The narwhal and its extraordinary tusk have inspired legends, intrigued Arctic explorers and baffled the world of science. How did this marine mammal evolve such an incredible tooth? What can narwhals tell us about biodiversity and adaptation in a changing Arctic? Join Harvard and Smithsonian research scientist Martin Nweeia on his decades-long quest to answer these questions, and discover just how extraordinary this “unicorn of the sea” really is.

Nweeia’s ongoing research spans genetic studies, physiology and mammalian dental studies to help explain nature’s most puzzling tooth, along with narwhal behavior and adaptation in a changing Arctic. Join him at PEM for a presentation accompanied by documentary footage and photography that explores this elusive whale through innovative technologies with a focus on climate change and Inuit knowledge.

About our Collaborator

Martin Nweeia, D.M.D., D.D.S, has studied narwhals for 24 years and participated in 19 High Arctic expeditions in Greenland and Baffin Island. He is a lecturer at the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine, as well as a research associate at the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Smithsonian Institution, and has held fellowships in physical anthropology and vertebrate zoology at the Smithsonian. Nweeia served as co-curator for the original Smithsonian exhibition of Narwhal: Revealing An Arctic Legend and co-authored the award-winning companion book. He is a Global Fellow at the Polar Institute at the Wilson Center for International Scholars. His work has been featured in five documentaries from National Geographic, two from the BBC with Sir David Attenborough and one from Decouverte, French Discovery. Awarded three Fulbright-Hayes grants from the U.S. Embassy, Nweeia was also chosen for Canada’s 150th Anniversary to represent the best example of collaborative science between Canada and the U.S. He was most recently awarded the prestigious Lowell Thomas Award from the Explorers Club and as a National Fellow has carried their emblem on 16 High Arctic expeditions.