Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association Welcomes Dr. Valerie Hall Featured Guest for August Science Speaker Series

August 2, 2023

NANTUCKET, MA—The Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) announces that it will host Dr. Valerie Hall, Ph.D., as a featured presenter for its Science Speaker Series. Her presentation will take place on August 16 at 6 pm. It will be presented in-person at the MMA Research Center at 2 Vestal Street and via Zoom. This event is free to all.


This feature presentation will give an overview of the biology of the bay scallop and its unique fishery. Dr. Valerie Hall, Maria Mitchell Research Associate, and nine of her students: Ellie Kinsella and Gray Simanson; Sophia Beni, Gus Simanson, Sayam Thapamagar, James Borthwick, Kate Kinsella, Julia Winsor, and Aiden Haase will first describe the biology of the Nantucket Bay Scallop, Argopecten irradians. This presentation will cover the Bay Scallop classification, habitat, distribution, ecological niche, life cycle, reproduction, timing of spawning, predators, parasites, and environmental hazards the species faces. Students will then describe the laboratory and field program which is now in its eighth year at the Maria Mitchell Association. They will also share their experiences on scallop collecting trips in addition to the process of dissecting and preparing the reproductive tissue for histology (the process by which microscope slides are prepared from thin sections of gonad). Finally, students review their examination of prepared slides to determine the degree of spawning of each collection and co-relate their findings to water temperature. Students not only learn how to collect and analyze data but also to master the biology of this species while they gain experience and skills working as a part of a team in a research laboratory setting.


Dr. Valerie 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 eighth 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.

This presentation is complimentary and held both in-person, at the MMA’s Research Center located at 2 Vestal Street, and via Zoom, please pre-register.



The Maria Mitchell Association was founded in 1902 to preserve the legacy of Nantucket native astronomer, naturalist, librarian, and educator, Maria Mitchell. After she discovered a comet in 1847, Mitchell’s international fame led to many achievements and awards, including an appointment as the first female professor of astronomy at Vassar College. Maria Mitchell believed in “learning by doing” and today that philosophy is reflected in the MMA’s mission statement, programs, research projects, and other activities. 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.


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For Immediate Release

August 2, 2023

Contact: Grace Baisley

marketinginterns@mariamitchell.org

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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

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