This past Wednesday, October 28^th, Professor Drew Harvell came to Rose House to speak about a hidden treasure available to us here at Cornell University. Many people are aware of the Harvard flowers, but often forget another collection the Blaschka brothers also created—glass marine life. In 1863, Leopold and his son Rudolph Blaschka made beautiful glass pieces of various sea life intended to be used for teaching. The two were hyper focused on an attention to detail to accurately capture the adaptations and features of each individual creature. While the pieces are beautiful in aesthetic, they are also extremely informative and can be used to learn about marine animals. Throughout the presentation, Professor Harvell constantly flipped through images of the glass structures versus the actual animals and I can honestly admit that I had difficulty differentiating the two—which goes to show exactly how precise these models are. Professor Harvell additionally spoke about a documentary that she is featured in regarding the history and construction of the glass models. The documentary elucidated the importance of the models and although they are no longer used for teaching due to technological improvements, these models serve as a time capsule as to how the ocean and sea life used to look over 100 years ago. If certain animals have changed physically or biologically, it begs the question of what caused the animals to adapt and if humans are making a large impact on marine life. I thoroughly enjoyed this presentation because although these sculptures were used as learning tools, I felt as if I was at an art museum looking at multiple uniquely beautiful pieces. The fact that such animals exist in real life has sparked an interest in marine life and just reminds me of how little of the world I really know about. The sea is almost its own world with its own ecosystem that we often do not remember. This presentation was like a glimpse into this other world—one I would love to explore one day just as Professor Harvell did.