Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association To Host Dr. Rich Blundell for Science Speaker Series

September 19, 2024

NANTUCKET, MA—The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Dr. Rich Blundell, as a featured presenter for its September Science Speaker Series. His presentation will take place on Wednesday, September 25 at 7pm via Zoom. This event is free to all.


“Harbor Monitoring Project Report #1: Deployment, Preliminary Data, and Interpretations”


In this presentation, Dr. Richard Blundell will present the activities concerning the MMA’s oceanographic research buoy's deployment and interpret some of the initial data. Blundell will also discuss the logic and findings of the decisions and considerations for collaborative research as the project progresses.

Blundell is an ecologist and philosopher working at the convergence of art, science, nature, and culture. As the founder of Oika, his research examines how transformation happens across the scales of person, place, and planet. As a communicator, Blundell tells a scientific story of the universe that includes art and human creativity as natural phenomena. His research and work have received numerous grants and awards including, an ongoing TIDES innovators award, The National Science Foundation grant for Science Out There, the Michael Brinkman Award, The Deep Time Values video award for An Earth Story, The Macquarie University Innovation in Scholarship award for The Cosmosis1 Explorer app, an Oculus Creators Award for In the Light of the Forest VR, and nomination for the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival Best New Media for “Saving Grey’s Zebra.” Blundell’s creative video work has appeared on PBS, National

Geographic, and numerous social media platforms. He is currently the Scientist-In-Residence at the Maria Mitchell Association.


To register for this event via Zoom, please follow the link below:


https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LDU0-aFvRAChPQF-GoRkeA#/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.

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For Immediate Release

September 19, 2024

Contact: Jonelle Gurley

jgurley@mariamitchell.org

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Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • November 24, 2025
Nov. 15, 1876. Congress. The Woman’s congress met in Philadelphia. The papers were numerous and excellent. Mrs. Howe’s on paternity the most successful. Grace Anne Lewis, ABB [Antoinette Brown Blackwell], Mrs. Diaz [Abby Morton Diaz], Mrs. Perus and others had very good papers. The newspaper treated us very well. The institutions opened their doors to us, the centennials gave us a reception. But – we didn’t have a good time! 1 st . The Hall was a very bad one to speak in, almost no one could be heard. 2 nd . The Women’s committee of Philadelphia led by Mrs. Bartol, attempted to control us . . . Several women protested via passed note to Maria Mitchell that they did not want to discuss suffrage for women at the Congress. Really? Why were they even there then? Apparently, they were afraid (I can see that). Ultimately, papers were presented and discussed concerning women’s suffrage. They even had people oppose the nomination of Julia Ward Howe as President. A small group of women offered up other nominations with one finally saying that the new president needed to be from the west, implying there was too much northeast representation on the board. Maria was not pleased in the least. Ultimately, Julia Ward Howe became President. JNLF

Curator Almost Eaten By Large Lobster

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • November 17, 2025
Clementine has finally molted! We at the MMA have been awaiting this for quite some time so I decided to re-post an old blog about Clementine. Well, not quite. But, part of my job is to also take care of all of the MMA properties. So, I headed over to check on one and what cleaning supplies are needed for the summer and for our staff spring clean-up of the site. In one room, some of the animals from the Aquarium over-winter. One of those is “our” lobster, Clementine, so-called because she is orange in color. (Orange lobsters are five times rarer than blue lobsters and only one in ten million lobsters are orange.) She is fairly active and though the hope is that she “sleeps” a bit for the winter, she doesn’t seem to. So, enter curator into room who glances over and hopes the lobster does not “run” to the side of the tank asking to be fed. Yes, she really does that – she has gotten used to people. I always hate it because I feel guilty – I do not feed her because that falls to the Natural Science Department and I do not want to hurt her or her schedule in any way. In any case, “Whew!” She actually seemed quiet at the back of the tank. Maybe she was “sleeping.” I kept moving to the next room and glanced back. Low and behold, she was at the front of the tank waving her claws! Seriously? So I kept moving on – after telling her, “I can’t feed you,” – and she went to the back of the tank again! Another, “Whew!” I decided to text Emily, our Director of Natural Science (at that time), and relay what happened. I get a text back. “You can feed her if you want.” “Really?” I texted back. “What do I give her?” So, Clementine then ran back to the front of the tank when she saw me opening the freezer and taking out the mussels and a shrimp. I got another text from Emily: “Use the forceps to hand them to her.” Well, I wasn’t about to put my hand in there! So, I get the shrimp, put it in the forceps, open the top of the tank and start to put my hand down, and INSTANTLY two HUGE lobster claws come out of the tank and grab not the shrimp but the forceps! I wish I had a picture. I was afraid she was going to take the forceps. And then, I was afraid my hand was going to be her lunch. I could not get her to release the forceps – it was a battle royale though the battle was more on her part because I was afraid I would break her claw! After some twisting of the forceps and tugging, she finally relented, took the shrimp, and began her lunch. Another, “Whew!” I was afraid I was either going to hurt her or I was going to be explaining to my three-year old what happened to Mommy’s hand at work. Veuve Clicquot with that, Clementine? Apparently, someone else knew what transpired with the lobster. As I left the building, a male mallard duck was paddling around in the rather large puddle – if you can call it that – located on the property. We have recently had a large amount of rain. He was laughing (I mean quacking) at me. In all seriousness, I have never met a lobster with so much personality. Yes, personality. Clementine may just have changed my tune on lobster rolls. JNLF

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By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • November 10, 2025
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