to create unique ancient Axumite kingdom, see the detailed itineraries, please Through this innovative program, travel programs, two of which will rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, visit amnh.org/expeditions or students commit to seven years of be offered this fall. Led by UNESCO and enjoy the spectacular views of call 1-800-462-8687. coursework, which takes place on two Biology teacher Bobby Habig discusses primate behavior with Lang Scholars. | © AMNH/R. Mickens specialist Junaid Sorosh-Wali, Simien Mountains National Park. Saturdays a month during the school “A Turkish Odyssey” (September 22– Final days in Addis Ababa include a For a list of World Heritage Sites, October 4) begins with a visit to dinner with a paleoanthropologist please visit whc.unesco.org. year and three full weeks in the scenes, go on field trips, and design Lang Scholars have been accepted to summer, with the option of additional and carry out their own experiments. highly competitive New York City high after-school classes and career work- They are also encouraged to schools, including Bronx Science and shops toward the end of the program. participate in the Museum’s national Stuyvesant High Schools. Those who Subjects include major areas of Young Naturalist Awards competition. successfully complete the program Museum research, including So far, Lang Scholars have won two also receive invaluable help in invertebrate zoology, vertebrate Young Naturalist awards, for studies applying for college, including SAT Save the Date: The Museum Dance on April 15 zoology, genetics, geology, paleontology, of turtles in Central Park and earth- preparation classes. Lang alumni have physical anthropology, and astrophysics, worms in Prospect Park. Another gone on to colleges including Bard with some courses tracked to Scholar, who studied parrots in Pelham College, Brown University, and Cornell. temporary exhibitions at the Bay, was recognized as a finalist. But perhaps the experience of the Museum. The Lang Scholars meet and program is its own reward, judging or more than four decades, Acceptance to the program is merit- work with scientists behind the from comments made by current the Museum Dance has based. Applicants are interviewed, as students to focus group interviewers captured the imagination of 800 are their parents, and asked to submit from Bank Street College and SRI stylish New Yorkers in their school transcripts and a “shoebox F20s and 30s who enjoy a spectacular International last summer.“Here diorama” on a scientific theme. The we can be creative,” said one.“People evening of dinner, dancing, fun, and latter, says Lang Science Program are here because they want to be,” philanthropy at the Museum. Coordinator Bobby Habig,“is one of said another.“This place is so much the best indicators for whether a The Museum Dance raises essential different from school,” said another. student is going to be successful. You funds for the Museum’s outstanding “I think ‘Oh darn it!’ when Lang can see how much time and effort scientific and educational programs, is over.” they put into it. It’s also a comfortable which enable thousands of under- way for them to talk about their For more information about the served New York City school children interest in science.” program and applications, email to visit the Museum annually. [email protected] or visit amnh.org Adds Habig, who is also a full-time Guests will have the opportunity and search for “Lang.” middle-school biology teacher in East to buy tickets to an exclusive and intimate dinner or to join hundreds Harlem,“We want kids who really The AMNH Lang Science Program and Lang Scholar have a passion for science—who can’t Awards were conceived by and established with of friends later in the evening for founding support from the Eugene M. Lang Foundation. get enough of it.” dessert, dancing, and a silent auction. For more information, please A Lang Scholar bones up on comparative anatomy. | call Whitney Cary at 212-496-3495. © AMNH/R. Mickens The Museum Dance is the highlight of the season. | © AMNH/D. Finnin
8 | rotunda | amnh.org amnh.org | rotunda | 9 These programs are available to the general public. Public Programs Call 212-769-5200 for information and tickets. ! 7/2,$ #,!33 3/52#% &/2 5.)15% ')&43
NOW MONTHLY! FAMILY PROGRAMS to help him return to the present, all $ISCOVER THE 3HOPS WILD, WILD WORLD while exploring human origins and learning about our distant relatives. Linder Theater 11 am–noon; 1–2 pm Dr. Nebula's laboratory is supported, in part, by Ruth A. Unterberg. $8 children, $10 adults Members' tickets are $7 children, TUESDAYS IN THE DOME OF !-.( $9 adults Hayden Planetarium Space Theater 6:30 pm 3TEPHEN # 1UINN IS AN Predators $15 ($13.50 Members, students, seniors) ACCOMPLISHED ARTIST AND Saturday, March 27 Linder Theater Advance registration is encouraged. NATURALIST WHO HAS CONTRIBUTED In this special presentation with live Authors 6:30 pm VIRTUAL UNIVERSE TO VIRTUALLY ALL ASPECTS OF EXHIBIT $20 animals, wildlife expert Andrew DESIGN AT THE -USEUM Simmons will introduce the world of Our Solar Neighborhood with Silk Road and Tea the predator, with close looks at a Jackie Faherty Wednesday, March 24 Golden Eagle, python, and bear cub. Tuesday, March 2 (AYDEN 0LANETARIUM History professor Morris Rusabi and Planetary Real Estate with $IRECTOR .EIL Sebastian Beckwith of In Pursuit of Jason Kendall DE'RASSE 4YSON Tea will discuss teas from the Silk Tuesday, April 6 DETAILS 0LUTO´S Road era and modern variations. RISE AND FALL FROM Tasting included. The Earth Today with Carter Emmart PLANETHOOD AND OFFERS Tuesday, May 4 Wines to Complement A COMPELLING MEMOIR Spicy Food CELESTIAL HIGHLIGHTS ABOUT BECOMING AN ASTROPHYSICIST Wednesday, April 14 Inferior Planets with Joe Rao Join award-winning chef Julie Sahni Tuesday, March 30 and Ursula Masoud, of Paumanok winery, for an evening of spicy Beasts of the Spring Sky with pairings. Tasting included. Ted Williams Learn more about ladybugs’ important role in an Tuesday, April 27 ecosystem. | © Gail Starr A Persian Celebration Celestial Treasure Hunt with Wednesday, May 19 Ladybugs Sam Storch Saturday, April 24 Cookbook author and teacher Tuesday, May 25 Najmieh Batmanglij brings Silk Road- Join Cornell entomologist John Losey These programs are supported, in part, by the style fusion to the modern kitchen and a number of live ladybugs, Schaffner Family. with a recipe for baklava. Tasting, with including the nine-spotted ladybug, Persian tea, included. to find out how these beetles fit into LECTURE "ASED ON YEARS OF 0ALEONTOLOGY a healthy ecosystem. Dark Matter, Revealed RESEARCH ,AUREL #URATOR .ILES +ENDALL $IVISION #HAIR %LDRIDGE WROTE DR. NEBULA’S LABORATORY Monday, April 12 Hayden Planetarium Space Theater AND #URATOR OF $ARWIN AS A Life with Lucy 7:30 pm !NTHROPOLOGY EXPLAINS COMPANION TO THE MAJOR Saturday, April 3 $15 ($13.50 Members, students, seniors) HOW THE PRACTICES OF -USEUM EXHIBITION ABOUT Kaufmann Theater Dark matter plays a major role in the 3OUTH +OREA´S SHAMANS THE GREAT SCIENTIST )N 2 pm function of our galaxy and the universe. HAVE EVOLVED TO 7HY 7E $O )T HE TAKES ON $8 children, $10 adults Join MIT physicist Peter Fisher as he ACCOMMODATE MASSIVE THE ±SELFISH GENE² THEORY Members' tickets are $7 children, explores the history of dark matter CULTURAL CHANGES $9 adults Enjoy tea and more at Global Kitchen tastings. | and the search to find it. He will also © Sebastian Beckwith Dr. Nebula has traveled back in time, discuss new research at MIT that aims and it’s up to Scooter and the audience to discover how dark matter is created. -EMBERS RECEIVE A DISCOUNT 4O PLACE ORDERS CALL OUR 0ERSONAL 3HOPPER AT OR SHOP AT Public programs are made possible, in part, by the Rita and Frits Markus Fund for Public Understanding of Science. WWWAMNHSHOPCOM
10 | rotunda | amnh.org