Join us for the 13th Annual Natural History Festival, a fun and exciting day of fossils, marine specimens, minerals, ecology, and more! Admission: Free for members or with paid museum admission.

Schedule: 10:00AM: Fossil Hunters TV Show Have you tuned into Fossil Hunters on Wednesday evenings at 7:30 p.m.? Here is your chance to meet the cast! Join Zach, Allison, Dave, Trish, John, Linda, Don, and April as they share a video summary of their first season of discoveries highlighting the only television series being broadcasted on fossil hunting.

Various guest fossil hunters from the series will be in attendance as well. See some of the most exciting adventures these "fossil heads" have had over the last three years and stay for a Q&A session with the cast following a special video presentation of the "Best of Fossil Hunters." 11:00AM: River of Grass, River of Time: The State of the Everglades in 2018 with Clayton Ferrer There is only one Everglades, but the future of this national treasure is uncertain. Learn about the history, troubled past, and unfolding future of the REAL Florida's most celebrated natural treasure. About Clayton Louis Ferrara Clay is a formally trained biologist and the first American to be named a Darwin Scholar by the Field Studies Council in London for his achievements as a young naturalist under 30. Now, he is the Executive Director of the United Nations Accredited NGO, IDEAS for Us, where he works to develop, fund, and scale environmental and social solutions around the world. 12:00PM: 40 Years of Exploring Volusia Ecosystems with David Griffis Volusia County has many unique ecosystems throughout the county. Join environmentalist, David Griffis, and discover unique plants and animals that inhabit pine uplands, wetlands, coastal ecosystems, and more. About David Griffis David Griffis is currently an adjunct faculty member of Stetson University in the Environmental Science and Studies Department. Prior to that, for 39 years he worked for the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Science. He retired as the UF IFAS County Extension Director. 1:00PM: A Short History of Nearly Everything with Jeff Rodgers Join Jeff Rodgers, Provost of the South Florida Museum, for a fascinating scientific journey from "nothing" to the world we see around us today. Along the way, we will take a look at the Big Bang, the origins of matter and energy, the first stars, the creation of elements, the formation of habitable planets, the origins and evolution of life, and the uniquely human adaptations that allowed us to forge our modern world. About Jeff Rodgers Jeff Rodgers is Provost and Chief Operating Officer of the South Florida Museum in Bradenton, Florida, He has been with the Museum for thirteen years, and served as the Museum's Director of Education and Director of Bishop Planetarium prior to taking his current position. He came to Florida from the American Museum of Natural History and Hayden Planetarium in New York City, where he worked for nine years as an educator and lecturer. Despite his current administrative roles, he is at heart a science communicator, spending the bulk of his time trying to de-mystify the universe and our place in it. 2:00PM: Smithsonian Environmental Research in the Indian River Lagoon with Dr. Valeri Paul, Director of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Florida Often recognized as the most biodiverse estuary in the continental USA, the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) is part of the longest barrier island complex in the United States, spanning 156 miles from Pone de Leon Inlet in the Mosquito Lagoon to Jupiter Inlet near West Palm Beach. While algal blooms in the IRL have been documented for over 50 years, and fish kills and other environmental events have occurred in the past, these have become more frequent and extreme over the past decade. Ongoing research activities at the Smithsonian Marine Station and other research organizations focused on the IRL include better understanding the factors causing harmful algal blooms, their persistence, and termination, documenting the health of the lagoon system. About Dr. Valerie Paul Valerie Paul has served as Director of the Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Florida, since 2002. She received her B.A. from the University of California San Diego in 1979 with majors in Biology and Studies in Chemical Ecology and her Ph.D. in Marine Biology in 1985 from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Valerie joined the faculty of the University of Guam Marine Laboratory in 1985, served as Director of the Laboratory from 1991-1994, and as full Professor from 1993-2002. Valerie studies the ecological roles of marine toxins and other bioactive compounds (natural products) from marine plants and animals and their natural functions in the marine environment. She has specialized in studying the ecology and chemistry of blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria) blooms, including looking for beneficial biomedical uses of the compounds. Valerie recently led a 3-year project at the Smithsonian Marine Station designed to understand the diversity of marine invertebrates in the northern IRL and their functions in mitigating algal blooms. Valerie was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1996 and was elected and served as chairperson of the Marine Natural Products Gordon Research Conference in 2000. Valerie and her collaborators have published over 275 research articles in scientific journals and books.

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Natural History Festival at The Museum of Arts & Sciences