The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History will open the exhibit “Right Below Your Feet: A Beautiful Evolutionary Success Story” in the Wilbur Cross Building at the University of Connecticut on Wednesday October 26 at 3pm. The Museum invites the community to join us in welcoming Dr. Bernard Goffinet and Mark Smith to discuss their photographic exhibition and the intrinsic beauty of the group of plants known as Bryophytes.
“Right Below Your Feet” introduces a group of organisms called bryophytes, also known as mosses, liverworts and hornworts. With about 20,000 species in the group, bryophytes exhibit a broad range of physical features and sizes. Unlike most flowering plants, bryophytes can often survive significant water loss. This allows them to thrive in many environments across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic, from bare rock surfaces to leaves. This exhibit offers a magnified look at bryophytes, and highlights some of the features that have contributed to their remarkable evolutionary success.
The exhibit was planned and produced by the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the Goffinet Lab (Bryology and Lichenology) in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and Mark Smith, co-owner and founder of Macroscopic Solutions.
Dr. Goffinet and Mr. Smith will talk about how they created the images in the exhibit, from collecting specimens in the field to their use of a Macropod System to capture such intricate details. Real specimens will also be on display at the opening. Visitors will have an opportunity to examine specimens up close at the opening and to ask questions.
This exhibit was funded by the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History with additional support from a National Science Foundation grant entitled Collaborative research: Diversity of the moss Physcomitrium pyriforme: significance of autopolyploidy within a phylogenomic and experimental framework, awarded to Dr. Bernard Goffinet in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (No. DEB-1753811).
Reception begins at 3:00PM with light refreshments, with remarks to follow.
***This event is FREE and open to the public, but registration is much appreciated!***
Visit https://csmnh.uconn.edu/programs/ for more information. If you require accommodations to participate or have questions, please contact the CSMNH at 860-486-4460 or [email protected] by Monday October 21.
The Connecticut State Museum of Natural History is part of the Institute of the Environment at the University of Connecticut.