KU Natural History Museum to offer expanded hours, programs in fall 2012


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LAWRENCE — New programs for families and University of Kansas students as well as extended hours on Thursdays are on the menu for fall programming at the KU Natural History Museum.

The museum, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd. in Dyche Hall, has more than a dozen events scheduled throughout the fall, beginning with a behind-the-scenes tour of the herpetology collection on Aug. 26.

New this year are Science Saturdays, a monthly family drop-in event with hands-on activities. The first such Science Saturday on Oct. 13 will commemorate National Fossil Day with fossil-casting activities, displays of specimens, tours of the vertebrate paleontology laboratory and information about volunteer opportunities in the lab. Other Science Saturday themes focus on insects and body science.

To kick off extended hours on Thursdays, when the museum will be open until 8 p.m., the museum will offer an event for KU students called "Sexy Science" on Sept. 13. The event is co-sponsored by the KU Peer Health Educators and includes activities, games, chocolate desserts and coffee.

The events schedule also includes off-campus activities for adults such as the Science on Tap series of science and technology discussions held at Free State Brewing Co., 636 Massachusetts St., and Science on the Spot: Bar Edition, which brings science experiments out of the classroom and into the Red Lyon Tavern, 944 Massachusetts St.

In collaboration with the KU Memorial Unions and KU History.com, the museum will also offer a lecture and exhibition dedicated to the adventures of the naturalist and KU professor Lewis Lindsay Dyche, for whom Dyche Hall is named.

Full event details are available at naturalhistory.ku.edu/events and promoted via the museum's Facebook page and Twitter. Some events require preregistration by calling (785) 864-4450, but most events are free:

Behind-the-Scenes: Herpetology Tour
4 p.m. Aug. 26
Preregistration is required by 5 p.m. Aug. 24

Science on the Spot: Bar Edition
7 p.m. Sept. 12
Red Lyon Tavern, 944 Massachusetts St.

Sexy Science
5 p.m. Sept. 13
Dyche Hall

Saving Species: The Critical Role of Zoos and Aquariums (A Science on Tap event)
7:30 p.m. Sept. 18
Free State Brewing Co., 636 Massachusetts St.

Campus Art Walk 2012 kick-off
1:30 p.m. Sept. 28
Dyche Hall

Comanche and Other Unusual Taxidermy (A part of Lawrence Nerd Nite)
8 p.m. Oct. 10
Pachamamas, 800 New Hampshire St.

Science Saturday: National Fossil Day
1 p.m. Oct. 13
Dyche Hall

Dark Matter, Dark Energy and the Expanding Universe (A Science on Tap Event)
7:30 p.m. Oct. 16
Free State Brewing Co., 636 Massachusetts St.

Drop-in and Draw: Mammal Skulls
5 p.m. Oct. 18
Dyche Hall

Exhibit opening: L. L. Dyche's "Magic Lantern" Revisited
6 p.m. Nov. 4
RSVP requested by 5 p.m. Oct. 31
Dyche Hall

The Adventures of Lewis Lindsay Dyche and the Advent of Kansas Conservationism
7 p.m. Nov. 4
The Commons in Spooner Hall

What's the Matter?…with Teresa and Bekkah (no suggestions, please)
7 p.m. Nov. 7
$10 members, $12 not-yet-members
Learn the principles of matter and mass at this workshop especially for adults.
Pre-registration required by Nov. 5

Mayan Myths: The End Is Near — Or Is It? (A Science on Tap Event)
7:30 p.m. Nov. 13
Free State Brewing Co., 636 Massachusetts St.

Science Saturday: Insects
1 p.m. Nov. 17
Dyche Hall

Science Saturday: The Body
1 p.m. Dec. 15
Dyche Hall


Thu, 08/16/2012

author

Jen Humphrey

Media Contacts

Jen Humphrey

Life Span Institute

785-864-6621