Behind the Scenes: Plagues & Pestilence took place at the Museum in November 2021, when we hosted four separate meet-and-greets between NHMU scientists and Museum guests. These highly personal opportunities offered guests a chance to chat with experts in the fields of paleontology, anthropology, archaeology, and vertebrate zoology, and provided up-close interactions with rarely seen objects from the collections.
Prior to each in-person presentation, NHMU's Eliza Peterson met with the scientists to discuss their areas of expertise on camera to share with NHMU's YouTube subscribers. Watch the videos below and be sure to subscribe to NHMU on YouTube to be alerted of the latest video content from the Museum.
 | Extinction of the MegafaunaAnthropologist Dr. Tyler Faith explores the death of the megafauna at the end of the Pleistocene, including the potential cause of hyper-disease. |
 | Mammals, Parasites, and PathogensMammalogist Katrina Derieg explores how natural history collections may be the key to predicting and preventing the next outbreak of a novel disease. |
 | PaleopathologiesPaleontologists Dr. Randy Irmis and Carrie Levitt-Bussian discuss paleopathologies while displaying fossilized bones that show evidence of infections, diseases, and re-healed breaks. |
 | MasksAnthropologist Dr. Alex Greenwald discusses masks created by Indigenous peoples of North America. |