Note Book

Rutgers University’s Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum has received a massive donation – some 17,300 works by more than 1,000 artists – from Nancy and Norton Dodge. The collection is comprised of Soviet nonconformist art spanning from Nikita Khrushchev’s 1956 speech to the end of the USSR. The works come from throughout the Soviet Union, not just Russia, and some will be on view through February 18, 2018 (see Events Calendar).

Russian scientists have appealed to President Vladimir Putin, voicing concern that the government may be succumbing to pressure by hunting lobbyists when drawing up the country’s list of endangered animals.

A letter signed by renowned zoologists, and supported by scientists from other fields, argues that Russia’s commission that compiles the so-called Krasnaya Kniga, or Red Book (listing species that receive federal protection), has seen most of its scientists removed, replaced by heads of hunting organizations. According to the letter, signed by 60 scientists in all, the Red Book list “reflects the commercial interests of hunting bodies and aquarium industries rather than scientific research.”