National Geographic Live! Student Matinees

Join National Geographic Live! speakers for an incredible season of immersive storytelling and unforgettable imagery.

From scorching volcanoes to frozen landscapes. From the wild cats of India to underwater adventures with sharks. National Geographic Live brings the world to your students in stunning high definition photography and video, with wild, first-hand accounts from the field. Our National Geographic Explorers always leave audiences with renewed compassion and empathy for our planet and the people who inhabit it.

A limited number of free tickets are available for each of these student-focused one-hour presentations, tailored to students in grades, 6, 7, and 8. Teachers are invited to register groups of up to 35 for each presentation. Tickets will be distributed at the discretion of the Education & Outreach department, with a very limited number of tickets available for each presentation.

To register, please visit the link on right sidebar (or scroll to the bottom if you’re on mobile)

Tuesday, November 14, 2023, 10:30 a.m. – Massey Hall
Andrés Ruzo – Hunt for Sleeping Giants
Residents of a coastal town in Italy were enjoying afternoon snacks of walnuts and dried figs in A.D. 79 when nearby Mount Vesuvius erupted after centuries of dormancy. Andrés Ruzo will explore the fiery portals to Earth’s core, and reveal how smoking peaks have shaped civilizations across the globe, from Iceland to the deep Amazon. Journey to far-off lava fields and hidden boiling rivers.

Tuesday, February 27, 2024, 10:30 a.m. – Massey Hall
Sandesh Kadur - Wild Cats Revealed
With landscapes spanning the towering Himalaya, arid plains, and dense jungles, India is home to an unmatched diversity of wild cats. While many of the big cats are well known and thoroughly documented, photographer and filmmaker Sandesh Kadur is on a mission to highlight the country’s lesser-known felines in order to protect their future. Discover the tiny, grumpy-faced Pallas’s cat, the fishing cat that jumps into water to catch its prey, and the ancient, elusive clouded leopard. Through Kadur’s captivating images and video, you’ll get an up-close look at a world of wild cats you’ve never seen before.

Tuesday, May 7, 2024, 10:30 a.m. – Massey Hall
Jess Cramp - The Untold Story of Sharks
Sharks have roamed the planet’s waters since before the dinosaurs and have evolved into more than a thousand species. But only recently have we begun to understand their lives in the ocean—and how our actions can threaten their survival. Dr. Jess Cramp will take audiences on a journey through the National Geographic archives to discover the work of pioneering women in shark science and storytelling before she dives into her work on the frontier of shark research and conservation. We’ll journey through the vibrant waters of the South Pacific in search of elusive breeding grounds and find out what it truly means to save sharks while working with communities struggling to maintain their traditional ways of life.

Tuesday, June 4, 2024 – 10:30 a.m. – Massey Hall
Kiliii Yüyan – Life on Thin Ice
In the Arctic north, sea ice is synonymous with the sand in the desert. The ice is vital for transportation, for food, for living. And while the temperatures seem inhumane, the Arctic is teeming with life. Indigenous tribes call this frosty land home, but they’re not alone. Polar bears, musk ox, whales and caribou are some of the Arctic animals co-existing with more than 40 different ethnic groups in the north. Through beautiful images and awe-inspiring moments, National Geographic Live takes you on a journey with our first Indigenous speaker Kiliii Yüyan to understand the native peoples and their relationship to a frigid land and its animals.