Category: Events
Welcome back, Hawkeyes! We hope that you had a nice break, and we’re glad that you are back! Keep our Hawkeye community safe by getting your free COVID-19 vaccinations and booster if you have not done so yet.

Books, Articles, Laptops, and More
You can search InfoHawk+ to find books, articles, and other resources at the UI Libraries, and you can contact a sciences librarian to get expert help to use our resources.
We now have laptops that you can check out! Visit the Sciences Library Service Desk to check out a laptop. Laptops circulate for 3 days or for 3 weeks, depending on how long you need to use them.
Study Spaces
The Sciences Library offers a variety of study spaces that are available to you! If you are looking for a good place to study, we have study spots that include computer stations, study carrels, study booths, and large tables for group work. The Sciences Library is located at 120 Iowa Ave.
Sciences Library Spring 2022 Hours
The Sciences Library is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 9:00 PM, Friday from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM, and Sunday from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM for the spring semester. The Sciences Library is closed on Saturdays.
Study Help for BIOL 1411: Foundations of Biology
If you are taking BIOL:1411 Foundations of Biology, then you can take advantage of free study help with our Sciences Library Student Mentors!
Drop-in Tutoring for Foundations of Biology
- Mondays, Tuesday, Wednesdays, & Thursday 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Ask to meet with the student mentor at the Sciences Library Service Desk.
Group Study Sessions for Foundations of Biology
- Sundays, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM. The student mentor will lead a session to review material from the week’s lectures. This is located in room 102 at the Sciences Library.
- Sundays, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM. The student mentor will provide help with lab content. This session will be held in room 102 at the Sciences Library.
Congratulations to the Lord of the Rings Trivia Grand Prize Winner! We were pleased to present the book Middle-earth from Script to Screen: Building the World of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to Nick, an undergraduate student at the University of Iowa and enthusiastic Lord of the Rings fan. Nick was excited to receive and start reading the book, which contains over 1,000 images of scenes from the films and behind-the-scenes stories. Watch a video of Nick accepting the grand prize at the Sciences Library!
Join Arborist Andy Dahl for a tree talk and tour at the Sciences Library! This program will be held on Friday, October 1, 2021. The tree talk will begin at 2:00 PM on the 3rd floor of the Sciences Library. There will be a short break at 2:45 PM for light refreshments. The walking tour of campus trees will begin at 3:00 PM at the Sciences Library. This program is free and open to the public. The Sciences Library is located at 120 Iowa Ave.
Tree Talk & Tour at the Sciences Library
120 Iowa Ave, Iowa City
Friday, October 1, 2021
• 2:00 PM: Tree talk located on the 3rd floor of the Sciences Library
• 2:45 PM: Break for light refreshments
• 3:00 PM: Walking tour of campus trees starting at the Sciences Library
The Arbor Day Foundation has designated the University of Iowa as a Tree Campus Higher Education institution, and the University of Iowa campus grounds are recognized as an arboretum by ArbNet, a professional network of arboreta and tree professionals. The University of Iowa campus showcases over 8,000 trees representing over 330 species.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Laurie Neuerburg at 319-467-0216 or laurie-neuerburg@uiowa.edu.
Welcome to the fall 2021 semester, Hawkeyes! We are happy to have you back on campus in-person this fall! You can find the Sciences Library located between Phillips Hall and the Biology Building on Iowa Ave.
Open Hours
- Monday through Thursday: 8:30 AM to 9:00 PM
- Friday: 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM
- Sunday: 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
Study Spaces
- Computer stations
- Study carrels for individual use
- Booths with USB and outlets for phones and computers
- Large tables and large mobile monitors for group work
Find Books, Articles, and More
- Meet with a sciences librarian in a one-on-one research consultation
- Search InfoHawk+ to find books, articles, and other resources the UI Libraries has that you can use online or check out & take home
- You can request that the Sciences Library purchase something that we don’t have
- Request a book or article that we don’t have at the UI Libraries through Interlibrary Loan
- Ask Sciences Library staff for help
COVID-19 Safety
- Use our hygiene stations stocked with disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer
- You are encouraged to wear a face mask and get your free covid-19 vaccination, if you haven’t yet, to help keep our campus safe
- Our book stacks are open so feel free to peruse the shelves!
Lord of the Rings
- Check out our display of swords and other replicas from the Lord of the Rings movies to celebrate their 20 year anniversary!
Have a great semester! We’re glad to have you at the Sciences Library!

- The Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring (DVD, 2001)
- The Lord of the Rings, the Two Towers (DVD, 2003)
- The Lord of the Rings, the Return of the King (DVD, 2004)
- The Lord of the Rings (DVD release of 1978 animated film)
- The Lord of the Rings. Pt. 1. The Fellowship of the Ring; Pt. 2. The Two Towers (Print Book)
- The Hobbit, or, There and Back Again (Print Book)
- The Annotated Hobbit: The hobbit, or, There and Back Again (Print Book)
- The Art of The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (Print Book)
- Journeys of Frodo: An Atlas of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (Print book)
- Leaving Rivendell: Selected Songs and Poems from the Lord of the Rings (Streaming Audio)
- The Lord of the Rings and Philosophy: One Book to Rule Them All (Ebook)
- The Lord of the Rings: Gollum: How We Made Movie Magic (Print book)
- The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films : A Comprehensive Account of Howard Shore’s Scores (Print Book and CD)
- The Film book of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the rings : over 130 pictures from the Fantasy Films presentation of The Lord of the rings, Part one, with a text based on the film script (Print book)
- Studying the Event Film : The Lord of the Rings (Print book)
Join Iowa birder Linda Rudolph to learn how to get started with birding on campus and beyond! This is a free online program that will be held on Thursday, April 8, 2021, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM CDT. All are welcome! To attend, go to https://tinyurl.com/IAbirds or https://uiowa.zoom.us/j/99752137081
Linda Rudolph is a Coralville resident. She is a transplanted New Yorker, who retired from the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics as an inpatient clinical pharmacist. Since retirement she has become an active local birder. Linda currently serves in the Iowa Ornithologists’ Union as the Iowa Birds List Serve Co-Administrator. When she isn’t hiking local areas, she enjoys international travel for birdwatching. Linda has currently seen over 3,400 bird species.
Find the Sciences Library’s Kent Ornithology Collection, Birds of the World, Sibley Field Guides, and more birding books and resources on our birding guide.
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa–sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Laurie Neuerburg at 319-467-0216 or laurie-neuerburg@uiowa.edu.

While there is no consensus among groundhogs this week about exactly when spring will arrive, there is the reminder that spring will come, and as Punxsutawney Phil would like us to know, “you’re looking forward to one of the most beautiful and brightest springs you’ve ever seen.” Check out the table below to see how groundhogs all over North America have faced (or not faced) their darkest shadows to bring us their prediction! Under the column “2021 Prediction,” you can find a link to an article or video of these famous whistle pigs and other prophetic creatures making their most recent forecast!
Name | Location | 2021 Prediction |
Punxsutawney Phil | Punxsutawney, PA | 6 more weeks of winter |
Bay Beach Bobbie | Green Bay, WI | Early spring |
Staten Island Chuck | Staten Island, NY | Early spring |
Holtsville Hal | Long Island, NY | Early spring |
Malverne Mel | Long Island, NY | Early spring |
Dunkirk Dave | Dunkirk, NY | Early spring |
Milltown Mel | Milltown, NJ | Early spring |
Phoebe the Hedgehog | Manchester, CT | 6 more weeks of winter |
Buckeye Chuck | Marion, OH | Early spring |
Woodstock Willie | Woodstock, IL | Early spring |
Murray the Groundhog | Alton, IL | Took the day off? |
Unadilla Bill | Unadilla, NE | Final prediction of early spring before retirement |
Shubenacadie Sam | Nova Scotia, Canada | Early spring |
Fred La Marmotte | Val d’Espoir, Quebec, Canada | Early spring |
Wiarton Willie | Wiarton, Ontario, Canada | His prediction was replaced by a fur hat toss this year |
Greta the Groundhog | Chimney Rock, NC | 6 more weeks of winter |
Queen Charlotte | Charlotte, NC | 6 more weeks of winter |
Sir Walter Wally | Raleigh, NC | Early spring |
‘Stumptown Phil’ aka Filbert the beaver | Portland, OR | 6 more weeks of winter |
Mojave Maxine the tortoise | Palm Desert, CA | Early spring |
The 1993 film Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray is on DVD for checkout at the UI Libraries!
Iowa City Darwin Day celebrates the benefits of science for humanity, and all are invited to celebrate this year by attending virtual talks by prestigious scientists! All Iowa City Darwin Day events are free and open to the public.
Erich Jarvis’ talk “Evolution of Brain Pathways for Vocal Learning and Spoken Language” will be on Friday, February 12 at 12 PM CST. Erich Jarvis is a professor and head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics of Language at the Rockefeller University. He uses song-learning birds and other species as models to study the molecular and genetic mechanisms that underlie vocal learning, including how humans learn spoken language. He chairs the international Vertebrate Genomes Project which studies how species are genetically related and how unique characteristics evolve. Jarvis also collaborates on a project to generate a new human pangenome reference that will represent over 90% of genetic diversity.
Dr. Jarvis is the 2002 recipient of the National Science Foundation Alan T. Waterman Award and was awarded the Director’s Pioneer Award by the National Institutes of Health in 2008. He received the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award in 2019
Charmaine Royal’s talk “Race, Genetics, and Health” followed by a panel discussion will be on Friday, February 19 at 4 PM CST.
Charmaine Royal is a 2020 Ida Cordelia Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor. She is Associate Professor of African & African American Studies, Biology, Global Health, and Family Medicine & Community Health at Duke University. She is also core faculty in the Duke Initiative for Science & Society, senior fellow in Kenan Institute for Ethics, and faculty in the Social Science Research Institute where she directs the Center on Genomics, Race, Identity, Difference and the Center for Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation. Dr. Royal’s research, scholarship, and teaching focus on ethical, legal, and social issues in genetics and genomics, particularly the intersection of race and genetics and its policy implications and practical interventions.
Panelists:
UI Professor of History Mariola Espinosa
UI Visiting Professor of Law Phoebe Jean-Pierre
Dr. Brian Donovan , BSCS
Moderator: UI Associate Professor of Law Anya Prince
Enjoy a book safely at home during the novel coronavirus pandemic to celebrate Pride Month! Also, UI Pride 2020 offers Pride at Home kits containing fun activities to do at home!
Students, staff, and faculty may request that a print book from the University of Iowa Libraries be mailed to their residence. To make the request, sign into InfoHawk+ using your HawkID, find the book, and choose “Request Physical Item.” You can find more books than shown in the Virtual Book Display in InfoHawk+ by searching on keywords in InfoHawk+ such as gays, lesbians, transgender, biography, fiction, essays, history, or literature. If you would like assistance, contact Laurie Neuerburg (laurie-neuerburg@uiowa.edu).
The UI Libraries supports anti-racism and amplifying the voices of marginalized people.
Explore more books on our Pride Month Virtual Book Display!