Wayfinding: How Humans Navigate the World

Science journalist M. R. O’Connor traveled to the Arctic, Australia, and the South Pacific to talk to master navigators who find their way using environmental cues and to learn how they are trying to preserve these unique practices in the age of GPS. Along the way, she explores fascinating aspects of our species’ navigation faculties and how they are connected to our profound capacities for exploration, memory, and storytelling, resulting in powerful connections to the world around us and topophilia (the love of place).

O’Connor’s stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Foreign Policy, Slate, The Atlantic, and Nautilus. Her reporting has received support from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, The Nation Institute’s Investigative Fund, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. In 2016, she was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT. A graduate of Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, she lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Doors open at 6 p.m. for guests attending the lecture in person. Come early to view seldom-seen objects from the Museum’s Collection in the Lower Lobby from 6 – 6:45 p.m.

Attendees are welcome to send comments or questions to M. R., and she will answer following the lecture.

A book signing follows the Q&A.

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Registration information:

Advance registration is required whether you attend the lecture in person or online. Evening lectures will be in person in the Main Lobby and livestreamed.

In person ticket includes one drink ticket.
A cash bar will be available for additional beverages.

Pre-order a charcuterie plate when you buy your ticket.
Charcuterie plates must be purchased at the time of registration.