Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association to Host Scallop Dissection and Microscopy Workshop

Erin Holdgate • October 4, 2022

Nantucket, MA – The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host a scallop dissection and microscopy workshop, led by MMA Research Associate Dr. Valerie Hall, on Saturday, Oct. 15, 2022, from 10am-12pm at the MMA Research Center, 2 Vestal Street. This event is free to the public, but preregistration is encouraged.

 

To kick off Nantucket’s recreational scalloping season, this workshop provides the opportunity to learn about the biology and ecology of the famously delicious Nantucket Bay Scallop, discuss the details of the Nantucket scallop fishery, learn about the importance of Dr. Hall's research, and get an up-close look at live bay scallops.

 

Dr. Hall has lived on Nantucket for 46 years. After a 35-year career teaching high school science, mostly on Nantucket, she earned her Ph.D. in Fisheries Oceanography at the University of Massachusetts’ School for Marine Science and Technology in 2014. She then began a research and mentoring program at the MMA which has just completed its seventh summer. During that time, Dr. Hall has worked with over 80 high school and college students alike. Students earn community service hours and have benefitted immensely from Dr. Hall’s program, many of them asking to return for subsequent seasons.

 

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.

###

 

For Immediate Release

October 4, 2022

Contact: Erin Holdgate, Marketing Director

eholdgate@mariamitchell.org

Recent Posts

The Evil Four Inches

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • May 5, 2025
I have posted this during Women’s History Month before but because it is March and Women’s History Month, I think it’s worth repeating. It’s clever and helps to tell an important story in women’s history while giving it a bit of a 21 st century twist. It comes via the National Women’s History Project .  JNLF

Keep Calm and Bird On: May 2025

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

Maria Mitchell In Her Own Words

By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • April 28, 2025
Lynn, Ap. 25 1869  My dear President, I am not sure I told you how long I must be away from the College. If I took only the Sunday’s rest, it would be possible for me to reach the Obs. By Tuesday, but I feel the need of more than one day of quiet, before I enter upon the new and incomprehensible life before me . . . William Mitchell died on April 19, 1869 and for the first time, Maria Mitchell was alone. Save for her trip to the southern United States and Europe in 1857 and 1858, her father was always by her side. She did not know much of a day in her life without him nearby and she knows that. It was difficult for her – and her siblings worried about her and this new world she was now in. She had been – expect for that trip – the caregiver for both of her parents. Her mother, Lydia Coleman Mitchell, died in 1861 on Nantucket and Maria had cared for her as well. She was the child who became the caregiver of the family – both in her youth as her siblings sought her out for care, humor, love, and adventures while their mother was busy with younger children and household duties – and then her parents as the only child who did not marry and remained by their sides. JNLF
Show More