Looking for a way to celebrate in 2009?
Rebecca TaylorThe celebration of our annual journey around the sun does not have to end on the closing note of Auld Lang Syne. Instead 2009 brings many opportunities to celebrate, recognize, and improve countless aspects of life on earth. We hope that those of you who visit our species pages might also be interested in additional science-related themes that pertain to 2009:
The Natural History Museum, London, UK has organized the Darwin200 to celebrate Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday. The Darwin: Big Idea, Big Exhibition will be at the NHM through April 2009.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has declared 2009 as the International Year of Natural Fibres and offers a multilingual celebration of these renewable materials.
Considering the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s first astronomical use of the telescope, The International Year of Astronomy 2009 is an initiative of the International Astronomical Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The United Nations has also recognized 2009 as the UN International Year of the Gorilla. This press release notes the alarming fact that the number of eastern lowland gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo has plummeted from 17,000 to about 5,000 in the last 10 years.
The Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS) is the driving force behind the Year of Science 2009, based in the United States. Each month of the year-long celebration has a different theme, with related events and resources. Upcoming themes: Process and Nature of Science (January) and Evolution (February).
This list of events is by no means complete. If you know of other opportunities to celebrate science or biodiversity, please share them with the EOL community by leaving a comment. Thanks and Happy New Year (whenever your year begins)!