Join our museum’s Gallery Guides for a “drop-in” tour that explores the vital impacts made by engaged communities on scientific discovery, environmental justice, and public health.

Our Science & Activism Tour invites visitors to consider these questions: Who is a scientist? Who is an activist? How does each bring about change?

Stories include the influential book Silent Spring by conservationist Rachel Carson and the rise of the environmental movement; ACT UP, the AIDS crisis, and the development of the patients’ bill of rights; the Black Panthers’ lead role in community testing for sickle cell anemia; and the community-led research conducted by neighborhood coalition groups fighting to make government and industry accountable for environmental injustice.

This tour offers a broad picture of the ways activists have reshaped our understanding of science and how visitors can become engaged today through community science.


Drop-in tours are free and no reservations are necessary.

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Programs, Lectures & Talks

Shopping All the Way to the Woods: Rachel Gross

From Gore-Tex to do-it-yourself kits, hear how synthetic fibers have transformed the outdoor industry.

Photograph of Edgar Allan Poe from an 1848 daguerrotype, with inscription "Copyright 1904, C.T. Tatman"
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For Families

Stories of Science: Mystery Science

Join us in our museum EVERY SATURDAY for a family-friendly program that highlights strange and surprising stories from the history of science!

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October 26, 2024
Drop-In Tours

School Lunch Tour

This interactive drop-in tour reveals how food scientists, the government, and the public have shaped in-school nutrition.

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