Philadelphia sculpture artist Marguerita Hagan will give an invited presentation on Thursday, Sept. 21 on “the Art and Science of Micropaleontology.”

The lecture will be held in room 209 of Penny Hall at 3:30 p.m. Free and open to the public, the lecture is hosted by the Department of Geological Sciences, which is housed in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment.

Micropaleontology is the field of science focused on microfossils, tiny fossils that can only be seen with a microscope.

Hagan’s ceramic art is inspired by nature and the mysteries hidden deep in the ocean, particularly single celled marine organisms and bioluminescent creatures. Her series, La Mer, from her current Wildlife work illuminates the unseen life of the sea and the single cell organisms that form the base of the marine ecosystem.

Her talk will explore how humans are connected with and interdependent on the sea through a slideshow detailing the delicate, diverse and mostly unseen sea with which our lives are intrinsically linked. She will discuss the universal connection and interdependence that enables life to thrive over geologic timescales, too.

Marguerita Hagan’s ceramics have been displayed nationally and internationally. She currently has exhibits at the Philadelphia Airport and the Science Museum of Virginia, and her work is featured in an international exhibit OCEAN at the Science Museum of New York. The concept of interdependence plays throughout her sculpture, as well as her teaching and community arts.

Hagan earned a bachelor of fine arts in ceramics from James Madison University and a master of fine arts from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. 

For more information, contact UD’s Department of Geological Sciences at 302-831-2841.