Sara Schoen to Speak as Featured Guest for Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association’s Science Speaker Series

Website Editor • January 21, 2021

On January 27th, 2021 at 7pm, the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) is hosting a live lecture entitled, “Splitting Up a Complex Mess: Integrating Statistics to Understand the Limnonectes kuhlii Complex,” presented by Sara Schoen. This talk is part of our FREE Winter Science Speaker Series and will be held via Zoom.

Fourty-one percent of known amphibian species are declining, but have you ever considered the decline of the species we have yet to identify? For a conservationist, it’s terrifying to think about because we won’t notice until the loss is irreversible. Some species are cryptic, meaning we don’t notice them, others are cryptic because they look almost identical to another species. These similar species can be lumped together into a single species and accidentally create a species complex. Species complexes hinder conservation efforts because the populations seem stable and healthy, but what if they aren’t a single species and we treat them like one? What happens when we lose one? Will we only know what we’re missing when it’s gone or is there another way? The good news, species complexes are a difficult, yet solvable problem. We just need some help from statistics to create new tools to delimit species complexes and define clear differences between species. This is the only way to understand declining populations and define biodiversity in an area.


Sara Schoen received her Master’s in Biology from James Madison University where she conducted research on the Limnonectes kuhlii complex, a cryptic species of Southeast Asian stream frogs. In that time, she determined a novel statistical method for refining the morphometric characters to distinguish and delineate between candidate species. These results and new methods have been recently published, and more papers are in motion to continue to push these new techniques to aid in further understanding the kuhlii complex. Schoen is interested in using statistics to answer biological questions and aiding in the conservation of species. Due to this, her projects focus on statistical analysis of big data and allow for her to take part in various research, including her current PhD project to investigate and analyze the Global FinPrint data with an interest in moray eels and barracuda.


To register for this event, please follow the link below:

https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vTns7NGmRX-gVfU65CRuig 


For the full Winter Science Speaker Series schedule, please visit our website here:

https://www.mariamitchell.org/learn-discover/2021-winter-speaker-series 


This series is organized by the Maria Mitchell Association, 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

January 21, 2021

Contact: Kelly Bernatzky, MMA Development Associate

kbernatzky@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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By Jascin N. Leonardo Finger • June 16, 2025
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