Dr. David Kriska is a biologist with expertise in the identification, protection, and stewardship of natural habitats in the Lake Erie ecoregion. He has spearheaded projects aimed at restoring rare habitats.
Presented by Lubrizol
Take part in state-of-the-art science!
Step into the lab at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and join our team of award-winning scientists and collections staff for special programs every Sunday. These drop-in programs take place from 11am to 4pm in the Museum's newly reimagined galleries and are included with your general admission ticket.
UPCOMING DATES
Sunday, November 9
David Kriska, Ph.D.
Restoration Ecologist
Dr. David Kriska is a biologist with expertise in the identification, protection, and stewardship of natural habitats in the Lake Erie ecoregion. He has spearheaded projects aimed at restoring rare habitats.
The largest seed in the world, the Coco de mer or double coconut, can reach up to 12 inches long and weigh an astounding 40 lbs! Explore hands-on specimens of some of the largest examples of seeds and pine cones. Projecting onto a flat-screen TV, the micro-eye microscope will also open up new worlds: you'll learn about the smallest seeds on Earth, which look like specs of dust.
Sunday, November 16
Emma Finestone, Ph.D.
Curator and the Robert J. and Linnet E. Fritz Endowed Chair of Human Origins
Dr. Emma Finestone uses archaeological fieldwork to investigate adaptive shifts in the human lineage that relate to the early manufacture and use of stone tools. The origins of toolmaking have important implications for our ancestors’ relationship with their environment and their ability to forage for a wide range of food resources. Dr. Finestone’s field projects in eastern Africa span evolutionary changes over the past 3 million years and focus on reconstructing the mobility, range expansion, and landscape use of toolmakers to illuminate how early tool technology facilitated the spread of human ancestors around the globe. She studies some of the earliest-known stone tools, which were used to butcher hippos more than 2.6 million years ago. Her work has received awards from the National Science Foundation, the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, and the American Association of Biological Anthropologists.
Dr. Finestone is passionate about science communication and outreach. She is enthusiastic about sharing international fieldwork in human origins with the Cleveland community by acting as a local resource and ambassador for science. Before joining the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as Assistant Curator of Human Origins, Dr. Finestone served as Group Leader of Archaeology and Head of the Archaeology Laboratory Unit at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany. Previously, she served as an instructor at Lehman College and Hunter College and as a research affiliate of the National Museums of Kenya.
Dr. Finestone received her Ph.D. in biological anthropology in 2019 from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. Prior to her time at CUNY, she worked in the Conservation and Science Department at the Lincoln Park Zoo studying the foraging and tool behaviors of chimpanzees and gorillas. Dr. Finestone earned a B.A. with honors in anthropology and biology from the University of Chicago in 2010.
Research areas: Oldowan, paleoanthropology, lithic analysis, hominin evolution
Humans use technology to shape environments and solve adaptive problems far beyond any other species on Earth. Tool technology originated millions of years ago, when our ancestors began striking stones together to produce flakes with sharp cutting edges. Learn about the evolution of stone tool-use in the human lineage and how ongoing Museum fieldwork in Kenya is revealing clues about the earliest toolmakers.
Sunday, November 23
David Kriska, Ph.D.
Restoration Ecologist
Dr. David Kriska is a biologist with expertise in the identification, protection, and stewardship of natural habitats in the Lake Erie ecoregion. He has spearheaded projects aimed at restoring rare habitats.
The largest seed in the world, the Coco de mer or double coconut, can reach up to 12 inches long and weigh an astounding 40 lbs! Explore hands-on specimens of some of the largest examples of seeds and pine cones. Projecting onto a flat-screen TV, the micro-eye microscope will also open up new worlds: you'll learn about the smallest seeds on Earth, which look like specs of dust.
Sunday, November 30
Emma Finestone, Ph.D.
Curator and the Robert J. and Linnet E. Fritz Endowed Chair of Human Origins
Dr. Emma Finestone uses archaeological fieldwork to investigate adaptive shifts in the human lineage that relate to the early manufacture and use of stone tools. The origins of toolmaking have important implications for our ancestors’ relationship with their environment and their ability to forage for a wide range of food resources. Dr. Finestone’s field projects in eastern Africa span evolutionary changes over the past 3 million years and focus on reconstructing the mobility, range expansion, and landscape use of toolmakers to illuminate how early tool technology facilitated the spread of human ancestors around the globe. She studies some of the earliest-known stone tools, which were used to butcher hippos more than 2.6 million years ago. Her work has received awards from the National Science Foundation, the L.S.B. Leakey Foundation, and the American Association of Biological Anthropologists.
Dr. Finestone is passionate about science communication and outreach. She is enthusiastic about sharing international fieldwork in human origins with the Cleveland community by acting as a local resource and ambassador for science. Before joining the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as Assistant Curator of Human Origins, Dr. Finestone served as Group Leader of Archaeology and Head of the Archaeology Laboratory Unit at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany. Previously, she served as an instructor at Lehman College and Hunter College and as a research affiliate of the National Museums of Kenya.
Dr. Finestone received her Ph.D. in biological anthropology in 2019 from the City University of New York (CUNY) Graduate Center. Prior to her time at CUNY, she worked in the Conservation and Science Department at the Lincoln Park Zoo studying the foraging and tool behaviors of chimpanzees and gorillas. Dr. Finestone earned a B.A. with honors in anthropology and biology from the University of Chicago in 2010.
Research areas: Oldowan, paleoanthropology, lithic analysis, hominin evolution
Humans use technology to shape environments and solve adaptive problems far beyond any other species on Earth. Tool technology originated millions of years ago, when our ancestors began striking stones together to produce flakes with sharp cutting edges. Learn about the evolution of stone tool-use in the human lineage and how ongoing Museum fieldwork in Kenya is revealing clues about the earliest toolmakers.
Sunday, December 7
David Kriska, Ph.D.
Restoration Ecologist
Dr. David Kriska is a biologist with expertise in the identification, protection, and stewardship of natural habitats in the Lake Erie ecoregion. He has spearheaded projects aimed at restoring rare habitats.
The largest seed in the world, the Coco de mer or double coconut, can reach up to 12 inches long and weigh an astounding 40 lbs! Explore hands-on specimens of some of the largest examples of seeds and pine cones. Projecting onto a flat-screen TV, the micro-eye microscope will also open up new worlds: you'll learn about the smallest seeds on Earth, which look like specs of dust.
Sunday, December 14
Nicole Burt, Ph.D.
Curator of Human Health & Evolutionary Medicine, Interim Chief Curator
Dr. Nicole Burt began working at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History in 2014. Her position as Curator of Human Health & Evolutionary Medicine is part of the legacy of the Museum’s 2007 merger with HealthSpace Cleveland, which made human health a cornerstone of the Museum’s mission and programming. Dr. Burt facilitates the Museum’s ongoing commitment and connection to Cleveland’s medical and health communities. She is an advocate for fostering equitable partnerships between scientists, museums, and the communities with whom they work. As part of this commitment, she has taken on service roles to support community health in Cleveland, such as serving as co-chair and a member of the Cleveland Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition Steering Committee.
Dr. Burt is a biological anthropologist who works with both archaeological and modern human populations. Her research centers around the question “What does it mean to be healthy?” and utilizes the best research and educational practices to promote understanding and empower the Museum community to take action. Her interdisciplinary approach combines many methods, including histology, molecular analysis, and even interviews, to explore health through the lens of evolutionary medicine. Methods formation and testing are a key part of her research program, with a focus on microsampling innovation and applying techniques to new fields. In addition to her anthropological research, Dr. Burt contributes to the literature on bioethics in museums, informal learning pedagogy, and creating evolutionary medicine–informed curricula for medical education.
Much of Dr. Burt’s anthropological research uses a technique called stable isotope analysis, which measures the ratio of heavy to light stable isotopes—forms of elements (e.g., carbon or nitrogen) that have the same atomic number but a different number of neutrons—in a sample. Isotopes can be used to reconstruct past diets, study migration, or understand molecular preservation of samples. Dr. Burt’s microsampling technique even allows for reconstruction of maternal diet during pregnancy by analyzing the formation of recovered baby teeth.
Dr. Burt earned her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Alberta, a master's degree in forensic science from Michigan State University, and a bachelor's degree from Beloit College.
Research areas: Diet and health, food access, bioethics, early-childhood feeding practice, One Health, osteology, stable isotope reconstruction, methods testing, informal learning pedagogy
Learn about the evolution of our food and explore Dr. Burt's research on diet in Cleveland and around the world.
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