EWW! WHAT’S EATING YOU?

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Meredith Westheimer or Kelly Husak

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FINAL4.10.15

EWW! WHAT’S EATING YOU?

South Florida Science Center and Aquarium announces interactive summer traveling exhibition

(WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.)  Leadership at the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium invites the public to step right up and enter a carnival of creatures!  Eww! What’s Eating You?, open to the public on Sunday, May 3, is a parade of parasites, including preserved and live specimens – specifically those that enjoy feasting on humans.  The highly-interactive summer exhibit will dig into the history of human and parasite interaction from ancient Greece, Rome and Egypt, leading up to a more modern tale of sinister and saint critters that live to hitch a ride on human hosts – for the good or the bad.  The exhibit will be on display through Sunday, September 27.

“Parasites are a natural and important part of our ecosystem and they are everywhere and worth exploring,” said Lew Crampton, Science Center CEO.  “Eww! What’s Eating You?will explore the good, the bad and the ugly, of course behind the safety of glass enclosures. The must-see exhibit is perfect for our high-traffic summers, where kids and families flood the Science Center for educational fun and an opportunity to beat the heat.  We encourage you to get your tickets and step right up, because a carnival of creatures is waiting to meet you!”

Famed comedian Carrot Top serves as a remote tour guide through the exhibit, which features a variety of bugs that swirl and twirl, including body morphing Guinea worms, rash causing Hookworms, kid-loving Pinworms, eye-invading Toxocara worms, malaria-causing mosquitoes, blood-sucking leeches and more. 

The hands-on exploration includes the “Wheel of Probability,” a vintage wheel-of-fortune that illustrates the probability of being a host to a parasite; a “Funhouse,” which explores head lice from the perspective of an oversized human scalp – with hair follicles seeming much like a forest of trees; and the “Magic Mirror,” a circus-like effect showing what guests might look like if they contracted elephantiasis, a disease cause by the Filarial worms.

Although presented with colorful and dramatic backdrops with a circus-like feel, the exhibit takes entomology, the study of insects, seriously.  The exhibit is curated by Dr. M. Lee Goff, who has been involved in forensic entomology for more than 25 years, and whose career highlights include consulting for CBS crime dramas CSI and CSI: Miami; serving as a member of the instructional staff for the FBI academy; and involvement in the recovery efforts at the World Trade Center.

The South Florida Science Center and Aquarium, named the Chamber of Commerce of the Palm Beaches’ 2014 nonprofit of the year, features more than 50 hands-on educational exhibits, an 8,000 gallon fresh and salt water aquarium- featuring both local and exotic marine life, a digital planetarium, conservation research station, Florida exhibit hall and an interactive Everglades exhibit.  During Eww! What’s Eating You?admission to the Science Center is $15.00 for adults, $11.00for children ages 3 to 12, and $13.00 for seniors over the age of 60. Children under 3 and Science Center members are free. 

The Science Center is located at 4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach, FL.  For more information, please call (561) 832-1988 or visit www.sfsciencecenter.org. Like the South Florida Science Center and Aquarium on Facebook and follow it on Twitter @SFScienceCenter.

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