The Alabama Museum of Natural History hosts “Natural History With the Experts” every Saturday before home games before kick-off in front of Smith Hall. This event gives students the opportunity to meet with experts in the fields of geology, paleontology, archeology, biology and other natural sciences.
The event will take place in front of the Gorgas House for the Ole Miss game from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
“We designed the event around home football games for the opportunity to draw in large crowds that may not know much about natural history,” Todd Hester, museum naturalist, said.
“We were just starting out with an idea for public outreach in the community,” said Allie Sorie, the education outreach coordinator for the museum. “I think it’s a great way for people to see all these unique things going on on campus that they may not know about through labs, artifacts and getting to know professors. It’s a great way to explore science and natural history”
Professors, museum staff and local experts come to every event to educate the community on new topics every week. The museum’s resident expert in paleontology, Dr. Dana Ehret, is focusing on paleontology and fossil specimens.
The Alabama Museum of Natural History is also opening up a new “Tide for Tusks” exhibit Friday evening to create awareness about poaching and that elephants are an endangered species.
“The exhibit is mostly informational and highlights the importance of elephants in the ecosystem,” Hester said. “As of right now, with the rates of poaching, elephants could be extinct within a decade. There has been a growing concern worldwide, and folks at the University have especially taken this issue to heart.”
Tide for Tusks is a nonprofit organization on campus run by the former director of the museum, Randy McCreedy. There is also a student-run organization on campus who has been instrumental in raising awareness, Hester said.
“We were inspired by an organization called ‘Tigers for Tigers,’ which was started by Mizzou to protect tigers, who are also endangered,” Hester said. “When they became part of the SEC, they were joined by LSU and Auburn in their mission to protect these animals. We are the only major university with an elephant as a mascot, so we have taken it on ourselves to spread awareness and assume action for this issue.”
The museum hopes that they will be able to inform students, faculty and the community on the injustice elephants are facing through this exhibit. They want to spread this effort to other departments across campus and their ultimate goal is to establish a wildlife conservation program where students can partner with the elephant orphanage that “Tide For Tusks” supports in Tanzania.
For more information about “Natural History with the Experts,” or the “Tide For Tusks” exhibit, visit the museum’s website, almnh.ua.edu.
