What a summer! Wow! Thank you for all the ways you have shown up and supported the MMA – we are so very grateful and humbled. This organization thrives on the synergy between our visitors, members, campers, donors, and our remarkable staff.
This summer – We hosted thirty-five amazing interns culled from 700 applications – these dedicated students worked in astronomy, natural history, marine biology, education, history, and organizational administration – we wish them the best as they return to school!
We moved our aquarium down the street and relocated our tiny historic ticket booth to be saved for our new project – a special thank you to The Land Bank for their years of support.
We hosted our annual Barn Owl Party with Dr. Bob Kennedy at Toni and Martin McKerrow’s home – little did we know it would be the last time we would see Bob, who passed away in July. We are grateful for Bob’s rich legacy at the MMA and plan to honor him in the near future (please stay tuned).
The Sea Shop adjacent to the MMA Aquarium at 32 Washington Street, opened to rave reviews of our merchandise and marine supplies.
We awarded the Maria Mitchell Visionary Award to the producer of “Every Little Thing” at the Nantucket Film Festival, which was generously supported by MMA board member, Karen Ketterer.
We hosted two Grandparents' Days and US Olympians at the new Aquarium location. We hosted our third annual Family Picnic with our good friends at Fisher Real Estate.
We dedicated the Seminar Room of the Vestal Street Observatory generously funded by Richard Wolfe in memory of his grandmother, Alice Amey. The renovation was completed in June by John Wise just in time for our REU Astronomy interns to use their new meeting and office space.
The alumni of The Seven Sisters once again gathered for their annual tea party in our garden on Vestal Street.
The Stargazer Gala, our largest annual fundraiser, took place at the home of Mark and Deb Beale in Polpis and we danced the night away.
The Nantucket Golf Club Foundation committed $1M dollars to our capital campaign, “The Ripple Effect,” for our Aquarium and Discovery Center, which we are currently and quietly raising money for – thank you Ed Hajim and Tommy Bressette for believing in us and our value to the community.
Our Harbor Monitoring Project Buoy launched from Great Harbor Yacht Club with support from Community Foundation for Nantucket's Remain Nantucket Fund, Osceola Foundation, Social Weaver Foundation, and The Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation we can now see in real time the health of the harbor.
We had 3 fabulous artists in residence at 33 Washington – Charity Grace Mofsen, Deblois Milledge, and Henry Michaelis.
The “Cassiopeia Collective” (our all women’s philanthropy circle) gathered on Vestal Street to see the impact of their support and hear Elizabeth Georgantas' vision for further design improvements.
The 1818 Society met for the first time, hosted by Kim Kozlowski and Tanya Forman at Galley Beach to learn about Maria Mitchell and how to help grow our capacity.
And we hosted more than 200 people at Surfside Beach to view the Perseids Meteor showers.
Cheers to all of you who showed up, gave generously, and believe in our mission and how we are helping to preserve the legacy of Maria Mitchell and her love of the sky, land, and sea of Nantucket.
Many thanks to the talented and dedicated staff and Board of the MMA, who make everything we do possible. You are making a difference, this summer, here on Nantucket, and by example in the world. “The Ripple Effect” is a powerful way to create lasting change, and it all spreads outward from you.
A unique and extremely popular collaborative walking tour with the MMA's Deputy Director and Curator of the Mitchell House, the Nantucket Preservation Trust, and the Nantucket Historical Association that looks at the changes in domestic life over four centuries and how it shaped homes, buildings, neighborhoods, and land use. Tour includes brief visits inside each building visited.
Registration is not necessary. Meet at the Oldest House at Sunset Hill at 10am.
$10 per participant, cash only.
Philanthropy: How to Make the Most of Your Charitable Giving by Richard M. Sotell
33 Washington Street
Monday, September 12 | 10 - 11am
Join the MMA and financial expert and top 401(k) advisor, Rich Sotell, for a discussion on how to make the most of your charitable giving. Sotell is considered an expert in the field, and will provide a variety of methods on making a charitable donation that generates a larger personal tax deduction than giving by check or credit card.
Sotell has been involved in the financial industry since 1975 and is a founder of the Kraematon Group, a leading 401(k) consulting firm, and is responsible for the operations of the 401(k) division. He has developed marketing programs for both banks and mutual fund companies in the areas of IRA and 401(k). Sotell is a tax law expert concerning distributions from qualified retirement plans and IRA’s. He has lectured on these subjects to insurance company executives, on radio, and at several professional education programs. Rich is currently a contributing member to several high level 401(k) advisory boards in the mutual fund and payroll industries. He was named by the Financial Times as a 2015 and 2016 “Top 401 Retirement Advisor,” a list of 401 elite professionals specializing in U.S. defined contribution plans.
This talk is free and open to the public but space is limited.
Join the curator of the Mitchell House for a walking tour concerning the lives of Maria Mitchell and Nantucket's famous and infamous women, as well as the lesser known women of our island. Learn why whaling, Quakerism, and the isolation of an island afforded these women opportunities that women elsewhere in America at the time were not afforded.
If white can be said to contain all colors, then flowers, as signifiers, contain every signified. It is not that flowers are meaningless — real flowers and plants, of course, are indifferent to interpretation — it is that painted flowers, depictions of flowers, are so overburdened and overlain with meanings and significance that they become, across all cultures and across the arc of all cultural histories, a repository for all possible meanings. They overflow.
In this class, we will delve into the 10,000+ ways one can conceptualize and handle a painting of flowers, looking at diverse examples of painters painting flowers over time. In partnership with the Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation, we will take a wildflower walk with Nantucket Conservation Foundation’s botanist, Kelly Omand, discovering our subject matter, sketching, and finding samples to work from. The next two days we will work back in the studio with water-based mediums to realize our own paintings.
MMA and NCF Members can register as AAN members to receive their tuition discount.This workshop is supported through the Massachusetts Cultural Council and the Nantucket Cultural District.
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.”
-Edith Andrews
Photo of Gull-billed Tern with Laughing Gull and Common Terns by Ginger Andrews
Keep Calm and Bird On September!
by Ginger Andrews
What makes a bird rare? There is more than one kind of rarity.
A species can show up in an unexpected, record-making location, never or seldom seen there before.
The Gull-billed Tern, found at Sachacha Pond in late August and still around at last report, has only been seen on Nantucket four times, ever. It had a close call, a brush with possible extinction, in the days of the plume trade. The late19th century fashion craze that made stuffed birds a global must-have hat decoration caused hunters to slaughter them wholesale, along with every other kind of tern, as well as Egrets and numerous others. But long-ago, regulations saved them in time, and fashion, ever fickle, made such accessories as out of date as the wind-up gramophone.
So the finders of the Gull-billed Tern drew kudos from ornithologists, a footnote in record books yet to be written, and the pleasure of discovery. But from a wider perspective, it has a robust global presence, and breeds perhaps as close to us as Long Island N.Y. So its rarity is really only a local phenomenon.
But there is another type of rarity: there may be so few that its very existence on the planet is threatened. Such is the Piping Plover, a North American endemic, with a population somewhere around 6,000 birds. For comparison, that is about a third of the winter population of Nantucket, distributed across the continental U.S. It has received a lot of concern from scientists and researchers, along with press coverage, regulatory protection, monitoring, and, inevitably, pushback from the bird-hating, beach-driving public.
Piping Plover are not easy to see, being the color of dry sand. Also, they are shorter than the average soda can and much more svelte. But with good equipment and a guide to the right location, one or more can be seen on Nantucket any day from April to October. This makes it hard for some people to accept as worthy of sacred status. But in many ways it deserves more respect than the local rarity-du-jour. Both definitions of rarity say more about us, perhaps, and our fashions of thought, than they do about birds; and this is also something to think about.
Nantucket Bird Walk
with Ginger Andrews
33 Washington Street
Sunday, September 8, 15, 22, and 29
7:45 - 10am
Explore Nantucket’s birdy landscapes and hidden nooks with local bird guide and Inquirer and Mirror columnist, Ginger Andrews. With so many varied habitats so close together, the Island is a great place to look and listen for birds. Our location out at sea makes for a fascinating mix of migratory species and year-round residents. Dry humor—always useful in a foggy environment—natural and human history, unexpected rarities, and other stories fill out the picture. Children 8 and up are welcome with an adult guardian. Loaner binoculars available. Wear sensible shoes, dress for the weather. You never know what may turn up.
This program meets at the MMA 33 Washington Street lawn at 7:45 AM. This program will be cancelled in the event of inclement weather and a ticket exchange issued for an alternative date.
Night-time has always had a mysterious appeal, which brings out a whole new cast of avian and other creatures. It requires patience, and a shift of consciousness from sight to hearing. Join the MMA's Field Ornithologist, Ginger Andrews, as we listen for calls of a variety of nocturnal animals and birds. We will watch for owls as they begin their nightly activity. While an owl sighting is not guaranteed, you will certainly be able to observe several fascinating nocturnal animal species.
This “Birding 101" series is aimed at discovering your unique birding style, learning tips and suggestions to locate and identify Nantucket's varied avian life with the MMA's Field Ornithologist and Inquirer and Mirror columnist, Ginger Andrews.
What is the allure of birding? We have always looked to birds to tell us what is happening in the world around us but there are almost as many ways to enjoy birds as there are birders.
Do you keep a collection of rocks, feathers, bones, shells, and other objects found in nature? If so, consider joining the MMA Adult Curious Kids (ACK) Club. This series of outings led by Dr. Rich Blundell, MMA Scientist-In-Residence, will investigate the histories and mysteries of many natural objects and phenomena of Nantucket. Bring your curiosity and found-objects for us to investigate together and share our adventures with the community.
You may have heard of a “Nantucket Sleigh Ride” but have you ever heard of the Nantucket Terrane Wreck? Did you know that some of the rocks and pebbles found on Nantucket were formed deep beneath a mysterious archipelago off the coast of Africa over 600 million years ago? Join MMA Scientist-In-Residence,
Dr. Rich Blundell, on an odyssey of Nantucket’s geological oddities. We will travel to prospecting sites around the island looking for clues to reconstruct the geological and glacial story of Nantucket Island.
This program is designed to be interesting for adults and children 12 and older.
This summer, the MMA has initiated a major project to monitor the health of Nantucket’s coastal environment. Activities include the deployment of a state-of-the-art oceanographic buoy moored in a strategic location within Nantucket Harbor. This buoy will record real-time changes in key water quality metrics including dissolved oxygen, pH, salinity, phytoplankton, and nitrate nutrient load. Join Dr. Rich Blundell, MMA Scientist-In-Residence, for coffee, education, updates about the MMA Ocean Acidification monitoring project, and inspiration about Nantucket Harbor and our unique ecological opportunity.
This program is designed to be interesting for all ages. Space is limited, RSVP by email is suggested.
Join MMA Executive Director, Joanna Roche, on a peaceful one hour walk under the light of the full Moon. Discover the legends and narratives of the past and present. Enjoy the tranquility of the quiet night sky and learn about our Moon's current themes and its important symbolism.
Photo by MMA Operations Manager, Laura Pless Freedman
Open Night Stargazing at Loines Observatory
59 Milk Street Ext.
Starting Next Week!
Mondays and Wednesdays | 8 - 9pm
Join our professional astronomers and get a chance to view an impressive tour of Nantucket’s night sky. MMA staff will guide you in viewing astronomical objects through our historic 8-inch Alvan Clark refractor and our modern 24-inch research telescope. Get a chance to view the Moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae, and even other galaxies!
Pre-registration is recommended, walk-ins subject to availability.
Members receive unlimited admission to the MMA Aquarium at 32 Washington Street,
plus discounts on programs, workshops, Sea Shop purchases, and more!
Natural Science Museum Programming
Members receive unlimited admission to the Hinchman House Natural Science Museum at
7 Milk Street, plus discounts on programs, workshops, gift shop purchases, and more!
MMA Artist-In-Residence
Henry Michaelis Photography Open Hours
Happening on Thursdays at 33 Washington Street
5 - 7pm through September 26
Henry Michaelis, a passionate aerial photographer and cinematographer, shares his latest project, "Aerial Abstraction," as Artist-In-Residence at the Maria Mitchell Association. This collection of photographs showcases his fascination with the natural world, captured from a unique aerial perspective. From the glacial rivers of Alaska to the potassium mines of Utah to the watercolor sand shoals of Nantucket Sound, Michaelis' images invite us to see the world in a new light. Learn more here.
Stop by the MMA's 33 Washington Street Property to view Henry Michaelis' Gallery open hours held on Thursday evenings from 5 - 7pm.
MMANews
Photo of the MMA Science and Programs Director, Jonelle Gurley; MMA Aquarium Manager, Christina Norman; and MMA Scientist-In-Residence, Dr. Rich Blundell monitoring the MMA's Healthy Harbor Buoy Monitoring Project
Buoy Harbor Monitoring Project Update
The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association recently launched its Harbor Monitoring Project made possible by funding from the Community Foundation for Nantucket's Remain Nantucket Fund, Great Harbor Yacht Club Foundation, Osceola Foundation, Sociable Weaver Foundation, and through collaboration with the Town of Nantucket's Harbormaster. The MMA deployed a YSI EMM700 oceanographic buoy into Nantucket Harbor on Wednesday, August 14 to begin a continuous data collection project, the first of its kind on Nantucket Island. This project is an expandable platform that serves as a useful tool for both current and future water quality studies for a healthy harbor.
The MMA will collect and publish a continuous data stream on seawater acidity (pH), dissolved oxygen, temperature, total algae, dissolved nitrates, and salinity (conductivity). These parameters will provide the public and cross-agency decision makers with essential, real-time information for more effective conservation, mitigation, restoration, and management of critical habitats and the valuable commercial and recreational fisheries that depend on them. Until now, there has been a data collection gap, and the MMA hopes to fill this gap though this continuous monitoring project. The project seeks to better prepare our community to respond to water quality changes in Nantucket Harbor by expanding our understanding through direct data collection and interdisciplinary collaborations on data analysis. Global ocean acidification and its impacts are affecting the entire world's oceans including coastal waterways like Nantucket Harbor and other surrounding bodies of water. Nantucket may become a sanctuary with healthy water quality in the future, benefiting a wide range of ocean life.
MMA's Scientist-In-Residence, Dr. Rich Blundell, stated that as of right now, the data is still amounting to a snapshot of harbor health. But, each day will start to reveal patterns from which more and more insight will emerge. For example, it was only after several tidal cycles that we are able to get a sense for how ocean versus harbor waters are moving past the buoy. Within another week or so, we'll also be able to discern daily patterns. After a few months, we will be able to say something about human influences and within a few years, we'll better understand seasonal variation. All of this to say, the more time the buoy is collecting data, the more knowledge we will have and the better management decisions we'll be able to collectively make. This week Blundell will be exploring the best ways to visualize the date we have to-date and will start making it publicly accessible on the MMA website.
“The step, however small, which is in advance of the world, shows the greatness of the person, whether that step be taken with brain, with heart, or with hands."
Check out our own podcast, "The Nature of Nantucket," brought to you by 97.7 ACKFM. This program airs on 97.7 every Sunday at 7:20am. You can listen to full episodes on Apple or Spotify. While you're there, don't forget to check out our weekly "Star Report," written and presented by the MMA Astronomy Research Fellows.
Learn more about Maria Mitchell and the MMA with "Maria Mitchell's Attic," a blog written on a weekly basis by MMA Deputy Director and Curator, Jascin Leonardo Finger.
The MMA Aquarium and Sea Shop, 32 Washington Street:
10am - 2pm, Thursday and Sunday
10am - 4pm, Friday and Saturday
Closed Monday - Wednesday
The Aquarium will admit a reduced number of visitors each day to ensure a safe experience. It is encouraged to reserve your ticket in advance. Reserve here.
The Maria Mitchell Association creates opportunities for all to develop a life-long passion for science, through education, research, and first-hand exploration of the sky, land, and sea of Nantucket Island.
