Science and Sustainability Festival 2021

Bishop Museum Science & Sustainability Festival 2021
Sustainable Seas

Saturday, March 20, 2021
9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. 

Discounted Museum Admission for Kamaʻāina and military with ID – $5 per person
Members: Free with pre-registration and member card

Pre-registration is strongly recommended. Limited hourly admissions; without preregistration, walk-ins will be admitted on a space-available basis.
Parking on campus: $5 per person

This spring, Bishop Museum is proud to present a day of programming exploring one of the most urgent topics of today – sustainability, more specifically ocean conservation and preservation. This year’s theme, Sustainable Seas, will feature safe and socially distanced activities, community partners, and Museum experts, utilizing our 15-acre campus. The Science and Sustainability Festival will feature Bishop Museum’s research and natural science collections in the areas of invertebrate zoology, ichthyology, and malacology. Our researchers will share some of the work they are engaged in across the Pacific – ranging from deep ocean exploration, new fish species identification, and a snapshot of the over 35,000-specimen invertebrate zoology collection (the only collection in the world dedicated to marine invertebrates). Partner organizations include those who are actively engaged in and hard at work with initiatives that promote awareness in the areas of ocean sustainability.

We will also celebrate the final days of the Mai Kinohi Mai: Surfing in Hawaiʻi exhibit and the Plastic-Free Pipeline  Over the course of the next few years, it is our intention to continue to explore the importance of our ahupuaʻa — the uka, kula, and kai — through prioritizing the sustainability of our campus, and the development of public programs, culminating with this annual community event.

With the ongoing pandemic, Bishop Museum will continue to adhere to all Federal, State, and County regulations and guidelines.  Space will be limited and guests are strongly advised to make an advance reservation.

Programming Highlights

• Event Passport Activity – Guests will be provided a passport that will help guide them through the various activities and informational booths throughout campus.  In order to receive a stamp in one’s passport, the guests will have to correctly answer a sustainability or ocean awareness question.  Completed passports can be shown upon leaving for a post-visit treat.
• Bishop Museum Natural Sciences team will be on hand to showcase a snippet of our vast collections and talk with guests about some of the ongoing research projects that they are actively engaged in.
• Bishop Museum Education Programs – GO and GROW! will be open and guests are encouraged to learn about native plants while planting their own seedlings.
• Bishop Museum Sustainability Initiatives – Participate in a unique Bishop Museum Scavenger Hunt and learn about the Museum’s efforts in being a sustainability partner.
• Partner Community Organizations – Sustainability cannot be achieved in isolation – as such, Bishop Museum has invited organizations from within our communities to partake in the day’s events and share with our guests the good work they are actively engaged in.  A list of our invited partners can be found below.

Bishop Museum Departments and Partner Organizations

1. BM Cafe by Highway Inn
2. Bishop Museum Ichthyology Dept.
3. Bishop Museum Invertebrate Zoology Dept.
4. Bishop Museum Malacology Dept.
5. Bishop Museum Membership
6. Bishop Museum Press
7. Conservation International Hawaii
8. CountercurrentArt.org & Kōkua Hawai’i Foundation
9. DLNR: Division of Aquatic Resources: Alien Invasive Species Division
10. Hawaii Pacific University: Center for Marine Debris Research
11. Kōkua Sun Care
12. Nā Kama Kai
13. NOAA
14. Outrigger Zone (OZONE) & All Good
15. Paepae o He‘eia
16. Parley for the Oceans
17. Surfrider Foundation
18. Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii
19. UH Mānoa Algal Biodiversity Lab

Social Media Contest

To spread messages of sustainability and to promote the idea that sustainability efforts begin with the individual, Bishop Museum will host two social media contests – one for onsite participants and one for our virtual participants. Onsite visitors will be invited to participate by sharing something they have learned at the festival and their commitment to taking action in their own homes. They will also be asked to post a selfie picture or video at one of the Museum’s “examples of sustainability” as outlined in our Sustainability Scavenger Hunt. Virtual participants will be encouraged to share a sustainability message and/or highlight a sustainability action happening in their own home (ie. Aquaponics, recycling, compost, etc.).

All Bishop Museum safety protocols regarding mask-wearing, temperature checks upon entry, and social distancing will be implemented, as well as COVID-19 mandates at state and county levels.

Image: Courtesy of NOAA Hawai’i