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The Academy of Natural Sciences, located in Philadelphia, closed last month just shy of its 200th birthday. It was founded in 1812 and opened to the public in 1828. In 1868, the academy was the first place in the world to display a dinosaur skeleton. It housed a massive, irreplaceable library of over 19 million specimens, which included Thomas Jefferson’s fossil collection, and plant samples gathered by Lewis and Clark.
Since the Covid pandemic, visits to the museum had steadily declined, and financial instability played a major role in the decision to close the academy. The declining revenue from admission fees, along with reduced funding from the federal government and a drop in philanthropic donations, contributed to the closing. Many researchers and academics fear other museums may close as well.
These museums provide a place for us to experience and learn about the history of the natural world, something that is desperately needed today. Richard Louv, author of the book "Last Child in the Woods," wrote about what he called "nature-deficit disorder." He discusses the effects of a significant lack of exposure to nature and outdoor activities on today's children which has been linked to trends like childhood obesity, attention deficit disorder, and depression.
I attended one of Louv's lectures in 2010. He asked the audience to raise their hands if they had captured fireflies in jars; seen tadpoles in a stream; or camped out under the stars. After each question he told the audience to look around at who had their hands raised. It was mainly older folks, the boomer generation.
This is not a surprise. Today's kids spend 5 to 8 hours a day in front of a screen and less than 1 hour outdoors. In addition, today's teachers are not required to take any formal training in natural sciences. Since the 1990s, an accredited BS degree in biology does not require any natural history course. As natural history course offerings declined, the number of hard science courses increased and soon most universities dropped entire majors in natural history along with most coursework in the field. Joshua Tewksbury, a University of Washington professor and World Wildlife Federation International scientist said, "natural history provides essential knowledge for fields as varied as human health, food security, conservation, land management and recreation."
When I was working on my doctorate degree in 2002, I was required to take a course in natural history. It was taught by Dr. Mitchell Thomashow, the author of the book, "Bringing the Biosphere Home: Learning to Perceive Global Environment Change." One of our assignments was to pick one thing in our local environment and observe it for a month. I chose to observe Tappan Lake during the month of January. I watched as a thin film of ice formed on the lake during a stretch of zero-degree temperatures. By the end of the month, that layer was several inches thick. This was in the winter of 2003. In recent years we have seen little to no ice formation on the lake: maybe a possible sign of climate change? Without observations taking place in the outdoors, we miss valuable data.
A 2022 article in Science and Education said, "biology teacher education coursework and science methods textbooks have diverted attention away from direct encounters with living things and toward abstract, molecular models of life devoid of academically helpful context."
I think our lack of connections to the natural world will only get worse as AI takes a greater role in education and our lives. No computer-generated model can ever replace a living organism. You cannot do fieldwork on a laptop; you must get outdoors and experience the entire ecosystem and all the abiotic and biotic parts of that ecosystem. Note the "A" in AI stands for artificial.
I have had wonderful encounters with the natural environment most of my life, especially birds. I started watching birds in fifth grade and continue to be fascinated by their tenacious nature. On the coldest days of winter, the bright red cardinals or black-capped chick-a-dees manage to brave the snow and visit my feeders. But, many older birdwatchers like myself will tell you that birds, and many plants and animals, are in trouble. The Audubon Society issued a report in 2025 stating, we have "lost 3 billion birds in North America over 50 years." The recently published United Nations Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework report says we are failing to protect nature.
Citizen scientists have become invaluable in providing data through their observations of birds and wildlife at their homes. We are doing the jobs that previously were done by naturalists; observation and record keeping. A recent essay in INaturalist said, "citizen scientists contribute valuable data that professional researchers might otherwise struggle to collect." This is especially true at a time when the current administration has significantly cut research funding for science projects.
In addition to cutting research funding, the current administration has proposed to: expand oil and gas exploration and exempt projects from public comments; roll back the roadless rules; and to significantly weaken the Endangered Species Act. Citizens are watching this administration gut their natural world.
In his 2012 book, "The Nature Principle," Louv wrote, “We cannot protect something we do not love, we cannot love what we do not know, and we cannot know what we do not see. Or hear. Or sense.” We need natural history education more than ever. We also need to speak up in defense of the natural world because nature cannot advocate for herself. To quote Paul Avellino, "Many of us became accidental activists. Not out of rage but out of heartbreak. Because somewhere along the way we realized silence helps no one. Not the Earth, not our children, not each other."
Randi Pokladnik, Ph.D., of Uhrichsville, is a retired research chemist who volunteers with Mid Ohio Valley Climate Action. She has a doctorate degree in environmental studies and is certified in hazardous materials regulations.