The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium kicks off its summer and fall online lecture series with “Ecological and Historical Studies on Land Snails: Tiger Snails and Glacial History” at 5:30pm on August 22, 2024. The online lecture, led by Dr. Timothy Pearce, Assistant Curator, Mollusks, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, will be offered live via Zoom and is free for registrants.
Dr. Timothy Pearce shares two case studies of recent discoveries about land snail populations in the northeast, and the influence on them of both ancient geological forces and modern environmental threats.
The Tiger Snail, formerly abundant in Northeast North America, has declined since the mid-1900s which is about the same time that acid rain levels began increasing. Dr. Pearce’s studies on the subject reveal connections between the effects of acid rain, The Tiger Snail, and other land snails.
The glacial history of northern Michigan starting about 20,000 years ago had ice covering the area before the glaciers retreated. Through present-day biogeography studies of land snails on Michigan’s islands, Upper Peninsula, and Lower Peninsula, Dr. Pearce analyzes the effects of this geological event on land snail species distribution in the region.
Timothy Pearce is Assistant Curator in the Section of Mollusks at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, where he conducts research on land snails and cares for and promotes use of a collection of 1.8 million snails and clams. Pearce received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and MA in Paleontology from the University of California at Berkeley.
“Dr. Pearce is at the cutting edge of his field, combining extensive fieldwork with deep geological history. This promises to be a very interesting talk,” said Sam Ankerson, National Shell Museum & Aquarium Executive Director.
To register for online lectures and to watch recordings of previous lectures, please visit ShellMuseum.org/online-lectures.
About the Museum: The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium is a natural history museum and aquarium, and the only museum in the United States devoted primarily to shells and mollusks. Its mission is to use exceptional collections, aquariums, programs, experiences, and science to be the nation’s leading museum in the conservation, preservation, interpretation, and celebration of shells, the mollusks that create them, and their ecosystems. For more information, please visit ShellMuseum.org or call (239) 395-2233.
