PHILADELPHIA, September 19, 2019

The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University will join global museum and science communities and people around the world in Friday’s rally in support of the United Nations Climate Summit taking place in New York this month.

Academy scientists, educators and other staff who do not work on the floor of the museum will participate in the Youth Climate Strike rally at Philadelphia City Hall. Many of the staff are veterans of previous March for Science events that have taken place in recent years in Philadelphia and across the nation.

The museum will be open and fully functional, as usual, during regular business hours, 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 20.

Academy research supports the consensus of the scientific community that the planet is warming, and climates are changing at an unprecedented rate and that these changes are largely because of human activity. Founded in 1812, the Academy is a global leader in water quality studies such as the Delaware River Watershed Initiative and cares for 18 million plant and animal specimens used by researchers around the world who study climate change, evolution, extinction and other critical environmental issues.

Academy President and CEO Scott Cooper noted that we are now experiencing accelerated climate change, species extinction and other environmental factors that threaten global security and life itself.

“We believe museums have a moral obligation to support the public good and to raise our voices at this critical moment of climate crisis,” Cooper said. “Science matters, and our participation in the rally demonstrates that. It’s inspiring to see the Philadelphia community come together for this important event.”

On Friday, passersby and participants in the day’s events are invited to make a poster or write to their government representatives at tables set up next to the dinosaurs outside the Academy’s front entrance at 19th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The tables will be staffed from 8-10 a.m. and 3-5 p.m. for the Academy’s first Climate Action Resource Day, and the supplies are provided free of charge.