The natural world is at a critical moment of crisis. With climate change, plastic pollution, and overfishing of our oceans, multiple issues have converged in recent years which require bold solutions. The historians and environmental policy experts at the United Kingdom’s Natural History Museum are addressing these concerns directly with the exhibit “Our Broken Planet: How We Got Here and Ways to Fix It.”

Global Minnesota joined UK Natural History Museum for a virtual look at these exhibits. They discussed the major environmental issues facing the planet today and what actions can still be taken to avoid the worst-cast scenarios of climate catastrophe. In addition to this exhibition, they also talked about other exhibitions on tour and shared some details about how these got out on the road.

 

Speakers

Felicity Sylvester

Felicity works in the Touring Exhibitions department at the Natural History Museum in London organizing the tour stops of exhibitions such as Wildlife Photographer of the Year and Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature at museums, galleries, festivals (and sometimes, even cathedrals) across North America and around the world. Felicity moved into the museum sector after years working in publishing houses in the UK and brought her experience in account management and contract negotiation to the Museum. She received her BA with Honors in American and Latin American Studies from the University of Nottingham, has worked and studied in Spain, Chile and Portugal and speaks fluent Spanish. Felicity regularly attends the American Alliance of Museums conference and the Association of Science and Technology Centers conference, enjoys discovering the breadth and depth of the North American museum sector, and loves walking past the Museum’s Sophie the Stegosaurus (the world’s most complete Stegosaur skeleton found in Wyoming) on the way to the office.


Hanna Schieve

A North Dakota/Minnesota native, Hanna works in the Director’s Office at the Natural History Museum in London where she focuses on supporting the translation of the NHM’s ambitious Strategy to 2031 into actions and progress. Prior to this, Hanna gained wide-ranging experience working in policy and politics across the US and the UK, including at the House of Commons, the United States Senate, and the Pacific Council on International Policy in Los Angeles. Hanna received her Master’s degree from the London School of Economics where she specialized in conflict and genocide studies, and also holds a BA with Honors in Letters and Science and a double major in Political Science and French from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Photo courtesy of ROM (Royal Ontario Museum), Toronto, Canada. ©ROM

Presented in partnership with the UK Natural History Museum.

 

 

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