Herbaria for Humanity

What are plastics and how are they made? How do they get into our waterways? How do novel materials like plastics define the age we live in? What materials might replace them? Featuring Nicole Heller, Curator of Anthropocene Studies at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Heather Hulton VanTassel, Executive Director of Three Rivers Waterkeeper. Encounter nurdles, small plastic pellets, mentioned in this episode in the exhibition The Stories We Keep: Bringing the World to Pittsburgh.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.

What can we learn from lakes about livable futures? How can people in the Anthropocene find optimism and be moved to climate action? Featuring Soren Brothers, the Allan and Helaine Shiff Curator of Climate Change at the Royal Ontario Museum.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.

Why is the museum hoarding alcoholic pickle jars? What kinds of research are made possible by the museum’s herpetology collection? How are organisms changing because of climate change, urbanization, and other anthropogenic pressures? Featuring Jennifer Sheridan, Associate Curator of Amphibians and Reptiles at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Encounter frog specimens from Borneo mentioned in this episode in the exhibition The Stories We Keep: Bringing the World to Pittsburgh.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.

How does urbanization impact nonhumans? What can we learn from Pittsburgh’s past and present air quality challenges? How do we make space for biodiversity in cities? Featuring Serina Brady, Collection Manager of Birds at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Jon Rice, Urban Bird Conservation Coordinator at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.

What would a snail scientist do with a blank check? What can we learn from snails and their kin? Why is the ocean getting more acidic, how do we know, and why does that matter? Featuring Tim Pearce, Curator of Mollusks at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.

How do humans support some plants and endanger others? What do herbaria teach about climate change? How can people and plants collaborate towards livable futures? Featuring Mason Heberling, Curator of Botany at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Bonnie Isaac, Collection Manager of Botany at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.

A second serving of bone banter with two of the museum’s veteran vertebrate virtuosos. How are charisma, colonialism, and extinction linked? What is de-extinction, and will cloning mammoths save the tundra? Featuring Matt Lamanna, Mary R. Dawson Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and John Wible, Curator of Mammals at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.

What dinosaurs and mammals survived the end of the Cretaceous, and why? What can we learn about resilience from survivors of past extinctions? What can we learn about adapting our culture and cities from the story of evolution? Featuring Matt Lamanna, Mary R. Dawson Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and John Wible, Curator of Mammals at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.

What surprising biodiversity lives alongside us here in Pittsburgh? How can we befriend bugs? What could be awesome about having humans as neighbors? Featuring Ainsley Seago, Associate Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Kevin Keegan, Collection Manager of Invertebrate Zoology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.

What do we know about the early peopling of our continent and our region? What was the landscape and the climate like then? What can we learn from this natural history about interacting with the land and water today, and moving forward as good stewards? Featuring Amy Covell-Murthy, Archaeology Collection Manager and Head of the Section of Anthropology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, and Kristina Gaugler, Anthropology Collection Manager at Carnegie Museum of Natural History.Thanks for listening! Follow Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Instagram,  Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop on the latest news from the museum.