The Field Museum of Chicago and Revolution Brewery are partnering again this fall for Evolution @ Revolution. Hosted by Emily Graslie, The Field Museum’s chief curiosity correspondent and host of the Brain Scoop, Evolution @ Revolution is a perfect culmination of science, socializing and craft beer.
Hero Shrews To…
The first program of the season will be held on Wednesday, Sept 9 at Revolution Brewing (2323 N. M1ilwaukee Ave.) Scientists will discuss evolution in their particular field and the impact of their research. The series will be kicked off by Bill Stanley, the director of collections for the Gantz Family Collections. Stanley, an expert in eastern African mammals, will present “The Evolution of Mammal Species Discovery.”
Stanley is excited to share some of the more recent discoveries, including a new species of primate and the process of getting a sample as a holotype, how it can connect scientific research hundreds of years apart, and the “hero shrew,” an incredible find for anatomists and mammalogists alike due to its incredibly strong backbone.
“I want to impart to people why this institution and other natural history museums like it are so vital for our understanding of the planet,” Stanley says. “I have heard it said several times that the age of discovery is over, and nothing could be further from the truth.”
Anti-Hero.
Revolution was an ideal place to host the program; Emily Graslie enjoys the intimate atmosphere of the brew pub, as well as, of course, the beer. “I have drank more Anti-Hero than any beer in my life,” she says.
Beer can for be incredibly important for science and human advancement. When a new species of the hero shrew, already an anomaly, was discovered, Stanley remembered a conversation he had—over a few beers—with a colleague 15 years prior.
Stanley was at a meeting and was socializing with a colleague who had been a Peace Corps volunteer in Congo in the 70’s, and was now collecting specimens for the Smithsonian. “I asked if he had ever seen a hero shrew. He said not only had he seen them, but he thinks he knows why they have those backbones.” [These tiny mammals can hold the weight of a grown man, and then walk away unscathed.] He invited the colleague years after this conversation to publish the hypothesis on a publication Stanley was working on regarding the shrew.
“We have an idea, we throw it out, we’ll test it, somebody else will test it…” says Stanley. Often, these connections are made over happy hour.
Emily Graslie agrees on the importance of the end of the work week beer. “When people ask me where we get ideas for brain scoop, I tell them non-ironically that most of the great ideas we get are at happy hour,” she says. “It is people getting together and sharing their experiences at the Field Museum. I try never to miss a happy hour.”
Scientific Revolution
Tickets for the Evolution @ Revolution Program are $22 or $20 for Field Museum members. The price also includes unlimited Revolution brews during the event and snacks.
This first edition of the series begins on Sept. 9 from 6:30-8:30 pm.
The rest of the seasonal programs will include:
“Evolution at the South Pole” on Oct. 7
“The Evolution of Shark Mating Systems” on Nov. 11
“The Evolution of Deep Sea Research” on Dec. 9.
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