As the Academy celebrates biodiversity — the remarkable, beautiful tapestry of life on Earth — this year, we are delving into some of the fascinating locations our scientists have visited in the region and across the globe to study and help protect our planet’s phenomenally diverse and incredible species.  The Pine Barrens  Ron Smith, an instructor with Drexel University’s Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science, and his group of volunteer community scientists were lured deep in into the swampy thicket of Wharton State Forest in the New Jersey Pine Barrens on the ..read more

City Nature Challenge is back for 2022! The CNC is a friendly global competition where residents of more than 300 cities compete to see who can record the most wildlife. From April 29 to May 2, explorers, nature lovers and citizen scientists will be documenting the plants, animals and fungi in Philadelphia and surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Observations made during the four days of the challenge can continue to be identified through May 8. Results are announced on May 9. Participation is easy: Any observation on iNaturalist, geotagged from anywhere in the designated area ..read more

On the East Coast between two large metropolitan cities — Philadelphia and New York City — there’s a surprisingly large corridor of green forest. The first of the nation’s National Reserves, these one million acres are known as the New Jersey Pinelands. It is one of the last, and largest, examples of an Atlantic Coastal Plain ecosystem and a Global Biodiversity Hotspot, as designated by Conservation International.  Commonly called the Pine Barrens, this preservation is an ecological habitat that includes thousands of s ..read more

As a researcher at the Academy of Natural Sciences, I am a strong supporter of protecting natural areas and the importance of biodiversity for its own sake. But I know I live in a world where our human society can so easily function without considering the diversity of the estimated two billion species inhabiting the earth with us. Two billion!! That is twice the population of North, Central and South America combined! Considering the mixture of life on earth, it is quite baffling to consider the influence of humans — one species — on our eart ..read more

Mark your calendars for City Nature Challenge 2021! The CNC is a friendly global competition where residents of more than 300 cities compete to see who can record the most wildlife. From April 30 to May 3, we’ll be documenting the plants, animals and fungi in Philadelphia and surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Identification phase runs from May 4 to May 9 before results are announced on May 10.  Participation is easy: Any observation on iNaturalist, geotagged from anywhere in the designated area (Philadelphia, Bucks, Delaware and Montgomery counties in Pennsylv ..read more

The Academy has long been a home for women scientists to learn, research, collaborate and build their careers. With March being designated Women’s History Month, we thought it a good time to get to know a few of the people who are continuing that legacy. JOCELYN SESSA, PhD  Jocelyn Sessa, PhD, is the Assistant Curator of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Academy of Natural Sciences and an Assistant Professor in Drexel’s Department of Biodiversity, Earth and Environmental Science.  Curating the Invertebrate Paleontology Collection means supervising the Academy’s collection of organis ..read more

Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival is excited to bring the wonders of the planet straight to your living room with its virtual film festival September 23-27. The 2020 Festival aims to use the power of exceptional environmental films to entertain, inform and inspire personal action. “We are honored to bring the beloved Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival directly to Philadelphians via our state-of-the-art online platform,” said Executive Director Debra Wolf Goldstein. “This year’s Festival showcases critical environmental issues and will captivate audiences with films showing the be ..read more

I have a great job because I get to explore nature. Sometimes it is in the remotest places, but more often it is inside of the walls of this museum — in our labs, in our research collections, and in exhibits like Survival of the Slowest. I walk through this exhibit and find it exciting because it makes us ask questions. For students, scientists — and anyone at any age who is a lifelong learner — being curious and asking questions is what it is all about! Questions can be thinking to yourself, or verbalized with your family, friends, a teacher, or an Academy staff member. This may sound odd co ..read more

Nature is all around us, but a funny thing is happening now that people have been largely confined to their homes for months because of COVID-19. They’re taking notice! With vacations dashed and many destinations still shuttered, grand plans for fun and relaxation have shrunk to what can be done in the backyard, front stoop, balcony, and looking out the window. Turns out there’s plenty to do, and health experts advise dialing up your creativity to find new ways to enjoy the great outdoors from your own home. Studies by the Centers for Disease Control show that time outdoors boosts our physica ..read more

Wildlife Photographer of the Year, an exhibition of exceptional images that capture fascinating animal behavior and the breathtaking diversity of the natural world, opens March 29 at the Academy. Developed and produced by the Natural History Museum, London, the exhibit features the 100 awarded images from this year’s entries. Launched in 1965, Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the longest running nature photography competition in the world, and in its most recent competition it received 48,000 submissions from 100 countries. The Moment by Yongqing Bao, China. Joint Winner 2019, Behavi ..read more