Experience the dynamic forces that shape Oregon’s landscapes and ecosystems, in the Museum of Natural and Cultural History's new virtual exhibit. You’ll meet massive spike-tooth salmon, giant Ice Age mammals, and other amazing fossil animals from Oregon’s deep past—and you’ll join in a conversation about climate and our collective future. Tour the entire Explore Oregon exhibit online anytime, anywhere.

Quench your thirst for knowledge at Ideas on Tap, the Museum of Natural and Cultural History's monthly pub talk—now served online! This month, join University of Oregon oceanographer Dave Sutherland for a discussion of the iceberg life cycle, and learn how Greenlandic iceberg melt is affecting global climate, from sea level rise to ocean circulation. THREE WAYS TO WATCH: Register to participate on Zoom, watch it live on our Facebook page, or catch it later on our YouTube channel. While we won't be gathering in person, you can still support our friends at Viking Braggot Company Southtowne the night of the event! Stream Ideas on Tap from your device at one of their outdoor tables, or place a to-go order and enjoy their great food and braggots at home.

Join a trio of University of Oregon scientists for De-extinction: Engineering, Ecosystems, and Ethics, a three-part conversation about bringing extinct species back to life. On April 1, paleontologist Edward Davis leads a discussion about Oregon's Ice Age animals. On April 8, paleontology doctoral student Amanda Peng delves into the science behind de-extinction and explores the potential impacts on current ecosystems.On April 15, biologist Amy Connolly wraps up the series with a talk about the ethics of cloning and genetic engineering.Each session will be paired with a brief reading to be completed by the participants ahead of time. The series is open to everyone. Space is limited and preregistration is required. Preregister early to claim your spot. We ask that participants commit to attending all three sessions. The museum is committed to making the program as accessible as possible and offers a sliding scale registration fee of $20 to $60. This program is made possible with support from the University of Oregon’s Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics.

Learn and play from home—museum style! Preschoolers and their adults can now join us online for our popular Little Wonders program, featuring stories, hands-on activities, and more. April showers bring May flowers, but how do flowers spread their pollen? Join us this month as we discover the wonderful world of pollinators. Head to Little Wonders Online beginning Friday, April 16 and join the fun! We'll also enjoy a live, virtual story time that morning at 10:30. Preregistration is required for the story time and space is limited to 25 participants. There is no cost to participate. Want a little help gathering the materials? We now have Little Wonders activity kits, available for pick-up at the museum starting Thursday, April 15. Kits are $5 each; MNCH members are entitled to two free kits each month; discounted kits are available to Oregon Trail or other EBT card holders. Supplies are limited and kits are available on a first- come, first-served basis. Pick up your kit Thursday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Climate change and other alterations to the Earth caused by human activity are often described in apocalyptic terms: as Armageddon, or the end of the world. Nowhere is this more true than in the Arctic, where the rates of warming are twice that of temperate regions and have been visible for decades. Bathsheba Demuth will explore the Chukchi Peninsula, in far eastern Arctic Siberia, in her 2020–21 Clark Lecture “The Reindeer and the End of the World” via Zoom. The indigenous Chukchi people have traditionally been herdsmen and hunters of reindeer; those who live along the coasts of the Arctic Ocean, the Chukchi Sea, and the Bering Sea have customarily hunted sea mammals such as seals, whales, walruses, and sea lions. Russia launched a series of vigorous military campaigns against the Chukchi in 1729. The Chukchi put up a ferocious resistance and, when surrounded, they frequently committed mass suicide rather than surrender. By the 1760s, the Russian government decided that the cost of vanquishing the Chukchi was too high in terms of money and troops and ended the war on the condition that the Chukchi cease attacking Russian settlers and pay the yasak (the yearly tax that native Siberians paid in furs). In the 1930s, the Chukchi were forced into Soviet economic collectives which disrupted their indigenous lifeways. The Chukchi Peninsula became a region of mines and gulags. It’s a place that has experienced radical changes with Russian contact, the founding of the Soviet Union, and then with its dissolution. Weaving a story of devoted Bolshviks, Chukchi nomads, and herds of reindeer, Demuth will ask what kinds of narratives suit the empirical experience of radical change, what is lost when we emphasize rupture, and what is gained by paying attention to the ruins left by past ways of living as we face a transformed Arctic and planet.  Bathsheba Demuth is an assistant professor of history and environment and society at Brown University. She is an environmental historian, specializing in the lands and seas of the Russian and North American Arctic. She is interested in how the histories of people, ideas, places, and non-human species intersect. Her interest in northern environments and cultures began when she was 18 and moved north of the Arctic Circle in the Yukon. For over two years, Demuth mushed huskies, hunted caribou, fished for salmon, tracked bears, and otherwise learned to survive in the taiga and tundra. Demuth’s book Floating Coast: An Environmental History of the Bering Strait, published in 2019, offers a comprehensive history of Beringia, the Arctic land and waters stretching from Russia to Canada. These frigid lands and waters became the site of an ongoing experiment: How, under conditions of extreme scarcity, would modern ideologies of capitalism and communism control and manage the resources they craved? Demuth’s lecture is free and open to the public. Registration is required to participate in the live Zoom event. Register at ohc.uoregon.edu. The talk will be recorded and available for viewing on the OHC’s YouTube channel. For more information contact ohc@uoregon.edu.

Quench your thirst for knowledge at Ideas on Tap, the Museum of Natural and Cultural History's monthly pub talk—now served online! This month, join University of Oregon music theorist Drew Nobile for a look at the chorus in rock and pop songs—and how it has evolved since its emergence in the 1960s. THREE WAYS TO WATCH: Register to participate on Zoom, watch it live on our Facebook page, or catch it later on our YouTube channel. While we won't be gathering in person, you can still support our friends at Viking Braggot Company Southtowne the night of the event! Stream Ideas on Tap from your device at one of their outdoor tables, or place a to-go order and enjoy their great food and braggots at home.

earn and play from home—museum style! Preschoolers and their adults can join us online for our popular Little Wonders program, featuring stories, hands-on activities, and more. This month, we're exploring tall trees, mini mushrooms, feathery ferns and other plants that call the forest home! Head to Little Wonders Online beginning Friday, May 21 and join the fun! We'll also enjoy a live, virtual story time that morning at 10:30. Preregistration is required for the story time and space is limited to 25 participants. There is no cost to participate. Want a little help gathering the materials? We now have Little Wonders activity kits, available for pick-up at the museum starting Thursday, May 20. Kits are $5 each; MNCH members are entitled to two free kits each month; discounted kits are available to Oregon Trail or other EBT card holders. Supplies are limited and kits are available on a first- come, first-served basis. Pick up your kit Thursday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.* You can also request to have your kits mailed to you. Complete the request form at https://mnch.uoregon.edu/form/little-wonders-activity-kit-request. *Open hours are subject to change. Before you pick up your kit at the museum, please call 541-346-3024 or visit our website for the most current information: mnch.uoregon.edu/visit

Join artist Ray Troll and paleontologist Edward Davis for a fun-filled evening of science and art! You'll dive into the natural history of Oregon's colossal spike-toothed salmon, learn about Ray Troll's artistic process during a live drawing session, then draw your own spike-toothed salmon as Edward and Ray answer your questions. The workshop will be held live on Zoom. Preregistration is required. The cost to participate is $5; free for MNCH members. Visit https://mnch.uoregon.edu/learn/virtual-workshops to learn more and register. This program is made possible with support from the University of Oregon’s Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics.

Learn and play from home—museum style! Preschoolers and their adults can now join us online for our popular Little Wonders program, featuring stories, hands-on activities, and more. This month is about all about salmon! Dive in and learn about where they live, what they eat, and their amazing journeys from river to ocean and back again. Head to Little Wonders Online beginning Friday, June 18 and join the fun! We'll also enjoy a live, virtual story time that morning at 10:30. Preregistration is required for the story time and space is limited to 25 participants. There is no cost to participate. Want a little help gathering the materials? We now have Little Wonders activity kits, available for pick-up at the museum starting Thursday, June 17. Kits are $5 each; MNCH members are entitled to two free kits each month; discounted kits are available to Oregon Trail or other EBT card holders. Supplies are limited and kits are available on a first- come, first-served basis. Pick up your kit Thursday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.* You can also request to have your kits mailed to you. Complete the request form at https://mnch.uoregon.edu/form/little-wonders-activity-kit-request. *Open hours are subject to change. Before you pick up your kit at the museum, please call 541-346-3024 or visit our website for the most current information: mnch.uoregon.edu/visit

The Museum of Natural and Cultural History will be closed on Sunday, July 4. We will reopen Thursday with regular hours.

Learn and play from home—museum style! Preschoolers and their adults can join us online for our popular Little Wonders program, featuring stories, hands-on activities, and more. This month is all about shapes found in nature—from swirls to stars! Adventure with us as we find shapes all around us. Head to Little Wonders Online beginning Friday, July 16 and join the fun! We'll also enjoy a live, virtual story time that morning at 10:30. Preregistration is required for the story time and space is limited to 25 participants. There is no cost to participate. Want a little help gathering the materials? We now have Little Wonders activity kits, available for pick-up at the museum starting Thursday, July 15. Kits are $5 each; MNCH members are entitled to two free kits each month; discounted kits are available to Oregon Trail or other EBT card holders. Supplies are limited and kits are available on a first- come, first-served basis. Pick up your kit Thursday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.* You can also request to have your kits mailed to you. Complete the request form at https://mnch.uoregon.edu/form/little-wonders-activity-kit-request. *Open hours are subject to change. Before you pick up your kit at the museum, please call 541-346-3024 or visit our website for the most current information: mnch.uoregon.edu/visit

Learn and play from home—museum style! Preschoolers and their adults can join us online for our popular Little Wonders program, featuring stories, hands-on activities, and more. This month is all about ancient animals. Move like a mammoth, leap like a saber-toothed cat, and learn about other amazing inhabitants from Oregon's deep past. Head to Little Wonders Online beginning Friday, August 20 and join the fun! We'll also enjoy a live, virtual story time that morning at 10:30. Preregistration is required for the story time and space is limited to 25 participants. There is no cost to participate. Want a little help gathering the materials? We now have Little Wonders activity kits, available for pick-up at the museum starting Thursday, August 19. Kits are $5 each; MNCH members are entitled to two free kits each month; discounted kits are available to Oregon Trail or other EBT card holders. Supplies are limited and kits are available on a first- come, first-served basis. Pick up your kit Thursday through Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.* You can also request to have your kits mailed to you. Complete the request form at https://mnch.uoregon.edu/form/little-wonders-activity-kit-request. *Open hours are subject to change. Before you pick up your kit at the museum, please call 541-346-3024 or visit our website for the most current information: mnch.uoregon.edu/visit