Oldest Natural History Museum Has Big Plans for Bicentennial

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The nation's oldest natural history museum will turn 200 years old in March and will mark the milestone with a yearlong celebration befitting its extraordinary history of research, exploration and discovery which continues today.

The yearlong Bicentennial of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University will feature a major new exhibition opening March 24 called The Academy at 200: The Nature of Discovery. A special series of Town Square programs, some led by world-renowned experts, will focus on today's critical environmental issues, and a science symposium will be held in the fall. For museum visitors, monthly themed activities, giveaways, and discounted admission days will provide fun and learning for the whole family.

The Bicentennial also marks the 30th anniversary of the Academy's acclaimed Women In Natural Sciences program for Philadelphia public high school girls. The first complete history of the Academy, a beautifully illustrated coffee-table book called A Glorious Enterprise: The Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the Making of American Science (University of Pennsylvania Press), already is available to order. And dinner, prepared by top chefs inspired by the Academy's specimen collections, will be served in October.

"This is an exciting time in the Academy's history as we charge forward into our third century as one of the world's great natural history museums," said Academy President and CEO George W. Gephart, Jr.

The history of the Academy is chock full of prominent people—John James Audubon, Charles Darwin, James Bond, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Jefferson, to name a few; big discoveries—one biologist described more than 5,500 organisms; and monumental achievements—the museum was the first in the world to display a dinosaur skeleton. The Academy's pioneering research continues to this day with groundbreaking studies on the Marcellus Shale in Pennsylvania, climate-change in Mongolia, and coral reef fishes in the Bahamas.

The institution's collection of more than 17 million plant and animal specimens, originally started at the first meeting of the Academy's founders, is a vital resource for researchers around the world. Late last year, the Academy became an affiliate of Drexel University, creating a nationally recognized powerhouse for discovery in the natural and environmental sciences.

Now the public can join in the excitement of the Bicentennial and connect with the Academy's commitment to shaping a sustainable future. Visit www.ansp.org/200.

SOURCE Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University