KU Natural History Museum

KU Natural History Museum We are a biodiversity research institute and public natural history museum. We study past and present life on Earth to educate, engage and inspire.
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June events are making a big splash! 🦖🗺️🐟 Whether you love the ocean, fish, or want to explore our latest temporary exhi...
06/02/2026

June events are making a big splash! 🦖🗺️🐟 Whether you love the ocean, fish, or want to explore our latest temporary exhibits, there’s something for everyone to discover at the KU Natural History Museum.

Plan your visit and learn all the exciting details here: ✨https://rockcha.lk/607272 ✨

Please note: Wednesday Wonders is currently full, but you can join the waitlist through the Lawrence Public Library's website.

Dianna is the best! As the Mammalogy Collection Manager, she has a talent for helping public audiences understand why pr...
06/02/2026

Dianna is the best! As the Mammalogy Collection Manager, she has a talent for helping public audiences understand why preserving and expanding natural history collections is so important.

Thank you, Lawrence Bird Alliance for visiting the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum! 🦜

05/30/2026

Looking for a new and engaging way to explore the museum? 🔎 🦦 Try our free Panorama Puzzle: Amazing Adaptations available to the public starting JUNE 16.

Explore our exhibits to find mustelids, a carnivorous weasel-like mammal, in need of conservation. Enter all the correct codes and you may even unlock a top-secret prize! Pick up the Panorama Puzzle during your next visit by asking for it at the front desk starting MID-JUNE.

This puzzle was created by Jenna Benzing, BI/NHM's Graduate Assistant for Biodiversity Outreach and a recent graduate of the KU Museum Studies program. Way to go, Jenna. 🎉

Truer words have never been spoken... if you want to see dino heaven, you should come to the KU Natural History Museum. ...
05/28/2026

Truer words have never been spoken... if you want to see dino heaven, you should come to the KU Natural History Museum. 🦖

We had so much fun hosting a pop-up event with the University of Kansas Libraries last fall. Reading visitors’ reviews is both humorous and enlightening, offering insight into the role our museum plays on campus and in the community. Read all the reviews by visiting: https://lawrencereviewed.com/hometown-dinosaur

What’s this? Why, it’s 133 year old horse dung, of course! KU Museum Studies Program graduate student Marty Arnold is sp...
05/27/2026

What’s this? Why, it’s 133 year old horse dung, of course!

KU Museum Studies Program graduate student Marty Arnold is spending part of her summer at the McGregor Herbarium helping restore KU Botany's collection of a few thousand fungal specimens prepared by Kansas mycologist Elam Bartholomew. Today, she ran across this specimen of Sordaria fimicola.

Bartholomew farmed near Stockton, Kansas. He found this specimen on horse dung in his pasture on Christmas Eve of 1894. They say a farmer’s work is never done. This is true for mycologists, too!

Lower left photo: black speckling on dung are fungal fruiting bodies
Lower right photo: the same spores with 1000x magnification

Happy International Day for Biological Diversity! 🌍🦋🧬🦖🔬Our team of educators, archaeologists, scientists, students, soft...
05/22/2026

Happy International Day for Biological Diversity! 🌍🦋🧬🦖🔬

Our team of educators, archaeologists, scientists, students, software engineers, administrators, collection managers, and many others work every day to study past and present life on Earth.

What began in the late 1860s as a modest natural history collection now ranks among the 30 largest collections in the world. The University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum is home to 11 million biological specimens and 2 million archaeological artifacts that help answer questions about biodiversity, past cultures, and the history of life on Earth. For us, every day is Biodiversity Day!

Let’s celebrate! 🎉 Please join us in congratulating Kathleen Rust for successfully defending her dissertation this May! ...
05/21/2026

Let’s celebrate! 🎉 Please join us in congratulating Kathleen Rust for successfully defending her dissertation this May! Kat’s dissertation research on the phylogeny, anatomy, and paleobiology of Paleogene primates is just one highlight of her impressive career in paleontology.

Before coming to KU, Kat studied anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin and completed her master’s degree at Hunter College, City University of New York. She joined Dr. Beard’s lab in 2019 and quickly made an impact as a scholar known for thinking outside the box.

At KU, Kat has been a leader in the graduate student community, a Self Graduate Fellowship recipient, and an excellent mentor to undergraduate students pursuing paleontology. Now, with her Ph.D. in hand, she will join Rockhurst University in Kansas City as an assistant teaching professor.

The team at the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, where Kat worked closely with her mentor, Vertebrate Paleontology Curator Chris Beard, couldn’t be prouder of her accomplishments or more excited for her next chapter.

Congratulations, Kat! 👏

05/20/2026

Happy ! 🐝

Without bees, the world wouldn’t buzz quite the same way. Today, celebrate these insects with a visit to the KU Natural History Museum and see our iconic Bee Tree exhibit. Look for their pollen-covered "pants" and dizzy dancing, and hear their brilliant buzzing!

Fun fact: Did you know that over 75% of farming crops are pollinated by bees? That means these pollinators help grow the foods you enjoy every day, like coffee beans, berries, nuts, and more!

Join us in celebrating Jocelyn Colella on her successful tenure promotion! 🎉Jocelyn serves as the Associate Curator of M...
05/20/2026

Join us in celebrating Jocelyn Colella on her successful tenure promotion! 🎉

Jocelyn serves as the Associate Curator of Mammalogy at the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum, and as an Associate Professor of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology. Since joining KU in 2021, she has been instrumental in advancing our understanding of adaptive evolution in mammals through genomic mechanisms while also expanding KU's world-renowned mammalogy collection.

Her dedication to holistic scientific collecting and the use of natural history collections to aid in pandemic preparedness makes her an invaluable part of our team. Way to go. Jocelyn! 👏

Jocelyn is one of 146 KU faculty and researchers recognized this year with this significant milestone. See the full list here ➡️ https://rockcha.lk/xn6

We can’t forget about our undergraduates! 🎓KU undergraduate students play a BIG role in current research projects, educa...
05/19/2026

We can’t forget about our undergraduates! 🎓

KU undergraduate students play a BIG role in current research projects, educational programs and more — and we want to celebrate all those who are graduating this May!

Their curiosity and creativity is contagious, and we are so proud of the contributions they’ve made as students to the Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum. We wish them all the best!

Rockchalk! 💙❤️

Address

1345 Jayhawk Boulevard
Lawrence, KS
66045

Opening Hours

Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 12pm - 4pm

Telephone

(785) 864-4450

Website

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