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Speaker Series – Greater Than Ever Before: The New Great Hall of Shells
Join us online OR in person at the CROW Visitor Education Center. The National Shell Museum is the only one in the United States. Learn what makes it unique and how they continue to improve their exhibits.
Dr.Leal will present the work done toward renovating the National Shell Museum’s main exhibit area. The new Great Hall of Shells displays thousands of specimens from all over the world, expanded exhibits of shells in human history and culture, and brand-new educational exhibits about conservation and the environment. With a unified and elegant design by Matter Practice of New York City, the project is the capstone of the Museum’s multi-year renovation after the impact of Hurricane Ian. It is one of the largest and finest exhibits of shells in the world.
Dr. José H. Leal is the Science Director of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum. Dr. Leal received his PhD in Marine Biology and Fisheries from the University of Miami. He was a visiting Professor at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History (Washington, DC). Dr. Leal holds an honorary faculty position at Florida Gulf Coast University (Fort Myers), where he is an affiliate member of the Coastal Watershed Institute. He is also a past president of the American Malacological Society and of Conchologists of America.
