At Wesleyan University
We are excited to welcome Melanie McCalmont to Wesleyan. Melanie McCalmont is a geographer and data scientist. She has a Master’s degree in Geography, and a Master’s degree in Life Science Communication, both from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Melanie is the national expert on historic 3-dimensional relief models. She has been a relief model consultant to … Read more
The labyrinth of tunnels beneath the carefully manicured landscape of Wesleyan has inspired the imagination and indulgence of many generations of students. There is always something about the Forbidden that beckons. Yet there is one secret that our campus holds to which many may not be privy to. Above Level 6 of Exley Science Centre … Read more
Science was not like it is today in the 18th and even 19th century: things people used to do in science at that time – not too long ago -may appear very odd to us. In Wesleyan’s collections lie several keystone artifacts to this rather fascinating episode in history. Before science (as we consider it now) existed, … Read more
Working with fossils, it’s not difficult to think that science is often stranger than fiction. Wesleyan’s new star – our Glyptodon – is something that defies our every expectation of an armadillo. With her domed carapace, exquisite scutes and odd bone projections on her cheeks, she looks like a creature from a science fiction film. Another … Read more
After almost a year of collaborative efforts, our Glyptodon, a copy of an original in a museum in Dijon, France, is finally in her place. Come gaze at her gorgeous scutes and adoring smile – it’s there, look carefully. Her favorite spot outside the Science Library, in the lobby of Exley, is decorated with pebbles that … Read more
Would you like to snorkel with giant predator reptiles the size of a small airplane? Visit Level 3 of Exley Science Centre, where these spectacular beasts adorn our walls. And fear not, they are models, and the originals from which they are made have been petrified in stone for more than 100 million years. These … Read more
Our star Glyptodon is getting a new coat of paint after we stripped her of a large quantity of 60 year-old dust, with plenty of elbow grease. As with the other Ward Casts in our collection, she will be repainted with archival artist acrylic paints. The color of our Glyptodon is rather bleached from the harsh lighting during its days … Read more
Waking from a 60 year-old torpor, our Glyptodon no longer remembers her name. Nevertheless, she would love to hear you call her each time you walk by, so do come up with an exciting name that she will love! The contestant who nominated the chosen name will win a genuine fossil from Wesleyan’s 190 year-old natural history … Read more
We are very excited to announce a visit to Wesleyan by Dr. Kirk Johnson, Sant Director, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Dr Johnson will give a public lecture: Natural History in the Age of Humans. The lecture is scheduled for 1 March 2018, 7:30 pm, in room Shanklin 107, and will be followed by … Read more
Wesleyan’s remarkable series of fossils casts includes two large specimens of ferocious predatorial reptiles- Plesiosaurus and Ichthyosaurus. The fossil casts were in a dishearteningly deplorable state when they were rediscovered, crated in the Penthouse of Exley. The casts were put in crates when the Wesleyan Museum closed in 1957. We did not know where they were stored, but they were moved … Read more