Natural History, the Curious Institution

Join us for an evening of poetry and discussion with Brandon Kilbourne, a prominent Black scientist and Science Officer at the Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin, Germany. Kilbourne draws from his experiences as a scientist and world traveler to examine topics such as extinction, racism, and colonialism through poetry. His work delves into the colonial legacy of the museum collections that form the core of biodiversity data to explore how these intersect in his research and lived experiences, and inform his outlook on life. Kilbourne will share select poems from his body of work, and will discuss challenges he has faced and insights he has gained as a Black scientist conducting research in a discipline whose roots are intertwined with the history of colonialism and that is predominantly populated by White scientists.

Schedule

• Doors open at 6:00 pm.
• Participants will have the opportunity to visit the temporary exhibitions In Search of Earth’s Secrets and Coring the Continents.
• The lecture will begin at 7:00 pm and will be followed by audience Q&A.

About the Speaker

Brandon Kilbourne is an evolutionary biologist and Science Officer at the Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Germany. His research investigates how the limbs of mammals evolve and adapt to different environments and functions like running, climbing, digging, and swimming, and is featured in the exhibit “Black in Natural History Museums”. He has also published research on birds and dinosaurs, and is involved in an intercultural program to build bridges between African and European museums. In addition to being a world-class researcher, Kilbourne is an accomplished poet whose works have been published in venues such as Ecotone, Poet Lore, Obsidian, Decolonial passage, and Split Rock Review. His poetry examines the intersection of natural history, colonialism, race, and extinction, and has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize.

Host or Publisher Bell Museum