Clarke Earth Science Museum UWA

15/07/2025

23/05/2025

We don’t just hold rocks, minerals, and fossils in our collection — we also care for archival treasures like this one. Hidden among the handwritten notes of Andrew Gibb Maitland, WA’s Government Geologist from 1896 to 1926, we discovered this 1937 newspaper clipping announcing the appointment of German palaeontologist Dr Curt Teichert to the University of Western Australia. These records help us trace not only the geological history of the state, but also the lives and legacies of the people who shaped it.

01/05/2025

Ode to Gold

Formed in depths where pressures rise,
In crustal seams beneath Earth’s skies.
Carried up in fluid veins,
Through fractured rock and thermal rains.

Not for crowns or wedding rings,
But born from deep tectonic swings.
It doesn’t shimmer just for show—
It maps where ancient fluids flowed.

Now stilled in quartz, both rough and bold,
A witness to the Earth’s deep hold.

(Thank you AI for this poem!)

This gem of a specimen from Norseman (WA) was photographed by making it shine!!✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

31/01/2025

We will be open again in March. 🪨

31/01/2025

This striking specimen of Peanut Wood comes from the Kennedy Ranges, about 160 km inland from Carnarvon, WA. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with peanuts—though the light-colored spots might remind you of them!

Those spots are actually the work of Teredo (shipworms), marine bivalves that bore into driftwood. This tells us that before it turned to stone, this wood spent time floating or submerged in the ocean. Over time, minerals replaced the organic material, preserving the wood’s structure and history.

A fossilised record of land and sea, captured in stone!

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10/12/2024

A quarter of a million objects collected over more than a century; the present and past blur together.

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09/12/2024

18/11/2024

We are thrilled to be a 2024 Community Heritage Grants recipient!

For over a century, geologists and palaeontologists at The University of Western Australia have collected and catalogued rocks, minerals, and fossils, forming an extensive earth science collection tied to research publications and the university’s history. The grant will support a Significance Assessment of key sub-collections within the museum.

The Community Heritage Grant (CHG) program provides non-profit community organisations with funding to assist with the preservation of locally owned, but nationally significant collections. The grants also aim to make these collections more publicly accessible.

CHG is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts (AusGov Office for the Arts); the National Library of Australia; the National Archives of Australia; the NFSA - National Film and Sound Archive of Australia and the National Museum of Australia.

Find out more about CHG and how you can apply: https://www.nla.gov.au/content/community-heritage-grants-4

Photo by Billy Reeves.

13/11/2024

One of the many hidden curiosities in our collection is this historical model of the atomic structure of feldspar (AlSiO₄+), a type of network silicate. Though a bit dusty, it reminds us of the hidden order that shapes the natural world.

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