Shell museum to continue lecture series for milestone anniversary
In celebration of its 25-year anniversary milestone, the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum is presenting a lecture series available virtually and free of charge via Zoom. Extending through the fall, it will spotlight some of the diverse connections between shells and different fields of human endeavor.
“With a great program of speakers, we look forward to welcoming audience members wherever they are to learn about different ways in which shells and mollusks impact our lives, and vice versa,” museum Executive Director Sam Ankerson previously said.
The first four lectures in the “Celebrating 25 Years” series were: “Artistic Adaptations: 2,000 Years of Seashells in Art” on June 15; “Curator’s Choice: New Photographs of Extraordinary Shells, and the Digital Imaging Project at the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum” onJune 29; “Oysters: A Crystal Ball for Water Quality in Southwest Florida” on July 13; and “Supersized Squid” on July 27.
The series continues this month with the following lectures:
– Aug. 24 at 5 p.m.: “8,000 Years of Shells in the American Southeast: Archaeological Insights on the Ecology, Diet, Architecture, and Ritual of Ancient Native Americans” with Kenneth E. Sassaman, Hyatt and Cici Brown Professor of Florida Archaeology with the University of Florida
Ancestors of Native Americans began collecting freshwater shellfish in large numbers about 8,000 years ago. Marine shellfishing may have begun even earlier, but rising sea since the end of the Ice Age inundated the archaeological remains of coastal dwelling before about 5,000 years ago, when the rate of sea-level rise slowed. Beyond the value of shellfish meat to ancient diets, the inedible shells provided construction material for mounds, causeways, fish traps, and more. In addition, shells were valued as a ritual medium. Beads, gorgets, and ceremonial vessels made from shell attest to cosmological connections among water, earth and sky, and between the living and the dead. This overview of 8,000 years of dwelling in the American Southeast explores the myriad ways that shell structured the histories of ancient Native Americans.
– Sept. 16 at 5 p.m.: “Why Am I Growing Giant Clams in the Middle of the Arizona Desert?” with Dan Killam, Ph.D., researcher with Biosphere 2 and the University of Arizona
Giant clams are special among bivalve mollusks in using symbiotic algae within their bodies to speed up their growth, like corals do, yet little is understood of how they will fare in the face of climate change and ocean acidification. To look into the future and explore these questions further, Killam is growing smooth giant clams in a 700,000-gallon coral reef tank of the Biosphere 2 in Arizona to understand how they manage to grow their shells so quickly. In the Biosphere 2 “ocean,” juvenile giant clams have more than doubled in size in just one year and will eventually reach 2 feet long.
The controlled conditions of the tank provide a perfect setting to explore and experiment. As with corals, the partnership between giant clams and their internal algae only works within a narrow range of temperatures and pH levels. As the oceans grow warmer and more acidic, this relationship will be put under stress, reducing their growth. Killam will share insights from his groundbreaking research on the impacts of changing oceans on mollusks, featuring images and video of the Biosphere 2 facility.
– Oct. 20 at 5 p.m.: “Spooky Mollusks and Other Evils of the Deep: A Halloween Special” with Dr. José H. Leal, Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum science director and curator
To celebrate Halloween and in genuine vampire-seeking fashion, Leal will unmask the shocking lifestyles of ghastly and bloodcurdling mollusks. Get acquainted with vampire squid and snails, clams that live entombed for life, grave-robbing and corpse-eating snails, parasitic micromollusks addicted to blood, and other harrowing creatures of the molluscan universe.
The series is free, but advance registration is required at ShellMuseum.org/lecture-series.