Sloth Soirée
Date
Friday, October 20, 2023 | 6 pm–9 pm
Location
Tickets
Program Schedule
Ongoing Programs from 6–9 pm
Museum Collections
View unique specimens from La Brea Tar Pits' collections, NHM’s Mammalogy collections, and NHM’s Vertebrate Paleontology collections.
Live Animal Meet and Greet: Sloth Social
Join the Wildlife Learning Center and meet one of nature’s most unusual animals and learn about the sloth’s rainforest adaptations.
Activity: Sloth Bookmarks
Color your own sloth bookmarks featuring art from the book The Upside-Down Book of Sloths.
Activity: Which Sloth are You?
Take a look at our “sloth facts” and find your sloth persona, then make a pin to represent your sloth alter-ego.
Activity: Microfossil Sorting
Try your hand at sorting tiny fossils just like out Fossil Lab preparators!
Herbivore Snack Bar
Enjoy an assortment of vegetarian friendly refreshments.
Timed Programs
6:30 pm and 8:30 pm | Pop-ups | Don't Hurry, Be Happy: Lessons from ancient and modern sloths that apply to our own lives
Sloths have made some slow but significant changes over the last 12,000 years. Join a museum educator as we explore the similarities and differences between sloths from the ice age versus today.
7:30 pm | Panel and Book Signing | Sloths Past and Present!
Celebrate International Sloth Day with a panel featuring Elizabeth Shreeve, author of The Upside-Down Book of Sloths, Dominique Keller, DVM. PhD, DACZM, Chief Veterinarian and Director of Animal Health and Wellness at the LA Zoo, Bryan Martinez, Sloth Animal Keeper at the LA Zoo, and Dr. Emily Lindsey, Associate Curator of La Brea Tar Pits, as they chat about modern sloths and their prehistoric ancestors. Be sure to purchase your own copy of The Upside-Down Book of Sloths and join award-winning author Elizabeth Shreeve after the panel to get your book signed!
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS:
Elizabeth Shreeve, Author
Elizabeth Shreeve writes children’s books that celebrate the origins and diversity of life on Earth. Recent books include The Upside-Down Book of Sloths (Norton Young Readers, 2023) and Out of the Blue: How Animals Evolved from Prehistoric Seas (Candlewick Press, 2021). Elizabeth lives in northern California with her family.
Website: www.elizabethshreeve.com
Dr. Emily Lindsey, Associate Curator, La Brea Tar Pits & Museum
Dr. Lindsey's research integrates information from past and modern ecosystems to understand how Ice Age animals and environments functioned, how climate conditions and human actions intersect to drive extinctions, and to predict future ecological responses in the face of modern global change. She studied her undergraduate degree in Biology at Brown University and then went on to receive her PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. She has conducted fieldwork in the United States, Antarctica, Chile, Guyana, and Ecuador, where her ongoing research program focuses on investigating the rich asphaltic fossil localities of the Santa Elena Peninsula and compares them with our own tar pits here in California.
Dr. Dominique Keller, Chief Veterinarian and Director of Animal Health and Wellness at the LA Zoo
Dr. Dominique Keller is the Chief Veterinarian and Director of Animal Health and Wellness at the Los Angeles Zoo. She has been the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan two-toed sloth veterinary advisor since 2020. She has a PhD in veterinary physiology with a focus on assisted reproduction in endangered species and has been a diplomate of the American College of Zoological Medicine since 2014. She assisted on ecology-related field work with two- and three-toed sloths in Costa Rica and with sloths in rehab care in Panama. She is humbled by how much we have to learn from sloths.
Bryan Adams Martinez, Sloth Animal Keeper, LA Zoo
Bryan is an animal keeper for the Los Angeles Zoo where he works with the zoo’s Ambassador Collection including Charlie, a Linne’s Two -Toed Sloth. When not at work he enjoys spending time with his family, particularly, reading to his 23 month old twins.
Becca Prater, Museum Educator
Becca Prater (she/her) is a Museum Educator at the La Brea Tar Pits and NHMLA. She studied wildlife ecology in Oklahoma and then moved to Los Angeles in 2017 to explore all of California’s beautiful ecosystems. She loves hiking, talking about bears, and finding the best chai lattes.
Wildlife Learning Center
Wildlife Learning and Conservation Center is dedicated to providing sanctuary for non-releasable wildlife and promoting conservation and appreciation of wildlife by engaging the public in educational experiences.
Website: www.wildlifelearningcenter.org