The University of Nebraska State Museum’s next Sunday with a Scientist program for children and families will explore snakes of the past and present. The program will take place Feb. 19 from 1:30-4:30 p.m. at Morrill Hall. Morrill Hall is south of 14th and Vine Streets on the UNL City Campus (map at http://www1.unl.edu/tour/MORR). Museum Sunday hours are 1:30-4:30 p.m.
The event will be led by Jason Head, State Museum Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology and assistant professor in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dept. of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, and Dennis Ferraro, Herpetology professor in the UNL School of Natural Resources and Extension Educator with UNL’s Southeast Research Extension Center.
Head will present information about fossil snakes and their relationship to climate change. He will also talk about the discovery of the 60 million year old Titanoboa cerrejonensis, the world’s largest snake.
Ferraro will show visitors various live snakes of Nebraska. There will also be a 13-foot, 100 lb. Albino Burmese Python on display. Visitors will learn about these slithering specimens and the importance of their conservation.
For more information on Head’s research, visit http://eas.unl.edu/people/faculty_page.php?lastname=Head&firstname=Jason&type=REG.For more information on Ferarro’s research, visit http://snr.unl.edu/herpneb.
Upcoming Sunday with a Scientist Topics: March 18 -- Ashfall Fossil Beds; April 15 -- Food Science; May 20 –Bees; June 17 --DNA; July 15 -- TBA; Aug. 19 -- Plants; Sept. 16 -- Biofuels; Oct. 21 -- Ogallala Aquifer; Nov. 18 -- TBA; Dec. 16 – Platte River Time Lapse Project.
For updates on the Sunday with a Scientist schedule through the year, visit http://www.museum.unl.edu.
The University of Nebraska State Museum in Morrill Hall is open 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursdays, and 1:30-4:30 p.m. Sundays. Regular admission is $5 for adults (19 and over), $3 for children (5-18 years, 4 and under are free), and $10 for families (up to two adults and children). UNL staff, faculty, and students are admitted free with valid NU ID. Friends of the Museum are also free with valid membership card. There is an additional charge for planetarium shows. Parking is free. For further information, telephone the museum at (402) 472-3779, visit its website or Mueller Planetarium's Web site, http://www.spacelaser.com, or contact Kathy French, Education Coordinator, at (402) 472-6647 or kfrench2@unl.edu.
More details at: http://go.unl.edu/qys