Chicago Academy Of Sciences

THE MISSION OF CAS/PNNM IS TO CREATE A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PEOPLE AND NATURE THROUGH COLLABORATIONS, EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND COLLECTIONS, EXHIBITS AND PUBLIC FORUMS THAT FOSTER URBAN CONNECTIONS TO OUR REGION'S NATURE AND SCIENCE.

BIOLOGY AND COLLECTIONS: OUR SCIENTISTS HAVE BEEN DEDICATED TO DEVELOPING A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF REGIONAL PLANT AND ANIMAL SPECIES, IDENTIFYING ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS, AND WORKING TO CONSERVE AND RESTORE THREATENED POPULATIONS, INCLUDING BALTIMORE CHECKERSPOT BUTTERFLIES, BLANDING'S TURTLES, MONARCH BUTTERFLIES, REGAL FRITILLARY BUTTERFLIES, RUSTY PATCHED BUMBLE BEES, SMOOTH GREENSNAKES, AND WOOD FROGS. IN FISCAL YEAR 2022, 1,040 BUTTERFLY SURVEYS AND 486 DRAGONFLY SURVEYS WERE CONDUCTED AS PART OF THE NATURE MUSEUM'S COMMUNITY SCIENCE PROGRAMS. THIS IS THE LARGEST NUMBER OF DRAGONFLY SURVEYS CONDUCTED BY THE IOS AND THE SECOND LARGEST NUMBER OF BUTTERFLY SURVEYS CONDUCTED BY THE IBMN IN A SINGLE SEASON. NATURE MUSEUM SCIENTISTS PUBLISHED THREE ARTICLES IN CONSERVATION PHYSIOLOGY, HERPETOLOGICAL REVIEWS, AND PLOSONE, PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. TOPICS INCLUDED STUDIES OF REPTILE AND AMPHIBIAN HEALTH AND BUTTERFLY POPULATION DYNAMICS. ON JUNE 7, 2022, THE LIVING COLLECTIONS TEAM AND ECOLOGIST DAN THOMPSON RELEASED 117 HEADSTARTED BLANDING'S TURTLES INTO THE FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICT OF DUPAGE COUNTY. NATURE MUSEUM SCIENTISTS, UNDER CONTRACTS WITH THE LAKE AND DUPAGE COUNTY FOREST PRESERVES, ARE MONITORING THE REGION'S SMOOTH GREENSNAKE AND WOOD FROG POPULATIONS FOR EMERGING FUNGAL PATHOGENS. ADDITIONALLY, OUR LIVING COLLECTIONS STAFF ARE COLLABORATING CLOSELY WITH SCIENTISTS AND VETERINARIANS FROM THE LAKE AND DUPAGE FOREST PRESERVE DISTRICTS AND THE SHEDD AQUARIUM IN AN EFFORT TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE RECENT APPEARANCE REGIONALLY OF SHELL DISEASE, A FUNGAL PATHOGEN THAT AFFECTS BLANDING'S TURTLES. THIS YEAR, OUR COMMUNITY SCIENCE PROGRAM WELCOMED 254 NEW MONITORS TO SURVEY SITES, 10 RECRUITING AND TRAINING WORKSHOPS WERE PRESENTED TO 137 ATTENDEES, AND OVER 20 MILES OF NEW SURVEY ROUTES WERE MAPPED. WITH COLLECTIONS PROJECT STAFF NOW IN PLACE, THE TEAM IS MAKING PROGRESS WITH ACTIVITIES ON THE BOTANY PROJECT: DIGITALLY IMAGING SPECIMENS, MOUNTING LOOSE SPECIMENS, AND CATALOGUING SPECIMENS INTO THE COLLECTION. BOTANY DATA IS NOW BEING SHARED THROUGH THE CONSORTIUM OF MIDWEST HERBARIA'S ONLINE DATA PORTAL, EXPANDING OUR REACH FOR COLLECTIONS DATA. IN DECEMBER 2021, OUR COLLECTIONS DEPARTMENT BEGAN AN EXCITING COLLABORATIVE PROJECT THAT WOULD RESTORE A SERIES OF 1920'S SILENT FILMS MADE IN IRELAND BY LOCAL ORNITHOLOGIST BENJAMIN GAULT. THROUGH PARTNERSHIPS WITH BOTH THE IRISH FILM INSTITUTE AND SAN FRANCISCO SILENT FILM INSTITUTE, THESE FILMS ARE BEING DIGITIZED SO THEY CAN BE MADE AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC, OFFERING A RARE INTIMATE GLIMPSE AT LIFE IN IRELAND A CENTURY AGO. COLLECTIONS STAFF FILMED A VIDEO COLLECTIONS TOUR FOR IDIGBIO'S ANNUAL DIGITAL DATA IN BIODIVERSITY RESEARCH CONFERENCE, HELD IN MAY. IN ADDITION, COLLECTIONS STAFF HAVE DEVELOPED PROCESSES FOR ADDRESSING SENSITIVE NAMES IN COLLECTIONS AND ARE COLLABORATING WITH THE ARCTOS COMMUNITY TO INCORPORATE SIMILAR PROCESSES.

EDUCATION: CAS/PNNM IS DEDICATED TO EDUCATING CHICAGO AREA TEACHERS AND STUDENTS ABOUT NATURE AND SCIENCE, AND PROVIDES MORE HOURS OF IMMERSIVE TEACHING IN THE CHICAGO PUBLIC AND ARCHDIOCESE SCHOOLS THAN ANY OTHER MUSEUM IN CHICAGO. CAS/PNNM EDUCATION PROGRAMS ENHANCE STEM EDUCATION BY COMBINING SCIENCE CONTENT AND EDUCATIONAL BEST PRACTICES AND TRANSFORMING STUDENT AND TEACHER ATTITUDES TOWARDS SCIENCE. IN FISCAL YEAR 2022, CAS/PNNM EDUCATION PROGRAMS PROVIDED INTERACTIVE SCIENCE EDUCATION TO 15,000 STUDENTS AND 600 TEACHERS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS. THESE PROGRAMS INCLUDED INTENSIVE TRAINING AND RESOURCES THROUGH ONGOING PARTNERSHIPS WITH MORE THAN 190 CLASSROOMS IN SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT CHICAGO. DURING THE 2021-2022 SCHOOL YEAR, CAS/PNNM EDUCATORS ALSO TAUGHT 390 INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS TO MORE THAN 9,000 STUDENTS WHO PARTICIPATED IN FIELD TRIPS.

EXHIBITS AND GUEST EXPERIENCE & ENGAGEMENT: IN FISCAL YEAR 2022 THE MUSEUM RE-OPENED TO THE PUBLIC IN JULY 2021, FOLLOWING CLOSURE DUE TO THE PANDEMIC. FOLLOWING ALL RECOMMENDED SAFETY PROTOCOLS, WE OPENED TO ENTHUSIASTIC CROWDS, AS THE PANDEMIC HAD SHOWN THE IMPORTANCE OF CONNECTING WITH NATURE. THE NATURE MUSEUM'S AWARD-WINNING, SELF-CURATED TEMPORARY EXHIBIT WEATHER TO CLIMATE: OUR CHANGING WORLD RETURNED IN 2021, FOLLOWING A SIX-MUSEUM NATIONAL TOUR. THROUGH UPDATED FUN, INTERACTIVE, AND ENGAGING CONTENT, THIS EXHIBIT EXPLAINS THE SCIENCE BEHIND GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, AND EXPLORES HOW CLIMATE CHANGE AFFECTS HUMAN AND ANIMAL COMMUNITIES WORLD-WIDE. NEARLY 86,000 VISITORS ENJOYED THIS EXHIBIT, ALONG WITH MUSEUM FAVORITES SUCH AS THE JUDY ISTOCK BUTTERFLY HAVEN (THE MUSEUM'S INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED SIGNATURE 2,700-SQUARE-FOOT GREENHOUSE, HOME TO MORE THAN 1,000 FREE-FLYING BUTTERFLIES, REPRESENTING 40 SPECIES), MYSTERIES OF THE MARSH (SHOWCASING THE SEVEN TYPES OF LOCAL WETLANDS AND ANIMALS), BIRDS OF CHICAGO (FEATURING MORE THAN 115 LOCAL SPECIMENS AND THE SOUNDS THEY MAKE), AND MORE. THE NATURE MUSEUM COLLABORATES WITH EXTERNAL PARTNERS TO REACH AUDIENCES BEYOND LINCOLN PARK AND THE ADJACENT NEIGHBORHOODS. OUR MANY LONGSTANDING PARTNERSHIPS IN COMMUNITIES HELP CREATE NEW OPPORTUNITIES AS WELL. FOR EXAMPLE, THROUGH AN EXISTING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM PARTNERSHIP WITH CIBC BANK IN THE BRONZEVILLE AND LITTLE VILLAGE NEIGHBORHOODS, WE RECENTLY BEGAN A NEW PARTNERSHIP WITH THE CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARY (CPL), SPECIFICALLY IN THIS AREA. THIS PILOT COLLABORATION WAS CO-CREATED WITH THE CPL AND OFFERED FREE FAMILY PROGRAMMING ON-SITE. WE TESTED BOTH DROP-BY EVENTS AND MORE STRUCTURED EVENTS. WE PLAN TO GROW THIS CPL PARTNERSHIP BASED ON POSITIVE FEEDBACK FROM STAFF FROM BOTH ORGANIZATIONS AND FROM FAMILIES. EXPANDING ON OUR SUCCESSFUL 2020 DIGITAL INITIATIVES, WE CREATED WONDER WORKBOOKS. THESE FREE, PRINTED KIDS' ACTIVITY BOOKS, AVAILABLE AT CHICAGO PUBLIC LIBRARIES, HELP REDUCE BARRIERS FOR HOMES WITH NO INTERNET ACCESS. FEATURING THREE 40-PAGE VOLUMES (ALL ABOUT ANIMALS, BUTTERFLIES, AND REPTILES), THESE ARE DIVIDED INTO THREE PARTS (DRAWING/OBSERVING ANIMALS FROM OUR COLLECTIONS, GAMES & ACTIVITIES, AND NATURE JOURNAL & OBSERVATION SHEETS) TO HELP KIDS CONNECT TO NATURE IN THEIR OWN NEIGHBORHOODS. WE CONTINUE TO SEE THE GROWING DEMAND FOR HIGH-QUALITY ENGAGEMENT WITH SCIENCE AND NATURE; HELPING TO SATISFY THAT NEED BRINGS US INTO CLOSER CONNECTION TO CHICAGO AS A CITY AND AS A PART OF THE NATURAL WORLD. OUR ONLINE PROGRAMS HAVE WELCOMED PARTICIPANTS FROM 47 STATES. THE NATURE MUSEUM CONTINUES THE SUCCESS OF CURIOUS BY NATURE, WITH 16 EPISODES PRODUCED IN THE PAST FISCAL YEAR. THESE REACHED 1,875 YOUTUBE SUBSCRIBERS, REPRESENTING MORE THAN 65,000 TOTAL CURIOUS BY NATURE VIEWS ACROSS ALL CBN EPISODES AND 216,000 TOTAL YOUTUBE VIEWS ACROSS ALL CBN EPISODES AND SUPPLEMENTAL VIDEOS, INCLUDING ADVERTISING. SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN 2020, CURIOUS BY NATURE HAS REACHED 113,000 COMBINED VIEWS ACROSS ALL 57 EPISODES.