American Museum of Natural History Announces Programs and Installations for Climate Week NYC

Image by Alvaro Keding/© AMNH

Diorama Installation Reframes Historic Scenes Through Lens of Climate Challenges

Events include all-ages festival, an assembly about climate resilience, the launch of the Climate Learning Lab, a convening for educators, and more

This September, the American Museum of Natural History will offer a slate of programming in conjunction with Climate Week NYC, an annual gathering of global leaders, activists, and organizations. 

Museum programming (list below) runs from Friday, September 19, through Monday, September 29. Eight of the Museum’s dioramas across three historic exhibition halls will be transformed through large-scale graphics and interactive media to highlight the effects of climate change and human activity on our planet’s ecosystems, biodiversity, and health. Familiar scenes that will be reinterpreted through this lens include three in the Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals, including the Alaska Moose Diorama that will tell the story of how climate change affects tick populations and the implications for human and animal health; three in the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, including the Dolphin and Tuna Diorama where visitors will learn about threats posed by plastics and play a game about removing them; and two in the Hall of North American Forests, including the Mixed Deciduous Forest Diorama that will investigate wildfires. 

Program offerings include ClimateFest, a full-day, all-ages event that will bring the science of climate change to life through hands-on activities, communal art projects, and more; the AMNH Climate Assembly, a participatory gathering where guests are invited to take part in a series of collaborative discussions and activities that envision how New Yorkers can adapt and thrive on our changing planet; Climate Resilience in Action, an evening of music, lectures, and expert perspectives highlighting on-the-ground efforts to address the effects of climate change; The Art & Science of Storytelling for Climate Progress panel discussion; the launch of a new Climate Learning Lab dedicated to teaching climate science that will be available for drop-in visits on select weekend days; and an event for educators, policymakers, and thought leaders about increasing climate literacy and integrating climate education in the classroom. 

Climate Week NYC Programming at the Museum

Dioramas: Exploring Climate Change

Friday, September 19–Monday, September 29

• From Friday, September 19, through Monday, September 29, eight Museum dioramas are being transformed to highlight the effects of climate change and human activity on our planet’s ecosystems, biodiversity, and our health. Visitors can view familiar scenes through a lens of climate challenges and explore stories of climate resilience in large-scale graphics and interactive media. Locations include:

Milstein Hall of Ocean Life

• Dolphin and Tuna Diorama: Discover the new threat posed by plastics (and help remove them).
• Andros Coral Reef Diorama: Explore the threat of coral bleaching to marine life.
• Walrus Diorama: Find out how habitat loss can lead to overcrowding and competition for resources.

Bernard Family Hall of North American Mammals

• Alaska Moose Diorama: Find out how climate change affects tick populations and what that means for animal and human health.
• American Bison and Pronghorn Diorama: Discover what happens when grasslands are converted to croplands.
• Alaska Brown Bear Diorama: Explore how this ecosystem, represented as it was one hundred years ago, might have changed.

Hall of North American Forests

• Mixed Deciduous Forest: See if you can tell fact from fiction when it comes to threats of wildfires and impacts on human health.
• Southeastern Coastal Plain Forest: Discover why wetlands are crucial in protecting against floods

ClimateFest

Saturday, September 20, 10 am–4 pm

• A full-day celebration of science, sustainability, and community, this all-ages event will bring the science of climate change and its impact on human health to life through hands-on activities, communal art projects, pop-up presentations, and live demonstrations across the Museum. At the event, visitors will be able to:
  • Watch dynamic performances from Indigenous Enterprise as they light up the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life with the power of powwow song and dance
  • Contribute to a community climate art project and join discussions with Climate Cafe and Climate Imaginarium on how to process climate anxieties
  • Experience Eyes on Earth, a live visualization station where scientists will demonstrate how satellite research is helping us understand the impacts of climate change on our planet and our health
  • See a documentary, listen to a children’s storytime, create keepsakes out of recyclables, participate in demonstrations, and more

The Art & Science of Storytelling for Climate Progress

Monday, September 22, 3 pm

• In an era of declining public trust, museums remain among the most trusted institutions. How are museums using their expertise to lead cutting-edge climate storytelling? The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication (YPCC) conducts research to help museums of all types—natural history, art, science, and history museums—engage audiences around climate change. Join YPCC for a panel discussion with museum and exhibition designers about how museums are blending data with storytelling, identifying new ways to inform and inspire visitors to act on climate change, and how successful strategies from museums can be applied more broadly across the climate movement. The panel will include leaders from the Climate Museum, the Natural History Museum of Utah, The Wild Center, the Association of Science and Technology Centers, the American Museum of Natural History, and experience designers Sitara Systems, whose projects included climate change interactive exhibits for the Yale Peabody Museum. 

AMNH Climate Assembly

Thursday, September 25, 4:30 pm

• The AMNH Climate Assembly will invite participants to a live, city-wide conversation about climate resilience. During an energizing 90-minute session in the Museum’s Gottesman Research Library and Learning Center, participants will gather in small groups, share perspectives, and hear from neighbors and strangers alike as they imagine how New Yorkers can adapt and thrive in a changing climate. Guided by the Iswe Foundation and the Museum’s Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, the session will offer a rare chance for New Yorkers to feel the power of collective problem-solving and leave inspired by the creativity and commitment of community. 

Climate Resilience in Action

Thursday, September 25, 7 pm

• As climate change reshapes our cities, communities, and health, New York stands at a crossroads—an international city with a responsibility to lead and an opportunity to act. This evening event will include music by Madame Gandhi, an electronic music producer, artist, and activist, as well as a lecture demonstration where she will share her experience recording sounds from nature, integrating them into her music, and including nature in royalties. A series of Lightning Lectures will showcase on-the-ground work by local organizations across the five boroughs, from rooftop farming and urban forestry to public cooling infrastructure and community organizing.

A keynote presentation by Rohit T. Aggarwala, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection and the City’s Chief Climate Officer, will highlight how New York City is advancing its climate and sustainability goals, offering insight into how local governments are preparing for the growing challenges of climate change.

Climate Learning Lab

Opens Saturday, September 20, 10:30 am–5 pm; select Saturdays and Sundays, Noon – 5 pm

• In this investigation-driven learning lab designed for ages 8 and up, visitors will have the opportunity to learn about climate, climate change, and what we can do to address our warming planet. Located on the third floor of the Museum’s Gilder Center, the lab offers activities to explore global forces that fuel and maintain our climate system led by Museum facilitators. Visitors will investigate elements of the four spheres of our planetary systems; atmosphere, geosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and their influence on climate.

Climate Education in Action

Friday, September 26, 5 pm

• Organized by the Museum with SubjectToClimate, the Climate and Resilience Education Task Force, the Climate Mental Health Network, the National Environmental Education Foundation, and the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, this event convenes educators, policymakers, and thought leaders on the topic of increasing climate literacy and integrating climate education in the classroom. Museum President Sean Decatur will offer welcome remarks, followed by a keynote presentation by climate scientist and communicator Katharine Hayhoe and a series of short talks led by New York City educators who have successfully brought climate change education into their classes. 

Climate Change at the Museum

The American Museum of Natural History’s global mission is to discover, interpret, and disseminate information about human cultures, the natural world, and the universe through a wide-ranging program of scientific research, education, and exhibition. Through this work, the Museum addresses the most pressing challenges of our day, including the impacts of climate change. 

The Museum’s efforts to educate the public about climate change include permanent exhibitions, such as the dynamic media wall in the Museum’s David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth where visitors interact with current data on the climate crisis; special exhibitions that travel to venues around the globe; and a diverse range of public programs and in-person and online educational offerings for learners of all ages and for educators. The Museum’s extensive scientific collections are used by Museum scientists and researchers from around the world as critical evidence to understand the effects of climate change and other urgent environmental threats. 

About Wellcome

Wellcome is a global charitable foundation, based in the UK. Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We support discovery research into life, health, and wellbeing, and we’re taking on three worldwide health challenges: mental health, infectious disease, and climate and health.At Climate Week NYC, we are creating opportunities for people to explore what they think and feel about climate and health. In partnership with the creative and cultural sectors, we’re sharing insights into science and health in ways that are meaningful and accessible to all.

AMNH Climate Week is supported by Wellcome, bringing health to the heart of Climate Week NYC.

A portion of this program is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.