Philadelphia Science Action

10/16/2026

👏👏👏 Way to show up Philly!!

THANK YOU to the 640 people who showed up to our virtual rally (and the nearly 1000 people who registered)!

Also thank you to our speakers Corina Newsome, Alie Ward, Isa Betancourt, Tykee James, Kory Evans Ph.D., Jessica Ware Ph.D., Allison Tumarkin-Deratzian, Sarah McAnulty, Janelle Richardson, and guest Councilmember At-Large Nina Ahmad - who fired us up with updates, inspiration, action, + reminders of how ANSP changes lives!

Missed the rally? Watch the recording here: https://save-the-academy.org/virtual-rally.html

And use our Take Action Toolkit to post on social media and activate your network: https://bit.ly/stac-social

10/15/2026

🫶👏

Don’t let a bright Philadelphia jewel go dark

10/14/2026

It’s day 16 without The Academy’s public museum. We’re not stopping until those doors open again.

Learn about the latest developments on the situation and about actions you can take this Thursday at noon Eastern at our virtual rally.

We’ve got an incredible lineup of speakers, including Alie Ward, Isa Betancourt, Tykee James, Kory Evans Ph.D., Jessica Ware Ph.D., Allison Tumarkin-Deratzian, our emcee Corina Newsome, and more!

Register at our website save-the-academy.org!

10/14/2026

The coroner wrote that "the woman’s primary cause of death was 'a probable acute cardiac event due to possible complications of the measles.'" Also, "Pennsylvania has reported 1,136 cases of measles so far this year, the largest outbreak in the country."
https://tinyurl.com/muzvvhrt

10/14/2026

Although it was one of the smaller dioramas at the Academy of Natural Sciences, the tragic history it illustrated was on a massive scale: "There is nowhere on Earth today that humans can hear the roar of an approaching flock of passenger pigeons and see the light fade as they block out the sun, but the birds in the diorama offer a portal."

A flock of passenger pigeons rests frozen in time on the third floor of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University. The birds feed on the ground, rest on twigs and raise their wings to take to the air in a beech forest whose colonnade of gray trunks recedes into the diorama’s painted background. The mounted skeletons in Dinosaur Hall help visitors picture a T. rex treading the earth, a predator with no contemporary counterpart. The same is true of this display for the extinct passenger pigeons that once flew in the billions.

“The Pidgeons in such numbers we see fly, that like a cloud they do make dark the sky; and in such multitudes are sometimes found, as that they cover both trees and ground,” says Keith Russell, program manager for urban conservation at Audubon Mid-Atlantic, quoting early Pennsylvania settler and poet John Holme. Russell says that thanks to centuries of written accounts, as well as Philadelphia’s role as a hub for natural history exploration, “there is a longer timeline of records for Philadelphia than there is for any other place.”

Hannah Michelle Brower and Aspen Simone of Philly Pigeon Tours highlighted that connection in a special program they offered for the nation’s 250th. The tours usually focus on urban pigeons (aka rock doves), free-flying members of a domesticated Eurasian species. “We talked about the rock pigeon and the history with them, but focused more on passenger pigeons because they were native to America,” Brower says. “We talked about the whole history of early colonist records of their abundance and how people caused their decline and extinction.”

➡️ Read the full story at https://gridphilly.com/blog-home/2026/10/13/the-extinct-passenger-pigeon-lives-on-in-the-closing-academy/

✍️ Bernard Brown
📸 Tasso Hartzog

10/13/2026

Vaccination is the best way to protect yourself against measles. For most adults, one shot of the MMR is considered enough protection. But there are certain situations that call for a second dose.

10/12/2026

With the closing of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Drexel University has blundered into a spectacular public relations disaster. I could almost feel sorry for them, had their actions not been so cruel and heartless.

When the news first broke, the reaction was a stunned grief. According to Drexel, this beloved museum, the public-facing side of an irreplaceable scientific institution, just didn’t make financial sense anymore. They listed some facts. Attendance was down, and had never recovered from COVID-19. The building at 19th Street and the Parkway required major work. It just couldn’t go on.

Two of the three divisions of the Academy would be spared. Drexel would maintain the Academy’s collection of 19 million(!) specimens and scientific research would continue. To make it financially stable, they would sell the building.

It was a tidy narrative, a problem and a solution presented simultaneously.

After the initial shock and sadness of hearing the news, people started asking questions: How much work does the building need? Why does it need to close so quickly? Has every effort been made to save the museum?

Supporters began to organize, politicians expressed dismay. And then the William Penn Foundation, usually a behind-the-scenes player, made a public offer to fund the museum for a year. It was a bold intervention, effectively calling Drexel’s bluff.

The closest Drexel has come to acknowledging that offer was when they told NBC 10 they hadn’t received a “formal proposal.” Their response speaks volumes.

The museum has closed quickly because Drexel has no interest in keeping it open.

Drexel did not just fail to make every effort to save the museum — they made no effort.

➡️ Read the full note from our publisher at https://gridphilly.com/blog-home/2026/10/09/publishers-notes-its-a-crime/

✍️ Alex Mulcahy

10/08/2026

Things should be better 35 years later, right? "The 1991 outbreak would eventually sicken 1,400 people across Philadelphia and kill nine children....'I would have said there was no chance this would ever happen again....We were looking forward to decades of measles-free, whooping cough-free, polio-free livelihoods for children.'” 😔

‘It felt like a more winnable battle in ’90, ’91’

10/07/2026

10/06/2026

🔥 "...his call for 'more science, not less' could hardly be more at odds with the agenda of the president he 'supports 100%.'" Yup, hard to have it both ways

Trump is a nightmare to McCormick’s science dream