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Sunday Science Lecture Series

The New Jersey State Museum is excited to offer the third season of the Sunday Science Lecture Series, sponsored by the Friends of the New Jersey State Museum. Scholarly, yet family-friendly lectures will be presented in the Museum’s Auditorium by some of the world’s most distinguished and prominent researchers in the natural sciences, including wildlife and ecology, paleontology, paleo artistry, archaeology, paleoanthropology, space science, and global climate change.

The Lecture Series is free and open to the public.
The experience isn’t over when the presenter is finished: following each lecture, guests will have the opportunity to ask questions, share their own experiences and ideas, and meet the featured lecturer. Bring your own specimens for the Museum’s professional paleontologists and archaeologists to identify! Each lecture begins at 4 pm.

Parking is free. For more information, please call (609) 292-6740 weekdays from 8:30 to 3:30. Reservations are suggested.

Speakers and subjects are subject to change. Please check the web site often for updates.

Loggerhead turtle skull, Caretta caretta, Atlantic Ocean, Gift of Princeton University, B388

October 18, 2009

A Big Fish in a Dinosaur World

4 pm; 60 minutes; General Audience; Auditorium; Free

Dr. Barbara Grandstaff is an accomplished vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Pennsylvania. She has excavated fossils across North America, including New Jersey, and the world. She will be sharing her adventures of excavating dinosaurs, fish, and other amazing creatures from the deserts of the Bahariya Oasis, Egypt.

November 15, 2009

Red Metal, Domestic God: Copper and Its Significance in Middle Atlantic Prehistoric Exchange

4 pm; 60 minutes; General Audience; Auditorium; Free

Greg Lattanzi, Registrar for the Bureau of Archaeology and Ethnology at the New Jersey State Museum, is an expert on the archaeology of the Middle Atlantic region. He will be discussing copper artifacts from the region's Native Americans prior to contact with European settlers.

January 10, 2010

Disturbance: Bombs, Fire, and Rare Species (in the New Jersey Pine Barrens)

4 pm; 60 minutes; General Audience; Auditorium; Free

Dr. Walter Bien, Director of the Pinelands Research Center at Drexel University, is one of the world’s leading experts on the state’s unique pinelands. He will be discussing how disturbance, both natural and man-made, affect this ecosystem.

February 21, 2010

The Scars of Human Evolution

4 pm; 60 minutes; General Audience; Auditorium; Free

February is the unofficial yearly celebration of evolution, and what better way to celebrate than to learn about the history of our own species? Princeton University Professor, Dr. Alan Mann, will describe some common human ailments resulting from our species' evolution from four-legged ancestors.

March 14, 2010

Paleo-Illustrations by Larry Felder

4 pm; 60 minutes; General Audience; Auditorium; Free

New Jersey native Larry Felder is one of the world’s leading paleo artists, with much of his work featured in museums and books. He will be discussing the subjects of his art, as well as sharing many of his newest pieces.

April 11, 2010

Botanica Magnifica; Botany and Photography by Drs. Jonathan Singer and Mark Hachadourian

4 pm; 60 minutes; General Audience; Auditorium; Free

New Jersey native Dr. Jonathan Singer has recently won world-wide scientific and artistic acclaim for his incredible photographs of some of the world’s most beautiful flowers. Dr. Singer, and his colleague, Dr. Mark Hachadourian, a scientist and Curator of the New York Botanical Garden, will discuss the beautiful plants and their unique photographic techniques, and will show some of their most recent photographs.

May 16, 2010

Space Science

4 pm; 60 minutes; General Audience; Auditorium; Free

Dr. Gillian R. Knapp, Professor of Astronomy and Astrophysics at Princeton University, will be joining us to talk about some of the latest and most exciting discoveries in the field of astronomy.

June 13, 2010

Plant Exudates, or the Sticky Stuff That Many Plants Ooze

4 pm; 60 minutes; General Audience; Auditorium; Free

Smithsonian Institution Paleontologist, Dr. Jorge Santiago-Blay will join us for a fascinating discussion on plant exudates, or "sticky stuff", and their role in paleontology.

Main Museum Building and Auditorium Galleries
205 West State Street, Trenton Tuesday – Saturday, 9 am to 5 pm Sunday, noon to 5 pm
Closed Mondays & State Holidays