The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History Annual Report. Academic year 2023/2024

The past year was a challenging one for Israeli society, as well as for the Steinhardt Museum. Some members of the museum team have lost dear ones, others served on reserve duty for very long periods of time, yet others were evacuated from their homes. At the beginning of the October 7 war, we were forced to close the museum to visitors, and once we reopened, we did so free of charge for several weeks to give families the possibility of quality activity in a safe space. More­over, with Tel Aviv University support, we sent out guides with show and tell activities for children and families in evacuation centers, and hosted evacuees in the museum free of charge. During the first quarter of the year, school groups were unable to visit the museum and to participate in its programs; this activity resumed only three months into the war. Public visitation in Israel’s museums dropped precipitously and—although we were able to maintain a relatively high level of activity—this trend was apparent to some extent also in our museum. The number of visitors from abroad dropped, as did our participation in international conferences and various other events. Nevertheless, the Steinhardt Museum team worked very hard and the museum made a great progress also during this challenging year. Our team continued to develop, and new faculty mem­bers joined us. Dr Yaela Golumbic studies Citizen Science from an educational and social per­spective and leads the research at the Israel Center for Citizen Science, and Dr Yosef Kiat, our new Curator of Ornithology, studies avian ecology and evolution. We inaugurated an exquisitely beautiful exhibition on coral reefs that combined refined art with real science. Dr Noga Sokolover of the museum team led the scientific curation of the exhibition with the support of our Curator of Corals, Dr Tom Schlesinger. The art was produced by a world-renowned professional Zuri Gueta. With a large team of coral reef specialists, this exhibition highlighted both the research conducted by the Steinhardt Museum scientists and the beauty and fragility of this important yet threatened ecosystem.HaMaarag, the Israel Nature Assessment Program operating at the museum with partnership of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, Israel Nature and Parks Authority, and the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF), launched Israel’s 2023 State of Nature Report, with all partners and much media attention. As this report showed, the Open Landscape Institute and the Israel Center for Aquatic Ecology continued to develop and to lead important projects that inform Israeli professionals and decision-makers on managing Israel’s natural capital. We took part in a Tel Aviv-Yafo municipality program focused on bringing young adults to the city’s museums, and developed several special events for this audience. The events were well attended, the participants were clearly enthusiastic, and both the attendees and the museum gained valuable insights from this experience.The Steinhardt Museum was established to meet the needs of the State of Israel in a national museum of natural history, a national research institute to study biodiversity and the environment, and to share its knowledge and treasures with professionals, decision-makers, and the general public. With passing years, in a world undergoing global change, the importance of the museum becomes increasingly evident, and we are proud to have established it. However, the period since its opening in 2018 has been rocky and the museum has had to operate under challenging con­ditions. We look forward to more peaceful times and to the continued process of the formal estab­lishment of the Steinhardt Museum. Tamar Dayan and Alon Sapan

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