Christopher Raxworthy, curator in the Department of Herpetology at the American Museum of Natural History, has been to Madagascar more than 30 times to conduct field research on this island nation’s chameleons, frogs, and lizards. Now you can follow him to the summit of Mt. Marojejy as he climbs through tropical rainforests, bamboo thickets, and low-lying scrub to camp at nearly 7,000 feet. For the next few weeks, Raxworthy’s thoughts, discoveries, and photographs will be posted as the inaugural blog for The New York Times’sScientist At Work: Notes from the Field.
“We are delighted that this new blog brings the process of science to countless readers. This highlights yet another way that Museum scientists and educators are using digital technologies to share new thinking and approaches to scientific discovery and learning with the public,” says Ellen V. Futter, President of the Museum. “Scientific research is at the heart of this institution, and that research hinges on the weeks and months that our curators, like Chris Raxworthy, spend in the field.”
“Time now for the editor to step back and let the scientist start talking,” writesThe New York Times Deputy Science Editor James Gorman. “Dr. Raxworthy says the best part of each visit to Madagascar is the first night in the forest, because it is such hard work to get there, and you never know what you will find…”
We recently caught up with Raxworthy as he prepared to head back out to Madagacar. Watch as he discusses the importance of his studies and what it is like traveling around the island nation.
Last week, the American Museum of Natural History signed a historic agreement with Mexico’s Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), which for the first time will bring Spanish translations of the Museum’s award-winning Science Bulletins video presentations into Mexican universities and higher education institutions.
Museum President Ellen V. Futter and Director General of CONACYT Juan Carlos Romero Hicks sat down to sign the two-year agreement which grants CONACYT exclusive rights to distribute the Museum’s Science Bulletin content in Mexico and opens the way for further collaboration between CONACYT and the Museum. This partnership also marks two significant firsts: the first time that the latest scientific research presented in new Science Bulletins has been translated into a language other than English and the first time that CONACYT (Mexico’s equivalent of the United States’ National Science Foundation) has partnered with a foreign natural history museum.
The four Bulletins (Astro, Earth, Bio, and Human) feature breaking news of discoveries, geologic and weather events, visualizations of satellite data, astronomical images, and short video features (five-seven minutes) reporting the latest research from scientists in the field. Produced through a collaboration of AMNH’s curatorial and scientific staff, and a team of Museum video producers, designers, writers, and educators, the Bulletins set a new standard for museum exhibitry through the combination of in-depth, current science with high production values and regularly updated content. Science Bulletins are distributed to nearly 40 museums and science centers around the world, bringing the latest science to an audience of more than 10 million people.
Science Bulletins is a production of the National Center for Science Literacy, Education, and Technology (NCSLET), part of the Department of Education at the Museum.
Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History, represented the “informal science education” sector during an important congressional hearing last week in Washington, DC on science education in our nation’s schools.
Speaking before the House Committee on Science and Technology on Thursday, March 4, she testified that it’s essential that the federal government continue to support and fund museums and other science-related cultural institutions as “powerful catalysts” and key players in reforming K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (or STEM) education.
Futter specifically mentioned several Museum programs, including its successful leadership role in the Urban Advantage Middle School Science Initiative in New York City, as national models for public-private partnerships that boost science literacy. To download the full text of the press release, click here and you can also read Ellen Futter’s full written testimony here.
In a vote late last month, the New York State Board of Regents awarded full accreditation to the Richard Gilder Graduate School at the American Museum of Natural History, the first Ph.D.-degree granting program at a U.S. museum.
The momentous vote was the final step in forming the Richard Gilder Graduate School and came three years after the Museum first received authorization from the Regents to establish a Ph.D.-granting program in comparative biology. The Richard Gilder Graduate School began academic operations in September 2008, and its Ph.D. program has enrolled two classes of students from top universities in the U.S., Colombia, France, and Sweden.
“This has been a historic journey for the Museum with a triumphant conclusion,” said Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History. “The accreditation of the Museum’s Richard Gilder Graduate School by the Board of Regents represents both a landmark decision and a strong affirmation of the Museum’s scientific and educational leadership.”
The Museum’s curators and scientists serve as Richard Gilder Graduate School faculty, and students have access to state-of-the-art research facilities, a world-class collection of specimens, and a leading natural history library. Students take courses and carry out research in the Richard Gilder Graduate School complex on the fifth floor of the Museum’s iconic 77th Street building in addition to participating in field expeditions.
For more information on the Richard Gilder Graduate School at AMNH, please visit rggs.amnh.org.
Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History, represented the “informal science education” sector during an important congressional hearing last week in Washington, DC on science education in our nation’s schools.
