New Changing Face of Science exhibition highlights multifaceted snake scientist
(c) Field Museum
The fifth installment of The Changing Face of Science opens April 11 and features Women’s Board Associate Curator of Herpetology and Director of Core Laboratories, Sara Ruane, PhD. The Changing Face of Science is a series that highlights women and/or scientists of color who are breaking barriers in their field to challenge the traditional idea of who can be a scientist. From fieldwork in Madagascar to training her poodles, the exhibition highlights many facets of Ruane’s life and work.
Pink and black walls, coupled with Ruane’s research, show stark contrasts of her multifaceted life. Visual media displays her passions for reptiles, fashion, training her poodles, and collecting epiphytic plants and orchids. Visitors can learn more about her journey, from exploring and finding reptiles with her grandparents as a child to discovering new snake species through DNA sequencing. Ruane hopes the exhibition encourages others to embrace their differences and not underestimate someone because of how they look or what they do.
“You do not need to compromise who you are; you should be able to be whoever it is that you are and still be treated as an equal peer in science, and you shouldn’t compromise who you are to try to fit into these archaic stereotypes,” says Ruane.
One highlight of the exhibition includes a display of two offices; one is Ruane’s vibrant desk, and the other desk is a reconstruction of her predecessor’s office. Karl P. Schmidt, Assistant Curator of Herpetology at the Field Museum in 1925. It not only shows the differences between the two scientists but it shows how the role of a Curator has evolved throughout the years, demonstrating the many aspects of the job, including public outreach, mentoring students, XCT scanning, and more.
This exhibition is included in basic admission. Visitors can meet Ruane and learn more about her journey and work in the Grainger Science Hub on April 11 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. More information about Meet a Scientist can be found here.
The Changing Face of Science series kicked off in 2022 by spotlighting the late Lynika Strozier, a young Black scientist who died from COVID in 2020. This exhibition was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant award #MA-249085-OMS-21.
Please email press@fieldmuseum.org for interview requests, more information, or access to images.