Lord of the Crane Flies
Opens November 21, 2009
3rd Floor Exhibition Foyer

This exhibition focuses on Invertebrate Zoologist Chen Young's nearly 30 years of work on crane flies. Exhibition includes photographs, illustrations, specimens and video all about crane flies—what they are, where they live, how they are collected and studied, and why they are an important part of the planet we share.

Whales | Tohorā
October 31, 2009–May 2, 2010
R.P. Simmons Family Gallery, Third Floor

Developed and presented by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. This exhibition was made possible through the support of the New Zealand Government and the Smithsonian Institution.

Sponsored in part by:

Time Machines: Watches from the H.J. Heinz Collection
Through 2009
Wertz Gallery: Gems & Jewelry, Hillman Hall of Minerals and Gems

Pittsburgh ketchup and sauce magnate H.J. Heinz (1844-1919) amassed an extensive collection of timepieces during his lifetime. These chronometers offer an array of incredible artistry and amazing mechanical ingenuity.

Through this collection, it is possible to study the evolution of watches as machines, tracing the steps in development from portable sundial to more modern sophisticated mechanical watches. Examples include a gold mechanical “repeating watch” with figures that strike the hour; a watch owned by Lord Nelson, the hero of the Battle of Trafalgar; and a music box watch with a feathered singing bird.

The Heinz Collection is regarded as one of the most important timepiece collections in the United States. H.J. Heinz donated the collection to Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 1917.

Population Impact
Opens January 23, 2010
3rd Floor Alcove

What part do humans play on ecosystems? What part do they play on humans? Population Impact focuses on populations—of humans, plants, and other animals—and regional and global ecosystems: how the two are endlessly connected, and how they are affected by human decisions on the use of resources. Explore the current topics of human population growth, tree cloning, biodiversity, and more through specimens and photographs, with a special focus on the research being done by Carnegie Museum of Natural History scientists and researchers.

Life: A Journey Through Time
Opens in July 2010

Frans Lanting’s epic multi-year project is a lyrical interpretation of life on earth from its earliest beginnings to its present diversity. In 2000, Lanting set off on a journey of photographic discovery that parallels new scientific insights about the story of life on earth. His search was wide-ranging and provocative, leading him into primordial landscapes that preserve time capsules of life’s history and into unique museum collections of fossils and microscopic life. The result is a celebration of the planet that aims to educate and inspire through images and stories of the amazing biodiversity that surrounds us.