FREE DIY CRAFT

Free DIY Valentine Making For CU Students

Now until Feb. 6 in BioLounge

At the CU Museum of Natural History, we love authentic things, which is why we will be hosting a DIY Valentine making station for CU students. Show you care by creating a heart-felt, hand-made card and let nature inspire your sentiments. 

After you craft your card in our Biolounge, bring it to the front desk with your Buff One Card and we’ll pay for postage and even deliver it to the town of Loveland, CO. Through their annual “Valentine Re-mailing Program” your sweetie will receive a delightfully kitschy postmark from Loveland. 

Bring your valentines to the front desk of the Museum by Feb. 7th for delivery within Colorado, or by February 5th for within the Continental US.

LECTURE

Lacustrine dynamics and the development of hydraulic infrastructure in Lake Texcoco: A key to understand the origin of Tenochtitlan

Friday, Feb. 10 at 12pm in Hale Science #450

Dr. Carlos Cordova, Oklahoma State Univeristy

Recent archaeological and geoarchaeological research on the eastern part of former Lake Texcoco reveals interesting aspects of human adaptation to a highly changing lacustrine environment and the eventual control of its hydrology.

The highlights of this research can be summarized as follows: 1) The lakes of the Basin of Mexico fluctuated seasonally, annually, and through long periods of time. This made the lakes extremely difficult to control, particularly the largest of them, Lake Texcoco. 2) Understanding of the dynamics of fluvial and palustrine environments on the edges of the lake are critical to understand lacustrine change over time. 3) A strong interconnected socio-ecological dynamics developed between lacustrine, fluvial, and mountain communities, permitting the use of niches and exchange of products. 4) Attempts to inhabit the lake and control it precede the better known development of hydraulic infrastructure of the late Aztec period (1325-1519). 5) Research on the eastern part of Lake Texcoco, or the kingdom of Acolhuacan, is vital for understanding the design and development of hydraulic infrastructure that supported the great aquatic urban center of Tenochtitlan.

This event and free buffet provided by the Department of Anthropology.

For further information contact [email protected] . 

Register

LECTURE

The human-environmental history of what became Mexico City: Lakes, volcanoes, climate change and the rise of a civilization

Friday, Feb. 10 at 4pm in Hale Science #230

Dr. Carlos Cordova, Oklahoma State Univeristy

The metropolitan area of Mexico City has for the most part obliterated remains of its past, including the lakes as well as natural and cultural features that speak of the human-environmental history of the Basin of Mexico. Until recent centuries, the Basin of Mexico was a closed basin, whose drainages ended in lakes. Surrounded by volcanic mountains and an environment with frequent eruptive events and earthquakes, the Basin of Mexico developed into one of the major cultural centers of Mesoamerica.

The human environmental history of the Basin of Mexico begins with Paleoamerican hunters and the extinction of megafauna. The development of farming was a long process involving interactions with the lakes, volcanic soils, and highly erodible slope soils. Thus, the complex cultural history of the Basin of Mexico is entangled with terrestrial, climatic, and social processes, which until recently have existed as hypothetical models.

Recent research combining earth sciences, archaeology and history now permit us to understand some of the environmental processes that acted in tandem with cultural processes. In particular, the development of hydraulic infrastructure that led to the control of the lakes for habitation and farming deserves attention, as new research has pointed out several issues that for long have been taken for granted by traditional archaeology.

This event is sponsored by the Department of Anthropology.

For further information contact [email protected] .

Register

LAST CHANCE

Ross Sea: The Last Ocean (in English & Spanish)

Now through February 23, 2023 in BioLounge

The Ross Sea Antarctica is the last ocean frontier not yet irreversibly harmed by human activity. Pollution, invasive species and overfishing rendered the region under siege. For over 12 years, Boulder artist John Weller, a team of scientists, policy makers and ordinary citizens from around the world worked tirelessly to designate the Ross Sea a protected status in an effort to save species and preserve a significant site of climate research. In 2016 their endurance paid off, and the region is now the world’s largest official Marine Protected Area (MPA)! Learn more about the Ross Sea, its biologically diverse ecosystem and what is possible when we rally together on behalf of our extraordinary planet. Available in English and Spanish. View in-person in our  BioLounge Gallery or online . 

Last chance to see the exhibit is February 23, 2023!

Visit online