News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 15, 2009
Contact:
Glenda Bogar
gbogar@cmnh.org, 216-231-2071
800-317-9155, ext. 3363
or Marie Graf at 216-231-2070
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History Announces
2010 Explorer Series Showcasing Renowned Scientists and Authors
Cleveland… The Cleveland Museum of Natural History is pleased to announce the continuation of its Explorer Series, a lecture series in which nationally and internationally renowned scientists, authors and artists address topics relating to natural history, the natural sciences and challenges facing our environment. The Museum will welcome presenters through June 2010.
The Explorer Series offers a chance for visitors to examine a modern threat to our oceans; gain high-tech insights into dinosaur locomotion; explore green urbanism; and hear about adventures in nature. All presentations will be held on Friday evenings in the Museum’s Murch Auditorium. The lectures start at 7:30 p.m., but attendees are invited to arrive as early as 5:30 p.m. to explore the Museum’s exhibitions, listen to live music, shop the Museum Store, or purchase dinner and refreshments in The Blue Planet Café. A cash beer and wine bar will also be available. Afterward, select speakers will sign their books and, on clear nights, the Mueller Observatory will be open. The series topics, speakers and dates are:
Across the Andes: A 7,800-mile Journey Toward Understanding
Gregg Treinish and Deia Schlosberg, 2009/2009 National Geographic
Adventurers of the Year
Friday, Jan. 15, 7:30 p.m.
In April 2008, Gregg Treinish and Deia Schlosberg became the first people to trek the length of the Andes Mountains, south of the equator, a journey that lasted nearly two years and covered 7,800 miles. Following the spine of the longest mountain chain in the world, the couple created a new route, sometimes off-trail and off-map. Traveling to remote and some never-before-visited villages in the Andes, they met people who have practiced sustainable methods for centuries. They will share lessons learned from people living harmoniously with the land.
The Dinosaurs of West America: Life, Death and Evolution on an Island Continent
Dr. Scott D. Sampson, paleontologist
Friday, Jan. 29, 7:30 p.m.
About 100 million years ago, central North America was flooded by the north-south oriented Cretaceous Interior Seaway. Adjacent to this warm, shallow sea, the isolated western landmass informally known as “West America” witnessed a stunning florescence of dinosaurs, from horned, duck-billed and armored plant-eaters to meat-eating tyrannosaurs and smaller raptor-like predators. Dr. Scott Sampson of the Utah Museum of Natural History and University of Utah has done extensive research in this region exploring the questions of giant dinosaur co-existence, the evolution of Tyrannosaurus rex and the great extinction of dinosaurs at the end of the Mesozoic Era. Book signing to follow.
Marathon in Antarctica: The Coldest, Highest, Driest, Windiest, Loneliest Continent
Edwin (Win) V. Apel, Jr., marathon competitor
Friday, Feb. 12, 7:30 p.m.
Win Apel ran his first two marathons in 2000 and 2001 before being diagnosed with cancer. After beating the disease, he vowed to run a marathon in all 50 states and seven continents. Apel ran a unique marathon in Antarctica and, in July 2009, achieved his ambition of competing on every continent when he ran in the Bush Capital Marathon in Canberra, Australia. He will share his story of courage and determination.
Letters from Eden
Julie Zickefoose, natural history artist and writer
Friday, March 12, 7:30 p.m.
The William and Nancy Klamm Memorial Lecture
Reading prose and poetry, showing her paintings and photography, naturalist and National Public Radio commentator Julie Zickefoose reveals the deep connection with nature that keeps her walking her 80-acre Appalachian sanctuary outside Whipple, Ohio, where she has come to know wild creatures as individuals and neighbors. Her book Letters from Eden struck a powerful chord with readers nationwide, evoking the rhythms of the seasons and an awareness of natural events that many people long for in the age of “nature deficit disorder.” Book signing to follow.
The Nature of the Iditarod: Musher and Dogs in Harmony and Conflict
with Alaskan Wilderness
DeeDee Jonrowe, world-famous Iditarod musher
Friday, April 16, 7:30 p.m.
DeeDee Jonrowe is the foremost female dog musher competing in the world today. She holds the Iditarod record for the women’s best time and 13 top-10 finishes. Her second-place finish in the 1998 Iditarod is the fifth-fastest time for both men and women. She has won many other sledding races as well as awards for the best cared for team, the best dog care and the dog’s best friend award. Join Jonrowe for tales from the Alaskan trails.
Spider Silk: A 400 Million Year Experiment in Evolutionary Science
Dr. Todd A. Blackledge, biologist
Friday, May 14, 7:30 p.m.
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History Conservation Awards Ceremony will precede this program.
A single spider spins up to eight different types of silk threads that can be as strong as steel, tougher than Kevlar, or even as stretchy as rubber. While spiders rely on this amazingly diverse “toolkit” to catch their food, protect their young and find mates, scientists aim to synthesize spider silk in the laboratory. Dr. Todd Blackledge of The University of Akron will explain attempts to replicate silk in the laboratory for use in high-performance polymers, cloths, ropes and medical devices.
The Music of Nature and the Nature of Music
Dr. Patricia Gray, clinical professor and biomusic research scientist
Friday, June 4, 7:30 p.m.
If we rely on artifacts alone, the evolutionary trail of music can take us back just 50,000 years. But there are other ways to study the roots of music-making and musical structures. By looking at other species and their abilities to perceive and manipulate patterns of sound and time, we may advance our understanding. Dr. Patricia Gray of the Music Research Institute at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro will discuss the deeper roots of human musicality.
The Explorer Series is sponsored by the Museum’s Women’s Committee. Promotional sponsors are Cleveland Magazine, Cuyahoga County Public Library, ideastream WVIZ/WCPN and WKSU. The series is generously supported by the public through a grant from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture.
Tickets for Museum members are offered at a discounted rate. Individual lecture tickets for adults are $10 (members $8); and for seniors, students and children are $9 (members $7). Adults may choose the “Create Your Own Package” option and select any six nights for $54 (members $43.20); this package option is $48.60 for seniors, students and children (members $37.80).
To order, call 216-231-1177 or 800-317-9155 ext. 3279. Or order online at www.cmnh.org/site/explorer.aspx. Tickets may also be purchased on the night of each presentation, if they are not sold out.
The Museum is located at 1 Wade Oval Drive in University Circle, 15 minutes east of downtown Cleveland.