Faculty member collaborates with science museum on launch of annual exhibit

September 16, 2025 (Volume 49, Number 2)
Article by Joseph Martin

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Through a collaborative effort with GVSU, Muskegon Community College will host a public science event on Sept. 16 to launch the John Bartley Science Museum (JBSM)’s 2025-2026 exhibit theme, "Climate & Ecosystems."

The event is free and open to the public and begins with a lecture at 5:30 p.m. in the Stevenson Center, room 1300. It will be followed by a 6:30 p.m. tour of the interactive museum.  

Laura Stroik, associate professor of biomedical sciences, will give a presentation, “After the Bridgerian Crash: Mammals and Climate Change in the Middle Eocene.”

Stroik will discuss findings from her National Science Foundation-funded research on how ancient mammals responded to climate warming, based on fossil evidence from the Uinta Basin in Utah. Stroik collaborated with Amber Kumpf, museum director, to secure an NSF grant to fund the project. She also helped design some of the exhibits and worked with museum staff to implement them.

Following the talk, attendees are invited to explore the museum’s new hands-on displays. Exhibits include 3D-printed mammal skulls and jaws, fossil replicas and visual installations focused on Michigan’s ecosystems through time — from coral reefs and glaciers to the current Great Lakes region.  

The event concludes with a planetarium show, “Super Volcanoes” at 7 p.m. in MCC’s Carr-Fles Planetarium. 

The John Bartley Science Museum is open Mondays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. 

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