I wanted to share this really interesting free lecture series at the New York State Museum. There are five Wednesday events coming up later this month, in February, and in March.

The topics include: The Naima site on Long Island, fossils, a biology collections tour, agricultural evolution, geological history, and human ancestors.


Here's more info:

NYS Museum Research and Collections Wednesday Evening Lectures
January - March 2014
Huxley Theater • Adults • Free

JANUARY

Naima Site

The Naima Site, Long Island
Wednesday, January 21 • 7–8 p.m.
The Naima Site is an archaeological site located in Hauppauge, NY that was investigated by the New York State Museum's Cultural Resource Survey Program (CRSP). Archaeological work there has yielded both prehistoric and historic remains, including portions of the "Major 'Nezer House." Daniel Mazeau, a Principal Investigator (Archaeology) with CRSP, will summarize the work conducted at the Naima Site, highlighting the process of archaeological interpretation and some observations regarding its occupation.

FEBRUARY

Femur, Cohoes Mastodon

Investigating Famous Fossils from Foreign (and Domestic) Lands to Understand the Ecological Consequences of Climate Change
Wednesday, February 4 • 7–8 p.m.
Dr. Robert S. Feranec, Curator of Mammals and Pleistocene Vertebrate Paleontology, will discuss his work investigating how the effects of past climate changes can inform us today. He will highlight on-going work being conducted in New York as well as in Atapuerca, a World Heritage locality in Spain that contains some of the earliest evidence of humans in Europe.

Behind The Scenes: Biology Collections Tour Wednesday, February 11 • 4:00-5:30 p.m. Free and open to the public, kids and adults welcome.  **Pre-registration required (see below). Participation is limited to 30 people. Meet at the main desk in the NYSM lobby at 4:00. The NYSM collections of biological specimens include over 230,000 specimens of plants, 20,000 birds, 15,000 mammals, 15,000 vertebrate fossils, and over a million insects! Celebrate Charles Darwin's Birthday by taking a behind-the-scenes tour of our research collections and labs led by our staff of Curators and Collections Managers. See specimens of rare and extinct species collected as long ago as the 1840s, and learn how these collections are used by researchers and educators across New York State and beyond. **Space is limited! Please register with Nicole LaFountain at 518.474.0575 or email nicole.lafountain@nysed.gov

Warming, Cooling and Agricultural Evolution
Wednesday, February 18 • 7–8 p.m.
The classic expression of Native American agriculture in temperate northeastern North America is the three sisters — maize, common bean and squash. As a result of interactions with human populations and sub-regional environments, each crop had its own unique evolutionary history. Learn more about how crop varieties and agricultural management systems evolved over the centuries across the Northeast at this special lecture.

MARCH

Where North America Almost Broke Apart–Northern New York
Wednesday, March 4 • 7–8 p.m.
In this talk, learn about a newly recognized geological history in northern New York and southern Canada in the interval of 560–510 million years ago. A thousand mile-long subsiding feature first developed in northern New York and adjacent areas 560 million years ago and then "mysteriously" began sinking again 510 million years ago–dragging northern New York and Vermont down in the process.

Hominid Fossils
Photo: Javier Trueba

Investigations at Atapuerca (Spain): Insights into Our Human Ancestors
Wednesday, March 18 • 7–8 p.m.
The Sierra de Atapuerca, a World Heritage Site in northern Spain, has yielded an incredible amount of fossil remains including some of the earliest humans known from Europe. This lecture will highlight the incredible fossils discovered at the site focusing on our human ancestors.