Museum of Natural History

A new emphasis at the Museum of Natural History is on demystifying the scientific process, "bringing science up front," in the words of acting director James B. Richardson III. Inviting the public behind the scenes to see where more than 105,000 prehistoric fossils are housed is one way of doing that. One weekend in November, 3100 museum visitors explored the preparation lab and the bone storage rooms in the basement of the museum, where paleontologists and educators were on hand to talk about the collections, answer questions and demonstrate how fossils are chipped out of the rocks that encase them.

More ways to make science friendlier and involve the scientific staff in public programming are seen in events such as Identification Day, which took place one Saturday in October. Museum scientists, educators, and volunteers, along with members of the Western Pennsylvania Numismatic Society, were at the museum ready and willing to identify strange bugs, old coins, plants, bones, or anthropological artifacts. "The Hall of Sculpture was filled with kids pulling weird things out of their pockets," says Richardson. This is the type of experience that only a museum can provide.

The scientific work done in the field and lab, however, provides the foundation for the museum's exhibits and programs. Last April saw the publication in Science of a report on Eosimias centennicus, a 40-million-year-old primate discovered in China by Chris Beard, associate curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, and his colleagues from this museum and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology in Beijing. The discovery illustrates a previously unknown stage in the evolution of higher primates such as monkeys, apes and humans.

Beard and Mary Dawson, curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, received a grant of $237,106 from the National Science Foundation to conduct at least two more field expeditions to China to search for more fossil evidence documenting the origin of higher primates. The evolutionary transition between living lower primates and higher primates is one of the largest remaining gaps in understanding primate and human evolution, and the museum's expeditions to China since 1992 have yielded several new fossils bearing on this transition in addition to Eosimias.

Zhexi Luo, assistant curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, also received a prestigious career development grant of $200,000 from the National Science Foundation, which will facilitate his research on the evolutionary origins of mammals. The work of other museum scientists was supported by grants from the National Geographic Society and the Pennsylvania Wild Resource Conservation Fund.

A new type of exhibition at the Museum of Natural History opened in May. The World of Peter Rabbit: The Art and Science of Beatrix Potter was a multi-dimensional show designed to appeal to children and adults on many different levels. Younger members were enticed into the exhibit by the large watering can they could hide in to get a rabbit's perspective, and the stump of the tree where Peter and his siblings lived. Live mice in a Victorian doll house, and occasional visiting rabbits to pet and learn about, were additional attractions. Potter's abilities as a scientific illustrator were showcased in a velvet-walled gallery, with museum specimens of actual plants and animals shown along with her illustrations.

As the museum contemplates the new directions it will take in the next century, one preparatory step was to build a stronger relationship between staff and members of its Board. In October, a two-day retreat allowed board members and staff members to develop priorities, identify new sources of funding, and talk in an informal setting about their mission.

This retreat is part of the museum's shift in focus. James King, who had been director of the Museum of Natural History since 1987, resigned in August to become director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Before he left, King helped draft the museum's new mission statement: "Carnegie Museum of Natural History, through its explorations, collections, research, exhibitions, and educational programs, advances knowledge of the Earth, its life, and cultures, and acts as a steward of our natural world." The new statement stresses the museum's active role, and the difference it can make in the life of the planet.