HMSC Connects! Podcast

Caring for the MCZ’s Collections with Breda Zimkus, Director of Collections Operations, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week’s episode host Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Breda Zimkus, the Director of Collections Operations at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology. She coordinates all the activities among the museum's 10 different zoological collections, which support the work of hundreds of scientists and their groundbreaking science annually.

Exploring Aztec Moments with Davíd Carrasco, Neil L. Rudenstine Professor of the Study of Latin America

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week’s episode host Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Davíd Carrasco, a professor in the Harvard Department of Anthropology as well as the Harvard Divinity School, where he teaches courses on the history of religions in the Americas. In their conversation, they explore the significance of Dia de los Muertos and the 20^th anniversary of the special celebration at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Professor Carrasco recounts his first experience witnessing the Day of the Dead in Mexico City, his friendship with Toni Morrison and Gabriel García Márquez, and his deep connection to Aztec culture.

The Power of Observation with Underwater Photographer, Keith Ellenbogen

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week’s episode host Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Keith Ellenbogen, an underwater wildlife photographer, Associate Professor of Photography at SUNY, the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and a Visiting Artist at the MIT Sea Grant.

Learning about Early Christianity through Objects and Literature with Annewies Van Den Hoek

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week’s episode host Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Annewies Van Den Hoek, a retired Greek language professor at the Harvard Divinity School, who's been spending her retirement photographing and cataloging an assortment of objects housed in the collections of the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East. 

The Art of Keeping Time with Richard Ketchen, Horologist for The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week’s episode host Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Richard Ketchen, a horologist, or artisan who makes and repairs clocks.

Reflecting on Geechee Traditions with Master Basket Maker, Yvonne Grovner of Sapelo Island, Georgia

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week’s episode host Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Mrs. Yvonne Grovner, a resident of Sapelo Island, Georgia, and Master basketmaker, whose talents are featured in the new mini-exhibit: "Rice: Seeds from Africa" set within the Peabody Museum's Resetting the Table exhibition.

Reading Planets through Rocks: A Conversation with Andrew Knoll, Emeritus Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week’s episode host Jennifer Berglund is speaking with Andy Knoll, a now emeritus professor of earth sciences and biology, with dual appointments in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Harvard. He's interested in how physical and biological processes have interacted across the span of our planet's history to shape our world.

An Interview with the Host, HMSC’s Exhibit Developer, Writer and Podcaster, Jennifer Berglund

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week’s very special episode HMSC's Executive Director, Brenda Tindal, interviews none other than our usual host, Jennifer Berglund, HMSC exhibit and content developer. They discuss her career at HMSC including the genesis of this podcast series, as well as insight into her fascinating journey as a documentarian, biology enthusiast, National Geographic Explorer, and purveyor of science communication.

In Search of Thoreau’s Flowers: An Art + Science Conversation with Biologist Emily Meineke & Artists Robin Vuchnich & Leah Sobesy

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. For this week’s episode host Jennifer Berglund delves into the collaboration behind the upcoming exhibit "In Search of Thoreau's Flowers," opening at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in May. Berglund asks Emily Meineke, Leah Sobsey, and Robin Vuchnich, the artists and scientists behind the multimedia exhibition inspired by the digitized collection of Henry David Thoreau's plant specimens from the Gray Herbarium of Harvard University.

From Gymnastics to Paleontology: A Conversation with Stephanie Pierce, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology

Welcome to HMSC Connects! where we go behind the scenes of four Harvard museums to explore the connections between us, our big, beautiful world, and even what lies beyond. Our women’s history month-themed podcast interview features Stephanie Pierce, Professor in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, and the Museum of Comparative Zoology's very first female curator of vertebrate paleontology.