Harvard Museum of Natural History

Get into the Halloween spirit. See variation in bat species and compare human and chimp skeletons in EVOLUTION, an exhibition that invites visitors to examine the fossil, anatomical, and genetic evidence of evolutionary history.

Halloween weekend's Nature Storytime, on Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, at 11:...00 am and 2:00 pm, will features stories on bats, spiders, and other creatures for under-six visitors. Free with museum admission.Read More

If Charles Darwin were to come to your neighborhood today, and you could show him just a few things, what would they be? Artist Gail Wight, Associate Professor of Art at Stanford University, takes Darwin's ghost for a tour around the San Francisco Bay area, seeks out local flora and fauna he would relish, addresses the... legacy of his ideas, and considers environmental degradation over the intervening years. She will discuss this and other new works of art involving science collections, as well as a brief survey of her recent projects. Following the presentation participants are invited to join us for light refreshments and discussion in the museum galleries until 6:00 pm.

Free and open to the public.Read More

Why do mice, rodents, and many other wild mammals come in all kinds of colors, stripes, and patterns? How do they get that way and what is it about their wild environments that causes them to vary so much? Hopi Hoekstra, Associate Professor of Biology and the Curator of Mammals at Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoolog...y, will discuss how she and her research team at Harvard collect and study mice populations to answer these questions. Free with museum admission. Read More

In the 21st century the planet faces radical transformation, which includes mass extinction, rapid change in climate, and large-scale loss of natural habitat. American Museum of Natural History Paleontologist and Provost Michael Novacek will discuss how natural history museums like Harvard’s MCZ offer unique opportunit...ies for scientific discovery, education, and inspiration, and provide a management plan that draws on the past, reveals the present, and maps our future. Free and open to the public.

Part of the Museum of Comparative Zoology’s 150th anniversary lecture series.Read More

The role of natural history museums in society has evolved over the past two centuries. The type of collections, research questions asked, technologies used and methods for communicating with their audiences have changed dramatically. New challenges and technologies are opening new frontiers for our understanding of th...e natural world and the relevance of Museums in society is strong. Dr. Cristián Samper, Director of the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution, will examine the past, present and future of natural History museums in society. Free and open to the public.

Part of the Museum of Comparative Zoology’s 150th anniversary lecture series.Read More

Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ), the product of larger-than-life figures of 19th-century science, is a world-renowned center for research and education in evolutionary and comparative biology. The MCZ’s Director, Dr. James Hanken, will explore the history of this institution, what it can tell us about the... changing role of university-based natural history museums, and what museums must do to survive—indeed, to thrive—in the 21st century. Free and open to the public.

Part of the Museum of Comparative Zoology’s 150th anniversary lecture series.Read More