ThoughtGallery.org > Featured > Mother Nature: Upcoming Events About the World Above, Beneath & Around Us

Mother Nature: Upcoming Events About the World Above, Beneath & Around Us

Posted on Posted by

By Troy Segal

Learn more about our “daily planet” with these New York City summertime lectures, discussions, and activities that focus on nature and the Earth.

Photo: nybg.org

Photo: nybg.org

GARDEN VARIETY: To herald the awakening of everyone’s favorite flower, the New York Botanical Garden is throwing its Rose Garden Celebration. The two-day party, running June 7-8, features tours, Q&A’s with gardeners, and live entertainment … On June 14, reviving a charming 19th-century custom, a Brooklyn Botanic Garden instructor teaches children how to create a nature journal—then leads a specimen-finding expedition around the grounds. (Please, do touch the flowers!).

sixth-extinction

NATURAL PHENOMENON: New Yorker staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert discusses evidence of a looming mass extinction—the last one wiped out the dinosaurs—in a talk with futurist novelist Nathaniel Rich at the New York Public Library on June 9 … Earthquakes seem to be occurring with growing frequency. Through video and sound effects, you can virtually experience them in this Hayden Planetarium program on June 25, which explains what they are, why they happen, and the effects of these seismic waves coursing through our planet … A New York University professor leads you to “Understanding Climate Change” (and why it’s so hard to change our ways) at a 92nd Street Y lecture and book-signing on July 17.

Naomi Reis: Vertical Garden (Weeds), 2007. Collection of Katarina Maxianova and Aaron Hagedorn

Naomi Reis: Vertical Garden (Weeds), 2007. Collection of Katarina Maxianova and Aaron Hagedorn

MAN-MADE EFFORTS: As China turns to gas fracking to sustain its need for energy, what are the ramifications for the country in particular and the global climate in general? Find out in a panel discussion at the Asia Society and Museum on June 11 … Faced with food shortages back in the 1990s, the people of Cuba began planting gardens in every nook of their towns—a farming lesson for the future? Hear more at this 92nd Street lecture on August 21 … Three artists, whose work is on view in the Museum of Biblical Art exhibit Back to Eden, reflect on how contemporary art reflects current environmental movements and eco-activism in a panel discussion on August 21.