Press

ALBANY, NY -- “Farmers, Warriors, Builders: The Hidden Life of Ants” will open at the New York State Museum January 29 showcasing the photography of ant expert Dr. Mark Moffett, an award-winning photojournalist, ecologist and explorer.

The exhibition is organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. It will be open at the State Museum through April 10 and then continue on a 15-city national tour through 2015.

Moffett’s macro photographs chronicle the work of entomologists in the field and tell incredible stories about the lives of ants — hunting, communicating, dealing with disease and agriculture. The exhibition features 39 large-scale color photographs, a touchable three-dimensional aluminum cast of an ant nest, and a touchable oversized ant model. Visitors can explore the model of a leaf cutter worker ant that has been blown up to 50 times its actual size, and learn how it uses its body to work and survive in the colony.

A real-life adventurer who has been called “the Indiana Jones of entomology” by the National Geographic Society, Moffett has won the highest honors in exploration – the 2006 Lowell Thomas Medal from the Explorers Club and Rolex, and the Chapman Andrews Society Distinguished Explorer Award (2008).

He received a doctorate from acclaimed conservationist Edward O. Wilson at Harvard University and remains active in science with over 80 peer-reviewed publications. He has written more than 25 articles for National Geographic Magazine, which has featured nearly 500 of his images. He also has appeared on the Conan O’Brien show, twice on the Colbert Report and on NPR. His most recent book, “Adventures Among Ants: A Global Safari With a Cast of Trillions,” won the National Outdoor Book Award. More information is available at www.doctorbugs.com/

SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for nearly 60 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. Exhibition descriptions and tour schedules are available at www.sites.si.edu.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, located at 10th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C., welcomes more than 7 million visitors annually. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (except Christmas Day).

Admission is free. More information about the museum is available at www.mnh.si.edu or by calling (202) 633-1000, TTY (202) 633-5285.

The State Museum is a program of the New York State Education Department’s Office of Cultural Education. Founded in 1836, the Museum has the longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey in the U.S. Located on Madison Avenue in Albany, the Museum is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. It is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. Admission is free. Further information can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

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