Evening and Weekend Programs

Have fun, meet others, and explore the issues of our time through our science and cultural programming offered on evenings and weekends. Our After Hours events give you access to scientists, filmmakers, authors, and innovators seeking to better understand the natural world and our place in it. After Hours events are designed for adults, but all are welcome.

View After Hours Calendar

NMNH After Hours programs include:

Beyond the Exhibition

This series features the content, curators, and conversations inspiring new and developing exhibitions at the National Museum of Natural History.

Wednesday, November 3, 2021, from 12-12:50 p.m. EDT:
Predicting and Preventing the Next Pandemic

Jonathan Epstein is working to stop the next pandemic. As Vice President for Science and Outreach at EcoHealth Alliance, his research focuses on the ecology of emerging zoonotic viruses — diseases transmitted from animals to humans — such as Nipah, Ebola, and SARS. His goal is to better understand the factors that cause these outbreaks and to develop strategies that both prevent spillover and protect biodiversity. 

In a conversation with Smithsonian’s Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World curator, Sabrina Sholts, Epstein will reflect on his work, the future of SARS-COV-2,  and why it is critically important to understand the connections between human, animal, and environmental health. 

This program is offered in observance of One Health Day, a day dedicated to increasing awareness of the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment.

This program will be presented as a Zoom video webinar. A link will be emailed to all registrants. Register

Other Programs

Programs in other series, such as HOT (Human Origins Today) Topics and Virtual Science Cafés; plus programs that are not part of a series.

Monday, November 15, 2021, from 5 – 6 p.m. EST:
Building Dinosaurs: Behind the Scenes

The iconic dinosaur skeletons we see in museums didn't just wake up like this. It takes a whole team of fossil preparators — technicians who painstakingly remove the fossils from rock, repair broken bones, and reconstruct missing pieces, to create them. These specimens are foundational evidence for paleontologists, and yet the work and workers in fossil preparation labs go largely unacknowledged in publications and specimen records. Not any more, thanks to a new book by Caitlin Wylie.

In "Preparing Dinosaurs: The Work behind the Scenes," Wylie investigates the creativity, problem-solving, and craft required of fossil preparators to decide what fossils, and therefore dinosaurs, look like. Wylie is an Assistant Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at the University of Virginia. Join us for a conversation with Wylie, moderated by Steve Jabo, Vertebrate Fossil Preparator at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.  

This program will be presented as a Zoom video webinar. A link will be emailed to all registrants. Register

Thursday, November 18, 2021, from 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. EST:
How Humans Survive in Extreme Environments

Mount Everest, the Sahara Desert, and the Arctic Circle — these are just some of the extremes humans experience. But how have humans evolved to live in such a broad range of environments?

Cara Ocobock, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Human Energetics Laboratory at University of Notre Dame, will explore how humans have biologically, culturally, and technologically overcome these extremes in order to survive and thrive in some of the globe’s most inhospitable environments.

Moderator: Briana Pobiner, paleoanthropologist and educator at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

This program is offered as part of the ongoing HOT (Human Origins Today) Topic series. 

This program will be presented as a Zoom video webinar. A link will be emailed to all registrants. Register

Natural History on the Big Screen

This film series presents a curated selection of natural history-related films, followed by discussions with filmmakers and related experts.

An Evening With

This signature series features cutting-edge thought leaders in conversation with paleontologist and Sant Director of the National Museum of Natural History, Kirk Johnson.

Anthropocene: Life in the Age of Humans

This discussion series explores human impact on the environment, featuring scholars, artists, and others in an intimate conversational setting.

Exploring the Arctic

These programs explore the cultures and natural history of the north.