World Penguin Day

As a child, my older brother loved penguins.  He collected penguin stuffed animals, and over the years, a small colony of penguins collected in our house.  Some of them were specific kinds of penguins; others were just tuxedo penguins.  One year for Christmas my parents gave him a large, upright macaroni penguin – so named because of his thatch of macaroni-colored hair – and  another year, an Emperor penguin.  Sometime after that, he added a generic penguin with soft fur and floppy wings to the collection, then a penguin with a striped hat.

But his favorite penguin was a small, knobbly penguin with a black-and-red striped scarf.  His name was Mr. Penguin, and though he was small, he was the oldest, and like all old things, he was the most loved.  Today, while the other penguins sit next to my brother’s dresser, Mr. Penguin has a place of honor on the bookshelf.

I think, like all of us, he liked the penguins’ upright sturdiness, their big webbed feet and seemingly useless wings.  Portly and slow walking, the only birds that cannot fly, penguins seem friendly and approachable, like animals a young boy could befriend.  And my brother surely liked the distinctive tuxedo that a penguin sports.

April 25 is World Penguin Day – this Wednesday, the penguins will start their migration northward.  Because the southern hemisphere is entering the winter season, the days are getting shorter and shorter, and some species of penguins cannot see very well in the dark.  To survive, they head north, and for the duration of the winter, they’ll vacation on some floating ice, catch krill and fish to eat, and swim in the ocean. 

We sometimes think of penguins as “the birds that can’t fly,” or just “the tuxedo birds.” But on closer look, a penguin’s style is carefully adapted for its environment.  Their wings may not support them in flight, but their shape makes them excellent flippers, helping a penguin glide through the water with ease.  Their tuxedo, too, helps them in the water – when a penguin’s in the water, their black suit jackets hide them from orcas and seals.

Today, my brother no longer collects penguins, but on a trip to the San Diego Zoo last year, he and I excitedly considered the possibility of seeing real, live penguins in the zoo.  After years of collecting penguins, we could see real life ones, and so we watched flamingos, chimpanzees, and gorillas thinking that a penguin would be just around the corner. 

Finally, we decided to ask a zoo staff member, who told us we had to go to Sea World.  “There’s polar bears here, though,” she said, seeing our crestfallen faces. 

So, we trekked to the polar bear station, and though we had wanted to see penguins, we were pleasantly surprised by the polar bears.  The polar bear cubs played with carrots and toys, reminding us of our dog at home.  Their white fur glistened in the sun. But polar bears and penguins are not equal.  Polar bears are sometimes flashy: we’ve admired pictures of polar bears, seen them on Coke bottles, watched documentaries in which polar bears hunt for food and protect their young. 

Penguins, on the other hand, may have gotten their time in the sun with March of the Penguins, but somehow don’t carry the same flash that a polar bear does: to start, they don’t advertise soda.  But every year, they always migrate northward, and every year, they come back to the ice.  Every year, they huddle together to keep warm in the face of a stinging winter.  And every year, they dive into the water to swim with the same grace of a flying bird.  We simply cannot see their diving the way we see a bird fly.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate a penguin and their down-to-earth style.  After all, in each of our lives, we have a penguin: the person who works hard behind the scenes, the person who’s always sturdy and supportive.  We may have polar bears in our lives, who flit in and out of our stories, but the penguins in our lives always come back.  Penguins live far away, but they’re not so different from us – so, on April 25, look southward, and then look for the penguin in your own life. 

Make sure to stop by the museum to visit the couple of penguins in Hageboeck Hall of Birds.

 

-Written by MNH Volunteer Catherine Babikian

National Volunteer Week

National Volunteer Week April 15-21, 2012

Ashlee Gloede, Assistant Education and Outreach Coordinator

The University of Iowa Museum of Natural History is very honored each year to celebrate National Volunteer Week. National Volunteer Week was established in 1974 under President Richard Nixon to recognize and celebrate the efforts of volunteers throughout the United States. National Volunteer Week is just not about thanking our current volunteers, but also encouraging people of all ages to volunteer. 

 The University of Iowa of Museum of Natural History has over 20 regular volunteers who dedicate time each week to help the museum grow and succeed. We have a very small permanent staff, so volunteers are heavily relied on to help with the collections, programs, tours, and special events. A majority of our volunteers work at the front desk in our main gallery, so they are the face of the museum when visitors arrive.

I believe the Museum of Natural History has some of the greatest volunteers! A majority of our volunteers are UI students since we are conveniently located in the heart of UI campus. I am proud to say that our program is starting to expand!  We currently have students from elementary through high school volunteering on a weekly basis at the museum.

This year the Museum of Natural History is celebrating National Volunteer Week in a unique way. Our volunteers are getting the opportunity to participate in a behind-the-scenes tour of our collection spaces. These spaces are not open to the public, so this is an exciting opportunity for everyone. Also in accordance with National Volunteer Week, the Pentacrest Museums (Museum of Natural History and Old Capitol Museum) are hosting its 6^th annual Family Weekend on the Pentacrest. Family Weekend is Saturday April 21 from 10am-5pm and Sunday April 22 from 1pm-5pm. The Museum of Natural History hosts a selection of environmentally themed programs throughout the weekend, including arts and crafts activities and several talks and demonstrations. This event could not be done without the help of all our volunteers! This year our goal in honor of National Volunteer Week is to get 100 volunteer hours or more throughout the week. 

Below is a link to the Volunteer Appreciation Video made by the UIMNH Education Staff
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULywIEyAYUA

-Written by Assistant Education Coordinator Ashlee Gloede

Leap into National Frog Month!

I grew up on fairy tales as a child.  I can never quite remember where I learned that Cinderella’s magic would run out at midnight or that Red Riding Hood was saving her grandmother from the wolf, but I had learned all these stories (particularly the Disney varieties) by the time I started school.  So had all the other girls I went to school with; we argued endlessly over who was the best Disney princess, hashing out these fairy tales time and time again.

But now that April is National Frog Month, I can remember another fairy tale.  A princess, ensconced in pink, shimmering tulle, skips out into the yard to play with a golden ball – but the ball bounces into the pond and the domain of a charming frog.  In order to get her favorite ball back, the princess has to befriend him despite her initial reluctance.  But it turns out that this frog is really a prince, turned into a frog by some spiteful witches; he needs the princess’ kiss to turn him back into a prince again. 

She kisses him, of course, and he turns out to be a handsome prince, as promised, and they live happily ever after.

But while Museum of National History has its own share of frogs this spring, none of them are handsome princes waiting in the wings.   Instead, the frogs are part of the museum’s “wet collection” – thousands of preserved aquatic species, some of which are on display outside Iowa Hall. 

Most of them are kept long-term in an ethanol solution, which helps to preserve the skeletal systems and the soft tissue of the animals; this kind of storage allows researchers to study them long after they were originally found.  The museum even has some specimens that were found during excavations in the early 20^th century, originating from places as near as the California coast and as far as New Zealand: the careful storage of these animals means we can still look at the fish today. 

 To a modern-day viewer, however, the jars can look eerie.  At first glance, the frogs almost swim in their yellow solution, but at second, they’re stuck in time for what seems like an eternity.  Their fixed positions mean we can look at them for minutes at a time, unlike the frog who hops away with the princess’ golden ball.  We can turn away for a second and look back, and they will still be there; we can come back another day, or another month, and they will still be there.

Such is the nature of all preserved animals: almost, but not quite. But there’s much to learn from these frogs.  They’re always there, giving us the benefit of multiple glances, multiple examinations, when so many things are gone in a second.  Each time we look, we see something different.  It doesn’t have to be an earth-shattering revelation about frogs, but a simple observation or a new understanding to take with us. 

And with this knowledge, gleaned from the helpful tutelage of the frogs, this April we can step out into the yard in our pink tulle.  When our golden ball bounces into the pond, as it inevitably will, we know just a little more about the frog who charms us - even if he’s not a prince.

-Written by MNH Volunteer Catherine Babikian


Can you find these and other frogs around the Museum?