In the first Ph.D. defense held by the Richard Gilder Graduate School, Sebastian Kvist today successfully defended his dissertation about blood-feeding leeches, paving the way for him to receive his doctoral degree from the Museum.

The Museum celebrated centenarian philanthropist Kathryn W. Davis at a special ceremony and luncheon today to honor her generous support of the  Museum’s new Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Program, the first freestanding master’s degree program offered by a museum to prepare science teachers. 

Call it the ultimate space camp: for one week this summer, a group of middle school students will learn how to use the Museum’s Digital Universe Atlas, a three-dimensional, scientifically accurate map of the cosmos, and discover how the atlas is built from data gathered by scientists around the world. Then, using gaming laptops, the students will create their very own digital tour to a favorite spot of the universe, which will be shown in a special evening program in the Hayden Planetarium Space Theater on Friday, July 13.

Central Park hosts great birds in every season, but springtime offers the most dazzling avian sights and sounds as migrants from the tropics return to their breeding grounds in the north. The Museum’s series of morning and lunchtime bird walks, each led by an expert, begin in early April and are scheduled to coincide with this migration, as warblers, vireos, tanagers, flycatchers, grosbeaks, thrushes, and others make their way to their summer homes.

For over 30 years, Museum naturalist and diorama master Stephen Quinn has shown students the art of drawing animals—from their skeletal composition, to their musculature, to the nuanced patterns of their coats and gaits. The course always draws students with a range of backgrounds, including expert medical illustrators and comic book artists as well as enthusiastic beginners. And every year, Quinn sees a few familiar faces.

One belongs to George Corbin, who has taken the course five times and has already signed up for Animal Drawing’s spring session, which will run for eight weeks beginning on Thursday, March 15.