Events

Download a PDF programme of all the events associated with the Natural Histories exhibition.

Museums at Night: Creatures of the Night

Museums at Night: Creatures of the NightFriday, 17/05/13 18:00 - 23:00
Discover creatures of the night, from flourescent scorpions and wise owls to animals in the stars and scary vampires! Take a tour of the new exhibition 'Natural Histories', meet nocturnal animals, make a star dial and spook yourself with 1922 horror classic 'Nosferatu' with live piano accompaniment. In collaboration with the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

Natural Histories

Saturday, 01/06/13 14:00
Dr Stephen Johnston gives a curator tour of the current exhibition 'Natural Histories'.

William Smith and the First Geological Maps

Sunday, 09/06/13 14:30
Professor Paul Smith, Director of the Museum of Natural History, will show how these early maps give insights into the 3-dimensional structure of the Earth.

Virtuoso Naturalist

Tuesday, 25/06/13 19:00
Public Lecture by Dr Anna Marie Roos.
Natural history was one of the many interests that could catch the curious eye of a 17th-century intellectual. Anna Marie Roos, biographer of just such a virtuoso figure, Martin Lister, will talk about his life and science, and the recent discoveries that she has made about him in Oxford.

Natural Histories

Saturday, 29/06/13 14:00
Dr Stephen Johnston introduces the current exhibition, Natural Histories.

Rogue Traders

Sunday, 30/06/13 14:30
Monica Price, assistant curator of Mineralogy at the Museum of Natural History presents some of the fakes and forgeries from the University's collection of minerals.

Summer Quiz

Wednesday 17 July, 7pm
Quizzical creatures and all things natural history are the starting point for this year’s MHS quiz. As ever, this annual event will have something fun for everyone. Enter a team of three or four, or come along and join a scratch team on the night. Drinks and prizes.

Origami Animals

Friday 2 & Friday 23 August 1-4pm
Make exciting origami animals inspired by the Natural Histories exhibition. Suitable for all aged 7+.

Robert Plot and County Natural History

Tuesday 6 August, 7pm
Robert Plot was Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum at its foundation in 1683 and an early exponent of county natural history. That tradition is the focus of the PhD which David Beck is currently completing at the University of Warwick.

The Art and Science of Taxidermy

Sunday 18 August, 2.30pm
Professional taxidermist Derek Frampton reveals the techniques, tools and artistry of preparing animal skins for display.

Mysteries of the Natural World

Thursday 29 - Saturday 31 August, 1-4pm
Snakestones or salamanders? Touch, feel and discover curious objects of natural history. Try our tricky quiz! Suitable for ages 6+.

Flying Icons

Sunday 8 September 2.30pm
Kate Santry, Head of Archival collections at the Museum of Natural History, reveals the scientific importance of Jones’ Icones – an unpublished collection of watercolour butterflies painted by William Jones (1745-1818).

Pressed for Time: Collecting and Understanding Plants

Tuesday 17 September, 7pm
Dr Stephen Harris discusses human understanding of plants over the past 400 years, through the history of herbaria and collecting. Stephen Harris is Druce Curator of the Oxford University Herbaria and author of Planting Paradise: Cultivating the Garden, 1501-1900 (2011).

Half a Century and Counting: Population Studies of the Great Tit at Wytham Woods

Thursday 26 September, 7pm
Professor Ben Sheldon, Director of the Edward Grey Institute, shares the new directions for the study of the great tit at Wytham in the 21st century: social behaviour, genetics, the ecology of disease, and responses to changing environments.of disease, and responses to changing environments.