NANTUCKET, MA—The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Pam Murphy and Kim Shulam of the Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket (MMAN), as featured presenters for its February Science Speaker Series. Their presentation will take place on Wednesday, February 26 at 7pm via Zoom. This event is free to all. Join Pam Murphy, the MMAN Executive Director, and Kim Schulam, the MMAN Vice President and Stranding Coordinator, in a discussion on the importance of seals and other marine mammals in maintaining a healthy marine ecosystem, and how we can all help keep these populations safe. The mission of the Marine Mammal Alliance Nantucket is to monitor, rescue, and protect marine mammals on Nantucket, advocate for their well-being, and educate the public. MMAN belongs to the Greater Atlantic Marine Mammal Stranding Network, and is among thirteen organizations dedicated to protecting, rescuing, and advocating marine mammals along the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Maine. You can learn more about the animals they rescue, their partner teams, useful tips, and statistical maps here: https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5d29b842996d44eea0c4517f71ecca4d Pam Murphy has been involved in animal rescue for many years, from creating a Be Kind to Animals Club at the age of seven, to being one of the founders of Nantucket Island Safe Harbor for Animals (NiSHA) in 2011; serving eight years as board president. Her extensive board experience with TWN, NiSHA, and NAC put her in a solid position to manage MMAN’s board and see it develop into a stronger organization, capable of attracting the donor support the mission deserves. A lifelong vegetarian, Pam has never been able to stand idly by when an animal is suffering. To be allowed to approach injured and entangled marine mammals legally and help was what drew her to MMAN. She became Level A trained, learning to restrain and disentangle seals and went on to attend a Cetacean Stranding Workshop with IFAW. “I have learned a great deal about marine mammals and how to help through the vast knowledge of my teammates.” Kim Schulam began visiting Nantucket in 2013 and fell in love with the remote, natural qualities of the island. A Biological Sciences major in college, she initially considered the fields of Marine Biology or Veterinary Medicine but ultimately pursued a career as a Physician’s Assistant. Now retired from medicine, she met former Stranding Coordinator Scott Leonard and learned of MMAN. She immediately joined the team and became Level A trained. She regularly attends IFAW’s Marine Mammal Mass Stranding training, and is 24-Hour HAZWOPER certified for oil spill wildlife rescue. Now a full-time resident of Nantucket, she serves as the team’s Stranding Coordinator and Board Vice President. She coordinated MMAN’s first team-conducted large whale necropsy last year and works closely with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to maintain the team’s Stranding Agreement as Nantucket's sole agency legally permitted to handle marine mammals. She feels strongly that humans have an obligation to marine life to help them survive given all we have done to injure them and destroy their environment. Pre-registration is required to attend Zoom. To register for Zoom, use the registration link below: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7UnSEop1RKyxgl0LBio2Kw#/registration This series is generously sponsored by our lead sponsor, Bank of America.  The Maria Mitchell Association was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. After she discovered a comet in 1847, Mitchell’s international fame led to many achievements and awards, including an appointment as the first female professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Maria Mitchell believed in “learning by doing” and today that philosophy is reflected in the MMA’s mission statement, programs, research projects, and other activities. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages ###

Good neighbors seem hard to come by these days. And, by these days, I mean the last thirty or more years. There are still good neighbors out there but many neighborhoods are not what they once were. People tend to be more insular, inside more often on devices, not outside tending to their yards or just sitting on the front porch. Children do not run rampant over yards and fences, multiple ages playing outside until the last gasp of daylight. Grown-ups are not inviting one another over for dinner or giving each other a hand as they once did. In elementary school, my best friend’s family moved in across the street (how lucky was I?!). Our bedrooms were directly opposite one another and we developed a flashlight signal to share from our windows. After Hurricane Gloria, without power for days, our two families gathered to clean out the refrigerators and freezers before things spoiled. Our father’s grilled it all on charcoal grills so we could have a hot feast – and save the food. Does that happen anymore? We are all more focused on ourselves than one another. The MMA recently lost a good neighbor. Nancy lived on Vestal Street for twenty-five or more years with her husband in a house that was once occupied by another good neighbor. I think a little osmosis might have been at work but also, simply, Nancy was a good neighbor. I would liken her to the “Mayor of Vestal Street.” She looked out for people, paid attention, invited her neighbors for dinner, and helped them out. She certainly helped the MMA out. She offered to garden – and re-did our Astronomer’s Cottage garden and side yard. She painted window boxes. She donated an old door she had so we could replace a rotting door we had. She donated a refrigerator – still humming along nicely in one of our dorms. She welcomed a Mitchell House intern into her home to look at the grain painting in her home from the nineteenth century as the intern worked to study the grain painting in the Mitchell House’s 1825 Kitchen. She attended our events. She was a member. She helped out in other areas of the MMA with advice and support. She swept at least weekly – if not more – the stones from our driveway that constantly tumbled into the street. She gave us plants, kept her eye on things, and looked out for our staff and interns, too. She even gave me a few dresses she could not wear and a baby gift when we brought our son home. She was a mensch. Finding out about her death knocked me down. I keep expecting her to be outside sweeping or walking her beloved dog or putting a new flower arrangement in her front window. She loved her historic home and she and her husband worked very hard to preserve it and also restore details that were lost over the last 100 or more years. She was an incredibly talented and smart person and had a whole other life in Boston where she worked for many years in human resources. I could not think of a better person to have such an occupation. She always had a smile on her face and was ready with support. Good neighbors are hard to come by. I hope that Nancy and her memory inspire a few more people to be good neighbors in this world. The step, however small, which is in advance of the world, shows the greatness of the person, whether that step be taken with brain, with heart, or with hands. – Maria Mitchell JNLF