Press

A lecture on the hidden world in the tunnels under New York City will be among the activities at the "11th Annual James Campbell Memorial Gem, Mineral and Fossil Show and Sale," to be held Saturday, February 21 and Sunday, February 22 at the New York State Museum.

Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the museum's concourse level, the show will help to fund new acquisitions for the museum's gem and mineral collections. Among new acquisitions from last year is a case of fluorescent minerals that glow under fluorescent light. The show will feature vendors, who will display and sell gems, jewelry, minerals, fossils, books, videos, lapidary equipment and supplies, stone carvings, bookends and silver and goldsmithing tools. There also will be lectures, children's activities and guided exhibition tours.

Available for sale at the Museum's publications booth will be publications produced by the New York State Museum's Research and Collections Division documenting research in natural and human history in New York. Materials on display will include data in geology, archaeology, paleontology, anthropology, biology, and history.

Dr. Charles Merguerian of Hofstra University will lecture Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Clark Auditorium on "The Mineralogy and Geology of the Queens Water Tunnel." Dr. Merguerian was the consulting geologist on this recent project, deep under New York City, and presents an eyewitness view of this unseen world.

On Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Clark Auditorium, Dr. Ed Landing, the state paleontologist at the State Museum, will deliver the keynote lecture, "Adirondack rocks and Saharan fossils in southern Mexico." He will summarize his current research showing that southern Mexico originated as a fragment of eastern North America that broke away to become part of the African margin of the ancient Gondwana continent.

Other activities over the weekend will include:

A mineral dig for children, hosted by the Capital District Mineral Club, throughout the weekend.

A continuous presentation by John Skiba, the museum's senior cartographer, about map-making processes and methods for producing the State Museum's new geologic quadrangle map.

Guided tours of the Minerals of New York gallery, highlighting recent acquisitions, by Michael Hawkins, the State Museum's mineralogy collections manager, on Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon. Meet in Museum lobby.

Guided fossil tour of the expanded Ancient Life of New York exhibition by Dr. Landing on Sunday at 2 p.m. Meet in Museum lobby.

Identification by Museum scientists of fossils and minerals brought in by the public, throughout the weekend.

The gem and mineral show was initiated by the late James Campbell, a member of the Museum's geological staff, and has become one of the Museum's most popular and well-attended annual events. There will be an admission fee of $3 per person and no charge for children 12 and under if accompanied by an adult. There also will be a $5 combination ticket available that will include admission to "New York in Bloom," which will be held at the Museum the same weekend. Tickets may be purchased at the door.

The State Museum is a cultural program of the New York State Department of Education. Started in 1836, the museum has the nation's longest continuously operating state natural history research and collection survey. The museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. Further information is available by calling 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.

The New York State Museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. It is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week throughout the year except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Further information about programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.