RESERVATIONS
You can book guided tours at a cost of €5.00 per person
Reservations are handled by Didò Association: tel. 0532 203381 / 206297, 339 3065696, dido.storianaturale@gmail.com
Activities for schools
Predators of the Microcosm
Until December 20, 2024, the Didò Association has prepared a series of educational proposals closely related to the exhibition Predators of the Microcosm, which can be enjoyed free of charge thanks to the LOOK-UP! of the Municipality of Ferrara.
Contact for reservations: dido.storianaturale@gmail.com, tel. 351 6937858, www.associazionedido.it or tel. museum 0532 203381
PROJECT MuseOUT: Ecology and Sustainability. Responding to the climate crisis
MuseOUT, in collaboration with Laboratorio Aperto, is held as part of the project LOOK-UP! of the Municipality of Ferrara
- Imagine the Museum of the Future
The goal is to enable children to learn about Museo di Storia Naturale and stimulate their imagination through a creative design workshop, where they will be encouraged to imagine and design the museum of their dreams, on paper or virtually on Minecraft.
- From museum to 3D printing: let’s create our own prehistoric animals!
The goal is to guide children to discover some of the animal species that populate the museum’s exhibits, and then engage them in a hands-on 3D printing activity.
- Explore, Imagine, Create: an immersive journey into nature!
The goal is to guide children to discover biodiversity and natural environments through an introductory lesson and immersive videos. Afterwards, pupils will participate in a creative activity to design a personal “ecosystem,” linking the immersive images to a personal reflection on nature.
4-hour workshops for secondary and junior high school students at Ferrara Open Laboratory – former Verdi Theater, Via Castelnuovo 10.
Download the full program.
For information and reservations: ferrara@labaperti.it
Higher Education
University internships
The Museum welcomes curricular trainees of bachelor’s and master’s degrees in relevant disciplines, not only in the field of nature but also in the field of cultural heritage protection.
Taxonomy courses
Since 1999, the Museum has organized courses on the taxonomic recognition of terrestrial invertebrates, involving leading Italian experts as lecturers. The courses are aimed at Italian and foreign researchers and their cadence is approximately every two years. For some years the focus has been on pollinating insects, and courses are held as part of DEST-Distributed European School of Taxonomy., a service provided by CETAF – Consortium of European Taxonomic Facilities
Citizen science
The Museum is active in the field of citizen science on the topic of “biodiversity” and is part of the Citizen Science Italy network: https://www.museonaturalemaremma.it/csi/.
Citizen science (citizen science), a discipline that straddles scientific research, outreach and environmental awareness, is a phenomenon that has probably always existed: it concerns the contribution made to scientific knowledge by people not officially framed in research organizations. In recent years, technological advances have enabled the participation of an increasing number of citizens in various areas of scientific research, from collecting data on flora and fauna to exploring the universe. The museum relies on the www.inaturalist.org for collecting observations aimed at studying various phenomena affecting biodiversity. Click here to explore the projects of Museo di Storia Naturale.
Research activities
The Land Ecology Station
This permanent research section is located in a separate but connected building to the main body of the Museum. Established in 1987, it is dedicated to the study of ecosystems, biological communities and populations of animal species. Its area of expertise extends from the ecosystems of the Tuscan-Emilian Apennines to those of the Veneto Prealps, with a particular focus on the eastern Emilia-Romagna Po Valley and the Po Delta. The research and environmental monitoring activities of the Ecology Station are also carried out in collaboration with different agencies and subjects, such as ARPA, Emilia-Romagna Region, and the Province of Ferrara.
Research focuses on the study of the biodiversity of pollinating and bio-indicating insects (hymenoptera apoidea, hoverflies diptera, carabid beetles), the creation and management of georeferenced maps of small and large places of naturalistic interest and their floro-faunal content, and the monitoring of human effects on animal populations. The Ecology Station promotes and organizes cooperation activities, exchange of experiences and results, training and refresher courses aimed at those working in the field of nature-environment, as well as actions to raise awareness of environmental issues.
Zoology of Vertebrates
Vertebrate zoological research covers amphibians, reptiles and small mammals, with the following objectives:
– Biogeography and distribution pattern analysis with database implementation
– Taxonomic and systematic characterizations by morphometric and biomolecular studies (DNA analysis).
– Analysis of community and animal population ecology by sampling and monitoring prepared with experimental protocols based on interceptor devices.
– Study of the population dynamics and biology of some species of amphibians and reptiles (Bufo bufo, Bombina pachypus, Rana latastei, Testudo hermanni and Emys orbicularis).
Study methodologies include radiotelemetric techniques, individual tagging with microchips and histochemical and ultrastructural techniques, and collection and analysis of bird of prey wads.
The research of systematic entomology
They carry out specific surveys of collection and field materials for a better understanding of the poorly known Mediterranean and regional symphytic hymenoptera fauna. The investigation is aimed at describing species or genera new to science, solving taxonomic and identification problems, and better defining the species’ distribution ranges. The surveys have already led to the publication of a first volume in the very important series “Fauna d’Italia,” published by Edagricole, which will be followed by others.
The journal "Quaderni del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Ferrara"
The museum publishes the scientific journal “Quaderni del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Ferrara” (ISSN 2283-6918), with annual periodicity. It collects articles by Italian and foreign researchers, published in Italian or English, which are divided into the sections Earth Sciences, Botany, Zoology, Ecology.
The journal’s scientific committee consists of Corrado Battisti, University of Roma Tre; Marco Bologna, University of Roma Tre; Costanza Bonadiman, University of Ferrara; Lucio Bonato, University of Padua; Pietro Brandmayr, University of Calabria; Mauro Fasola, University of Pavia; Carlo Ferrari, University of Bologna; Nicklas Jansson, Linköping University; Valeria Lencioni, Trento Science Museum; Daniele Masetti, University of Ferrara; Alessandro Minelli, University of Padua; Cristina Munari, University of Ferrara; Cesare Andrea Papazzoni, University of Modena; Mauro Pellizzari, Ferrara; Filippo Piccoli, University of Ferrara.
All manuscripts submitted for publication are screened by the editorial board and independent reviewers to ensure the quality of the articles. The review process aims to enable the article, once approved, to be published by the end of the calendar year.
This journal is heir to two other publications, “Notebooks of the Ecology Station” and “Annals,” published by the Museum between 1987 and 2012.
Museum publications can be viewed online and downloaded:
Library
The Museo di Storia Naturale library is a highly specialized resource, with a holdings of about 5,000 volumes, as many abstracts and numerous scholarly journals, searchable through the Sebina database of the Polo Bibliotecario Ferrarese. Un elemento centrale per la sua attività è il rapporto di scambio instaurato con numerosi musei e istituti universitari europei, grazie anche alla pubblicazione annuale della rivista «Quaderni del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale», che accoglie contributi su botanica, zoologia, geologia, paleontologia, ecologia, oltre a una sintesi delle attività espositive, divulgative e di ricerca svolte dal Museo nell’anno precedente.
For information on consultations and loans: r.guerrini@comune.fe.it
