Museum of Science, Boston Launches Yearlong Spotlight Dedicated to Climate Action and Sustainability

BOSTON, MA – Throughout 2024, the Museum of Science, Boston is dedicating its programming—onsite, online, and in classrooms—to the defining science issue of our time: climate change and the climate solutions we need to live more sustainably on Earth. Led by the Museum’s Center for the Environment, Year of the Earthshot is a yearlong climate initiative featuring more than 1,000 programs, and encompasses exhibits, films, digital series, online games, classroom activities, community partnerships, and more, engaging audiences globally.

Led by Director David Sittenfeld, the Center for the Environment is housed within the Centers for Public Science Learning, established in 2023 as a new, nimble model for science museums that better equips them to confront the greatest challenges facing humankind at the pace of scientific progress. Chief among these challenges: global warming and the unprecedented climate change accelerating extreme weather events and devastating ecosystems. Dr. Sittenfeld and the Center bring extensive expertise in climate science, environmental health and justice, biodiversity, clean energy, and land use to Earthshot, inviting audiences to explore the climate solutions that will transform the ways we live, move, eat, and work.

“For nearly 200 years, the Museum of Science has inspired the public to engage with science and technology in pursuit of a brighter future for everyone,” said Tim Ritchie, President of the Museum of Science, Boston. “Today, science literacy remains as essential as ever as we together face the unprecedented challenge of global climate change. The Museum is poised to respond to that great need through our Centers for Public Science Learning, a new model we have originated to bring science to everyone, everywhere, at the accelerated pace of scientific progress. The Year of the Earthshot, led by our Center for the Environment, will reach people onsite, online, and in classrooms with sustainable and actionable climate solutions."

The Earthshot spotlight kicks off with Changing Landscapes: An Immersive Journey, the Museum’s newest exhibition. Created in partnership with UNESCO, Changing Landscapes: An Immersive Journey uses innovative photogrammetry to explore four World Heritage Sites affected by climate change—from the pyramids of Giza and the churches of Venice to the island community of Rapa Nui and the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde. Visitors will learn about the threats to cultural heritage posed by global warming and the organizations working to preserve culturally significant sites.

Also in January, the Museum opened a vertical smart farm in partnership with Boston-based Freight Farms, growing produce onsite. Dedicated to making farming accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime, Freight Farms is revolutionizing local access to food with a global infrastructure of more than 600 hydroponic container farms. Delving further into questions of food equity and sustainability, the Museum launches Tomorrow’s Menu, a new digital cooking series spurring climate conversations around specific ingredients, this month.

“Climate change is hands-down the most pressing scientific problem of our time,” said Sittenfeld. “The scale of it can certainly feel overwhelming. But there is good reason for hope in the innovation and ingenuity of so many determined minds grappling with the consequences of a changing planet, and the scientific and technological tools at our disposal to mitigate the effects of climate change while creating a better world. That spirit frames our Earthshot programming, which we have designed specifically to spark much-needed conversations about the ways each one of us can start to build a greener, more equitable future together.”