Join the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association and the Nantucket Community School for the 9th Annual Nantucket Science Festival

Erin Holdgate • March 6, 2023

Nantucket, MA – The Nantucket Science Festival is back for another STEAM- inspired day of hands-on learning and fun! On Saturday, March 18, from 10am - 2pm, join the Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) and the Nantucket Community School (NCS) as they host the 9th Annual Nantucket Science Festival.

 

This year’s theme focuses on “Nantucket Science: What actions are we taking today that will positively impact our island tomorrow?” This event exemplifies the MMA’s mission of creating opportunities for all to develop a life-long passion for science through education, research, and first-hand exploration of the land, sea, and sky of Nantucket Island.

 

Since 2015, the MMA and NCS have teamed up in an effort to connect people with their inner scientist. This festival has become the largest mid-winter event, and over 10 organizations are joining to host tables and share unique activities this year! Some community organizations include the Nantucket Atheneum, Egan Maritime Institute, Girl Scout - Nantucket, Linda Loring Nature Foundation, Mass Audubon, Nantucket Conservation Foundation, Nantucket New School, Nantucket Land Bank, Nantucket Shellfish Association, and UMass Boston Field Station. We are so excited that they are highlighting the incredible science happening on Nantucket.

 

This event is completely free of charge and takes place at the Nantucket High School Gymnasium. Attendees get to participate in a range of activities, from a marine touch tank, to native plant root printing, to deep ocean ecosystem and astronomy-based activities. 

 

The Nantucket Science Festival is made possible thanks to the generosity of its volunteers, partners, and sponsors. A special thank you to ACKlimate for their collaboration.

 

The Maria Mitchell Association is a private non-profit organization. Founded in 1902, the MMA works to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. The Maria Mitchell Association operates two observatories, a natural science museum, an aquarium, a research center, and preserves the historic birthplace of Maria Mitchell. A wide variety of science and history-related programming is offered throughout the year for people of all ages.

 

Nantucket Community School provides a diverse level of high-quality, affordable programs, encourages life-long personal growth and reaches out to all members of the community; spanning every age and stage.

 

###

For Immediate Release

March 6, 2023

Contact: Erin Holdgate, Marketing Director

eholdgate@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • July 7, 2025
July 31, 1883. I had two or three rich days! On Friday last I went to Holderness, N.H.. to the Asquam House; I had been asked by Mrs. T to join her party. There was at this house Mr. Whittier, Mr., and Mrs. Cartland, Professor and Mrs. Johnson, of Yale . . . The house seemed full of fine, cultivate people. We stayed two days and a half. And first of the scenery. The road up to the house is a steep hill, and at the foot of the hill it winds and turns around two lakes. The panorama is complete one hundred and eighty degrees. Beyond the lakes lie the mountains.  The Asquam House sat atop Shepard Hill and was built in 1881. A hotel, it has space for fifty guests, it was located near Squam Lake and became part of a summer enclave that developed there in the later part of the nineteenth century. Today, the area is a National Historic Landmark, but sadly, the hotel was demolished in 1948. Maria would have been familiar with these people seen here – and others I did not include – but particularly John Greenleaf Whittier who was something of a family friend. He was close to one of her younger brothers, William Forester. JNLF

Keep Calm and Bird On: July 2025

July 1, 2025
“If you don’t look, you don’t see. You have to go and look.” -Edith Andrews

The Birth of the Maria Mitchell Observatory: Celebrating Over 100 Years of Discovery

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 30, 2025
As we are now complete with the conservation of the historic Maria Mitchell Vestal Street Observatory (MMO), I thought it would be good to post a series of blogs concerning it history and activities, as well as some of the amazing people who have made it what it is over the last 100 plus years. Therefore, over the next few weeks, the focus will be on the MMO. And it is now open for tours – Monday through Saturday 11-1PM. Founded in 1902, the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) had its beginnings in the Mitchell House where Maria Mitchell was born. Over the first few years, the preservation of the Mitchell House, family artifacts, and the collection and display of Nantucket’s native flora and fauna, as well as a small library, were the key components of the MMA. Special “Moon Evenings” were held on the lawn and people observed Nantucket’s night skies using several small telescopes, including William and Maria Mitchell’s two-and-three-quarter-inch Dollond telescope. The popular evenings led to the inevitable – a desire and need to expand based on the demands of the visitors to, and members of, the MMA. In 1906, Lydia Hinchman, a founder of the MMA and a family member, purchased the house and lot adjacent to the Mitchell House. The house – once the home of William Mitchell’s father and mother – was taken down. The MMA began a dialogue with the Harvard College Observatory and its director, Edward Pickering, Ph.D. The connection to Harvard was to become essential to the success of the beginning years of the Maria Mitchell Observatory and continued a legacy of friendship and work – Maria Mitchell and her father worked with the Bonds who once ran the observatory at Harvard and the families were close friends. Besides his assistance, Pickering asked a member of his staff, Annie Jump Cannon, to assist the MMA. This “provided an indispensable collaboration for Nantucket astronomy,” with Cannon spending two weeks on the island in 1906 and 1907 lecturing and teaching. While back at Harvard, she continued to teach the students on Nantucket by mail. Cannon would go on to be recognized as the leading woman astronomer of her generation and as the founder of the MMA’s Astronomy Department. JNLF
Show More