See also

     

    1. Museum of Natural History (2016)

    Amy Harris

    Early history, 1834-1940

    The University of Michigan Museum of Natural History was formally created as the “Exhibit Museum” in 1956, but its core mission of presenting exhibits and educational programs in natural history and anthropology for the benefit of the University community and the public began long before.

    The origins of the University’s natural history collections date to 1837, when the Michigan state legislature created the University of Michigan.  The charter gave the Board of Regents the “authority to spend so much of the university fund to purchase a ‘Cabinet of Natural History.’”

    The natural history collections grew substantially over the succeeding decades, particularly with Joseph Beal Steere’s expedition around the world from 1870-75.  Steere sent tens of thousands of specimens and artifacts back to the University during those years.

    The first U-M museum building was erected in 1881 to house the natural history specimens that had been collected in the intervening years.  This building was located on State Street, between today’s Angell Hall and the Museum of Art.  A formal museum organization was created at that time. In 1895, the Museum’s purpose was declared to be “the entertainment and instruction of the public.”

    The collections continued to grow, and a campaign to build a larger museum building began in 1910, led by Alexander Grant Ruthven, curator in the Museum of Natural History, who would later become the University’s president.

    During this period, the collections gradually separated into what today we call the “research museums” of Zoology, Paleontology, Anthropology, and the Herbarium.

    The geological and paleontological collections were taken over by the Department of Geology in 1909; these became the Museum of Geology in 1915, renamed in 1928 as the Museum of Paleontology. Because the zoological section of the Museum of Natural History had grown so much compared to the other sections, in 1913 the University changed the name of the Museum of Natural History to the Museum of Zoology, with Ruthven as its first director.

    The University Herbarium was formed in 1921 when botanical collections from the Museum of Zoology and Department of Botany were combined. The Museum of Anthropology was organized in 1922 to care for the anthropological collections, which formerly were under the care of the Museum of Zoology.

    In 1925, the Michigan legislature appropriated $900,000 for a new museum building.  Ruthven believed that a museum should be committed to increasing and disseminating knowledge.  The two wings of the new building were designed to incorporate this philosophy:  one wing was composed of offices and research facilities while the other was devoted to exhibits and displays.  The building was built to allow for expansion, not only of the research activities but also of the exhibit areas.  Albert Kahn of Detroit was named architect for the project in 1926.

    The building was completed in 1928 and housed all four museums—Zoology, Herbarium, Anthropology, and Paleontology—as well as a large exhibit space.  The formal opening was on June 14, 1928.  Because all four museums were now under one roof, the University created a new unit, called “University Museums,” which incorporated these four divisions, and Ruthven was named director.  (He remained director of the Museum of Zoology as well).  The “Department of Visual Education” was created to serve the educational aspects of the Museums.

    In winter 1929, the exhibit sections of the new building were opened to the public.  With a few exceptions, today’s Museum of Natural History occupies most of the same space as when the building opened.  An animal house for the “Museum Zoological Park” was built behind the Museum in 1929-30 for an estimated cost of $3,300.  An anonymous alumnus donated his collection of wild animals.

    When Ruthven became president of the University in 1929, he resigned as director of the Museum of Zoology but retained his position as director of the University Museums until 1936.  Carl E. Guthe replaced Ruthven as director of the University Museums when Ruthven decided to devote all of his efforts to his presidency.  When Guthe stepped down in 1943, no one was named to replace him.  Instead, a “Museums Operating Committee,” comprised of the directors of the four museums, ran the University Museums.

    Within the Department of Visual Education, Elmer Berry was appointed docent in 1937.  Exhibit preparator Howard Westman later reported that there were very few visitors at that time, only 10 or 12 groups coming each year.

    Middle history (1940-1993)

    From 1940 to 1956, the “Department of Visual Education” functioned as a service unit, first under Carl Guthe, director of University Museums, then under the Museums Operating Committee.   An Advisory Board for the University Museums was established in 1945.

    During this period, two important specimens were added to the exhibits:  the Anatasaurus (later renamed Edmontosaurus), discovered by Ermine Cowles Case in 1938, was put on display in 1941, and the Owosso Mastodon was put on display in 1947.  In 1940, Museum artist Carleton Angell completed two puma statues to flank the building’s front door. They soon became a campus landmark.

    The 1947 appointment of Irving G. Reimann as “Prefect of Exhibits” introduced an emphasis on student and public education.   Formerly curator of geology at the Buffalo Museum of Science, Reimann’s charge was to strengthen the exhibit section of the Museums.  Reimann also advocated for children’s classes, adult night courses, and a lecture.  After 1949, the Department of Visual Education was designated the “Exhibit Section.”  In 1954, Reimann presented new plans for the Hall of Evolution to the Museums’ Operating Committee.

    From 1940 to 1956, docent service was provided whenever it was requested, as several docents were available.

    On January 1, 1956, the chair of the Museums Advisory Board and Charles Odegaard, dean of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts, petitioned the Regents for changes to the University Bylaws regarding the administrative relationships of the research museums and the Kelsey Museum.  The Regents approved the proposed changes, which included the creation of the “Exhibit Museum,”and Reimann became its first director.

    At its first meeting on March 29, 1956, the Advisory Committee emphasized the public function of the Museum:

    “The University is a basic community.

    The instruction should be at the freshman level.

    Instructive and attractive exhibits would, however, reach the general public at large.

    Freshman level exhibits would be likely to reach the general public and attract its interest.”

    While the research museums have always emphasized graduate education, the Exhibit Museum’s focus on undergraduate education continues to this day.

    Heather Thorpe came to the Museum from the Buffalo Museum of Science to become the first senior docent, and she expanded the docent program.  Much of the first Docent Manual was attributed to Thorpe, whose tenure extended from 1958 to 1969.  By 1969, demand for group services became too large for the budget, and a fee of fifteen cents per person was instituted.  The Museum records contain numerous student docent “alumni” from this period.

    Reimann’s tenure until his retirement in 1974 was marked by vigorous activity in exhibits.  Prior to 1956, although the modernization process was well underway, the subject material covered in the exhibits was limited to those biological fields represented by the research museums.  This excluded much material normally appropriate to natural history museums.  Once the Exhibit Museum became independent, Reimann planned exhibit areas covering astronomy, geology, mineralogy, anthropology, and human physiology.  These topic areas were presented on the fourth floor.  Space was provided for them by dividing the large, open fourth floor exhibit hall into rooms and alcoves.

    Two key exhibit preparators joined the staff in 1947:  Robert S. Butsch and William A. Lunk.  Both contributed a great deal of work to the exhibits and both would later serve as Museum director.  By 1965, the Museum had four full-time preparators (Butsch, Lunk, George Marchand, and Jean Keresztesi, along with half-time employee Lou Michel and full-time cabinetmaker Joachim (Joe) Knueppelholz).  Preparator Howard Westman worked at the Museum from 1937-1945, returning in 1965 to work until his retirement in 1981.

    In 1959, the planetarium and astronomy exhibits opened (designed by Lou Michel), as did the “Georama” (modeled by George Marchand).  The planetarium’s first instrument was a Spitz -A1.  Barbara Bilge designed the Anthropology exhibits on human technology.  Lunk designed and constructed exhibits on the physical environment, animal populations, biological principles, and genetics.  In about 1957, Butsch began work on the Native American dioramas.

    In 1959, Reimann began a drive to raise money for an Allosaurus skeleton, at a cost of $2,500 plus shipping, from the Cleveland-Lloyd quarry in Utah.  The bones were delivered in October 1960 and work began on articulating the bones and building the display, which was completed in 1965.  A Stegosaurus skeleton was added in 1967.

    In 1961, George Marchand began work on the large series of dioramas called “Life through the Ages,” though the loss of space to classrooms on this floor forced curtailment of this program.  In 1969, the alcove opened with only seven large dioramas in it.  To continue with the “Life Through the Ages” concept, Butsch designed and constructed four miniature dioramas illustrating fossil mammals of the Cenozoic.  (Marchand’s “Life through the Ages” became the prototype for dioramas sold by Marchand and Reimann to museums all over the country.)  The backbone of the Hall of Evolution was a series of some seventy-five didactic exhibits, most of which were created by Lunk.

    The third floor bird displays were remodeled and rearranged in 1962. In 1963, the Zoo was disbanded and torn down to make way for an addition to the Museums building, which was completed in 1964.  (The animals included two male black bears, “Maize” and “Blue.”  They were relocated to other institutions.)

    In July 1963, Reimann requested permission from the dean to charge 10 cents per head for planetarium shows.  In 1965, he requested permission to increase the charge for adults to twenty-five cents (children remained at 10 cents).

    A Dunkleosteus head was added to the displays in 1966, and a Transparent Anatomical Woman was purchased from Rush Studios in Chicago for $11,000 in 1968.  Butsch finished the bog diorama the same year after approximately three years of work.

    In 1969, the Museums Building was named the “Alexander G. Ruthven Museums Building.” Work on the Hall of Evolution ceased in 1972 to allow for continued construction of exhibits on the fourth floor.  Work resumed on the second floor in 1977.

    Reimann retired in 1973 after 26 years of service, and was not immediately replaced.  In 1974, exhibit preparator Robert Butsch was given a half-time appointment as director. Butsch continued to spend much of his time on exhibit work.

    Gail Campbell succeeded Heather Thorpe as senior docent and was given the new title of coordinator of museum guides. She continued to refine the training for docents and planetarium guides. Ruth Haag succeeded Gail Campbell, creating, among other things, a free service guide to assist the public on weekends.

    Garry Beckstrom was hired as Planetarium operator and coordinator of educational programs under Ruth Haag in about 1977.  He succeeded Haag as coordinator of educational programs.

    In 1979, former docent Carl Wozniak was hired as assistant coordinator of educational programs. When Garry Beckstrom was later elevated to Planetarium director, with some development responsibilities, Wozniak became coordinator of educational programs.

    In 1978, the Planetarium was replaced with a more up-to-date model, a Spitz A-2 purchased from the Kalamazoo Public Museum.

    In 1981, as part of LSA budget cuts, 1.75 FTE of exhibit staff were lost.  Another full-time position was cut in 1985.  At the same time, the Exhibit Museum lost two rooms to the Museum of Anthropology and Library.  An additional full-time position was lost in 1985 when cabinetmaker Joachim Knueppelholz took early retirement and was not replaced.

    In 1984, exhibit preparator John Klausmeyer was hired in preparation for Butsch’s upcoming retirement to produce exhibits and to take over Butsch’s Museum Methods 406 class.   A schedule of producing three new temporary exhibits per year was instituted, at the cost of maintaining and developing the permanent exhibits.  This continued for the next ten years, after which the schedule became more flexible.

    Jim Loudon, a former docent and astronomy student, was hired in the 1970s by Butsch to run the Astronomy Lecture Series. His position was terminated in 1985.

    Butsch retired in 1985, and Lunk was given a half-time appointment as acting director.  Lunk also continued with his work as curator of exhibits.

    In 1987, several changes were made to the Museum’s footprint, due mainly to the Museum of Anthropology’s demands for more space.  Two side bays of the Rotunda entry were filled in and made into office spaces.  One became the Museum Shop, which moved from the fourth floor.  The other was initially used for programs, then as a much-needed coat room, then later as an office.  A new vestibule was built in the rotunda entrance.  The old Museum Shop space on the fourth floor was converted to storage, and the Shop storage area was converted to an office. A staff lounge/work area was renovated and made into an office.

    In 1988, Thomas E. Moore, curator of insects and professor of biology, was given a half-time, five year appointment as director.  Lunk reverted to full-time exhibits work until his retirement in 1990.

    Moore’s directorship was marked by several staff changes and new hires. An internally funded, full-time, year-round intern position was created.  Jennifer Puntenney replaced Carl Wozniak in 1987 as program assistant.  The position was changed to administrative associate in 1990 and reduced from full to half time.  Steve Hinshaw replaced Jennifer Puntenney in the newly reorganized position.

    Other new hires under Tom Moore included half-time cabinetmaker Alan McWaters (1988) and exhibit preparator Dan Erickson (1990).  Matthew Linke was hired in 1989 as an administrative associate to run the Planetarium, replacing Garry Beckstrom.

    In exhibits, the Allosaurus skull was replaced with a new, accurate cast.

    Recent history, 1993-2013

    Leadership and Governance

    William R. Farrand, professor of geology and adjunct curator of anthropology, was appointed half-time director in 1993. His served until his retirement in June 2000. In his honor, upon his retirement, the Museum raised funds for the William R. Farrand Public Lecture endowment.  The endowment continued to grow thereafter, with new donations made each year.  The lecture was renamed the William R. Farrand Memorial Lecture following Farrand’s death in 2011.

    Amy Harris, associate director, became full-time interim director in July 2000; in 2002 she was named director,and continues in that position today.  She was classified as a member of the staff, not of the faculty.

    In 2005, the Museum was grouped with the Undergraduate Education division of LSA  along with numerous other non-academic units.

    The Regents approved the name change to “Museum of Natural History” in July 2011. The Museum of Zoology and the Herbarium were moved under the direction of the chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, giving the museum directors the status of associate chair.  The Museum of Natural History, Museums of Anthropology and Paleontology, and the Kelsey Museum were noted as exceptions to the rule of governance by departmental chair.

    Staff

    Several staff positions were reclassified or brought up to full-time during Farrand’s tenure.  Intern Kelly Sullivan’s role was formalized as an internally funded position as gift shop manager/visitor programs assistant.  The intern position continued through the 1990s.  The half-time administrative associate position was upgraded to full-time when Mary Schoenfeldt resigned and Daniel Madaj was hired in 1994.  The cabinetmaker’s position was brought up to full-time.  Later, the duties of computer network administrator/desktop support were added and LSA assumed funding for the position. In 1996, the Museum created an internally funded half-time development officer position, filled by Amy Harris.  This position grew to full-time in 1998 with the addition of associate director duties. In 1997, Nikki Schulak was hired as half-time coordinator of visitor programs, which became full-time when Kira Berman was hired in 1999.  The same year, the intern position was converted to full-time program assistant and docent coordinator, and the gift shop manager was given the title of administrative assistant, with duties of accounting as well as managing the shop.

    The 1993-2013 period was marked by remarkable stability in many positions—as of 2013, John Klausmeyer, Matthew Linke, Kelly Sullivan, Dan Madaj, Amy Harris, and Kira Berman had worked for the Museum for between 14 and 29 years—and more frequent change in others. Major changes included the reorganization of exhibits staff in 2011 (precipitated by mandatory budget cuts in LSA, the closing of the Museum’s woodshop, and cessation of metalworking activity to address fire safety concerns).  Soft funding (grants and account balances) supported temporary periods of growth in staff.

    In 2014, the Museum lost its 1.0 FTE Administrative Specialist position to the Administrative Services Transformation implementation.  A 0.5 FTE shared services staff member was assigned to the Museum to assist with publicity.  Several non-student temporary staff were hired to help with day-to-day operations, freeing regular staff to focus more time on planning.

    Strategic and Master Planning

    The 1990s and 2000s were marked by successive planning efforts and revisions to the Museum’s mission statement in an effort to find the “right fit” for the Museum within LSA and the University.  In the 1990s, the Museum developed numerous new public programs and events to engage the public.  This activity continued into the next decade, as the Museum drew closer to the University’s and LSA’s core missions of support for faculty research, teaching, and undergraduate education.

    In 1997, the Museum conducted  its first strategic planning retreat and created a Board of Advisors comprised of community members, University faculty, and docents.  It was designed not as a governing or fundraising board but as a truly advisory board, with candidates selected on the basis of their diverse areas of expertise and their value in providing counsel to staff.  The board met formally  twice annually, with additional contacts among staff and board members when needed. Two elected student docent representatives also serve on the board.

    In 1998, Matthaei Botanical Gardens director James Teeri presented a draft proposal to William Farrand, director of the Exhibit Museum, and others; his idea was to combine the two units into a “world class institution” by moving the Museum to an upgraded Gardens facility that would house the new entity.  Farrand rejected the proposal on the grounds that the Exhibit Museum would lose its identity, weaken its relationships with the research museums and faculty on central campus, and lose the important student docents, who provided crucial staffing for the Museum’s programs and exhibits activities. Although this concept did not move forward, the idea of joining the Exhibit Museum to the Botanical Gardens circulated for many years.

    During the 1990s, the Museum expanded its name to “Exhibit Museum of Natural History” to better describe its subject matter to visitors.

    In 1999, the directors of the Museums of Anthropology, Paleontology, and Zoology, the Herbarium, the Exhibit Museum of Natural History, the Evolution and Human Adaptation Program, and the Museums Libraries proposed a Center for Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior (CEEB) to LSA Dean Shirley Neuman.  The proposal included a common executive director to be selected by the dean from the CEEB’s tenured faculty or to be hired from the outside  as a faculty member.  The director would oversee the organization of joint CEEB activities—including lectures, symposia, public relations, marketing, and fundraising—provide liaison with LSA and other units, and provide oversight of the Ruthven Building, including safety and security.  Each unit would retain control over its own budget.

    In response, Dean Neuman appointed an external review board in 2000 to examine the natural science museums cluster.  The committee’s report extolled the significance and scientific value of the University’s collections.  It noted facility needs and space constraints, that the Exhibit Museum needed to be modernized, and that, as a group, the museums lacked a strategic vision. One of the three members of the committee recommended the unified organization of the museums under a common director; the other two did not make this recommendation.

    The Museum conducted a second strategic planning initiative in 2002-03 with an 18-member stakeholder committee.  One of its recommendations was that exhibits be reorganized into a chronological history of the earth, its inhabitants, and their interrelationships to address questions about the ways in which cultural exhibits fit within a museum of natural history.

    The Museum conducted another strategic planning effort in 2009 that resulted in a revised mission statement, a name change to “Museum of Natural History,” and  a plan to continue to engage deeply with the academic and research missions of the University.  The plan noted the Museum’s facilities needs, emphasized the need for external funding, and requested funds from LSA to implement parts of the plan. Although LSA did not formally approve this plan, the recommendations to change the Museum’s name and to move closer to LSA’s research and teaching missions were implemented.

    In 2012, the Museum conducted an organizational self-study as part of the American Alliance of Museums’ Museum Assessment Program.  An external reviewer, Greta Brunschwyler, executive director of the Briar Bush Nature Center in Pennsylvania (and former director of Ann Arbor’s Leslie Science and Nature Center), visited in January 2013.  Her final report was delivered in March 2013.  Soon thereafter, the Museum worked with museum planning consultants Andrew Merriell & Associates to implement a master plan.  Three workshops were held, and a presentation of the final draft was delivered in October.

    Exhibits

    Numerous major exhibit projects in the Hall of Evolution required the removal of older exhibits and replacement with new or renovated skeletal mounts.  All of the following were funded by “Buy A Bone” fundraising campaigns:

    1995 – Deinonychus

    1997 – Back to the Sea:  The Evolution of Whales (Dorudon)

    1999 – Pterosaurs:  When Reptiles Ruled the Sky (Anhanguera)

    2003 – Edmontosaurus

    2005 – Mastodons (Buesching Mastodon)

    2011 – Back to the Sea:  The Evolution of Whales (Basilosaurus)

             In 2005, LSA supported the renovation of a cluster of small, older exhibit galleries at the back of the fourth floor to create a 2000-square-foot gallery for changing exhibits.  Major exhibits in this space included:

    Explore Evolution  (the default exhibit, shown repeatedly beginning in 2006)

    Hubble Space Telescope:  New Views of the Universe (traveling, 2009)

    Evolution & Health (traveling, 2012)

    Race:  Are we so different? (traveling, 2013)

             Rotunda exhibits peaked in frequency and complexity during the 2000s when the exhibit staff grew to four members.   Several rotunda shows featured the work of U-M researchers and supported to LSA theme semesters.  The Museum built a matching set of exhibit cases for the Shapiro Science Library in 2006, and for several years every Rotunda show had a second run at the Library.

    An exhibit case at the top of the stairs on the fourth floor served as a changing display for Museum of Anthropology objects for several years.

    The Geology Gallery was transformed into approximately 560 square feet of  changing exhibit gallery space in 2008, which provided space for in-house exhibits.

    A major project involving the Native American exhibits unfolded over a decade, from about 2000 to 2010, in response to complaints from the Native community and some non-Native visitors.  The Museum worked with the Native community both on and off campus to amend and augment the exhibits to try to align them with current thinking about museum presentations of other cultures. However, complaints continued, and in consultation with faculty in the Native American Studies Program, Harris decided to remove the dioramas and artifacts.  During the “Museums in the Academy” LSA theme year, an “exhibit overlay” was installed to explain the coming changes, and numerous programs were developed to engage and inform the public.  The dioramas were removed in January 2011 and moved to a storage location near Crisler Arena, where University classes could visit by appointment.  The artifacts were returned to the Museum of Anthropology collections.

    In 2012, Eugene Dillenburg was hired as assistant director for exhibits to lead a new outsourcing business model created in the wake of closing the wood shop and terminating in-house metalworking.  Following lay-offs, the exhibits staff dropped to 2.0 FTE.  Dillenburg supplemented these positions with contract or temporary hires to design, develop or build specific exhibit projects.

    Race:  Are we so different? in 2013 marked the first time the Museum paid a fee for a traveling exhibit.  Two accompanying exhibits about race on the local scene were developed to accompany it.

    The Planetarium

    The Museum undertook a fundraising campaign in 2007 to renovate and transform the technology in the Planetarium.  A lead gift of $50,000 by Lee Hess contributed to the campaign total of $118,000.  The Spitz A-4 analogue projector was replaced with a Uniview full dome digital video system; the space was renovated with new walls, wall-coverings, carpet, and re-upholstered benches; and  inaugural programming was purchased.

    After the renovation, attendance and revenue grew.  The Planetarium showed a mix of pre-recorded, purchased shows with live programming and in-house productions.  All programs had at least a short live component.

    In 2012, Matt Linke completed work on “The Lake Effect:  Creating a Resilient Future” as part of his collaboration with the Worldview Network, a three-year project funded by NOAA.  His program and those of his colleagues were “dome-casted” to other planetaria in the consortium of domes that use the Uniview technology.

    K-12 Educational Programs

    K-12 attendance reached a peak in 1998-99 when more than 28,000 children visited in school groups, and a low in 2012-13 when the total was 14,095.  This period was marked by severe cuts in public school funding, increased transportation costs, and increased emphasis on standardized curriculum and testing, which led teachers to reduce field trip activity in favor of classroom time.  Education staff responded by tying programs closely to curriculum standards, and the Museum expanded marketing efforts, which helped to slow the drop in attendance.

    At the start of this period, the Museum primarily offered guided tours.  Over the years there were many innovations, including workshops and “Learn It, Do It” days (free-choice, thematic programs in which small groups move from station to station throughout the Museum).  There was an overall emphasis on inquiry-based, hands-on learning and constructivist concepts of program design.

    For a time, the Museum partnered on programming with the Organization for Bat Conservation. One such program enabled students to visit the Mammal collection in the Museum of Zoology.

    Planetarium Manager Matthew Linke developed classroom outreach programs on astronomy and space exploration, which were offered vigorously for several years. Teacher professional development programs and information fairs also were offered during this period.

    The Museum’s Science for Tomorrow middle school science career outreach program was developed in 2009-10 and grew in importance in successive years. Curriculum for additional school outreach programs was developed. Funds from Geology professor Chris Poulsen’s National Science Foundation grant were used to purchase a river/stream table, which was an important new asset for outreach programs.

    Public Educational Programs

    Public programming expanded during William Farrand’s directorship, and this trend continued under Amy Harris and Kira Berman, assistant director for education. A  suite of annual programs emerged. Two themed Discovery Days were offered each year, and an annual Behind the Scenes Day was developed in partnership with the Research Museums.  ID Day was created to enable  visitors to have their own collections identified by experts.  A Science Café series at a local pub was launched in 2007.  The Family Halloween Party became a major event, with the highest attendance ever (over 4,000 attended in 2015).  A Butterfly Festival in May was paired with school programs on butterflies, and the summertime Camp Explorations became an important source of revenue, along with birthday parties.  The Museum provided activity tables to annual community events ranging from Earth Day activities to the Ann Arbor Art Fairs.

    Family Reading and Science Program

    In 1999, the Museum co-wrote an Institute for Museum and Library Services proposal with the Ann Arbor District Library.  With the Library as the applicant organization, a two-year project was funded.  The first program year for Family Reading and Science (FRS), which took place in 2000,  combined hands-on science activities for children ages 6-11 with encouragement to read library materials on the science topic. Each year was themed.  In 2002, the Library and Museum were awarded the Kathleen Power Collaboration Award for their work on this program.  The program continued with grants from numerous sources.  Major, multi-year grants from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan and the Toyota USA Foundation (2010-2013) made it possible to expand the program to more than  40 library sites in seven counties in southeast Michigan.

    Support for Faculty Research

    In 2003, the National Science Foundation changed its research grant application process to require investigators to share their research beyond their disciplines. One way to do this was to work with museums on exhibits or education and outreach programs. When NSF’s Broader Impacts partnerships became important around 2007, the Museum began to support 12-15 such proposals each year, and several were funded. NSF-CAREER grant proposals were especially successful. Broader Impacts funding supported small exhibits, planetarium programs, K-12 programs and outreach, the Museum’s STEM career outreach program, Science for Tomorrow, and other activities.

    Support for Undergraduate Education

    The Museum’s student docent program continued to grow and thrive, with about 60 docents in 2012-13 during the Understanding Race Project and has remained at that level since. The program provided a rich, active learning experience for students and offered a friendly and supportive community within the larger University. Many alumni of the program have reported that their docent experience influenced their choice of major or career.

    Most student docents were paid, but some received class credit through the Museum Studies minor. New student docents received about 15 hours of paid training, and an additional 10 hours of paid observation and mentorship by seasoned docents.  Docents primarily served as educators for K-12 programming, and they also facilitated learning at public events at the Museum and in the community. They also worked as Planetarium operators for both K-12 and public shows.

    Undergraduate students also worked in the Museum’s administrative and development offices, in exhibits, and in the Museum Store.  Their efforts comprised an estimated 10 FTE, making it possible for the Museum to operate as if it were larger than its 9.5-13 FTE during this period would ordinarily allow.

    In the 2010s, some 2,000 undergraduate students visited the Museum each year, either with their classes or for assignments. A 2013 survey indicated that students had a much higher level of appreciation for the Museum when they visited as part of a class. Exhibit preparator John Klausmeyer continued to teach Museum Methods 406 until 2014 and Kira Berman taught several individual classes each year. The Museum annually hosted peer groups from the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program. The Museum supported undergraduate education through the several LSA theme semesters it organized.  Most recently, numerous student discussions were held during the Understanding Race Theme Semester, and beginning in 2014, special events for students were offered, such as Science Trivia Night and Movie Night at the Museum.

    Theme Semesters

    In 2003, the Museum began to align its winter term programming with the Family Reading and Science program theme with “The Exhibit Museum Goes to Mars.”  After that, the Museum organized its winter public programming in conjunction with the Family Reading and Science theme every year.

    The winter theme concept grew dramatically in 2006 when the Museum led the LSA Winter Theme Semester, “Explore Evolution.”  Theme semesters were offered periodically by LSA in response to a call for proposals from the dean. The “Explore Evolution” theme semester idea was prompted by the Museum’s participation in the NSF-funded grant project by the same name, led by the Nebraska State Museum of Natural History.  Each of the six partner museums received a copy of the “Explore Evolution” exhibit to keep.  In anticipation of this new exhibit, LSA funded the renovation of space in the back of the fourth floor to create a 2,000-square-foot temporary exhibit gallery.  For several years thereafter, “Explore Evolution” was  the default exhibit in this space, put in storage when the Museum was able to bring in traveling exhibits.

    The “Explore Evolution” exhibit and theme semester constituted a watershed moment in the Museum’s history because it represented a major expansion in its collaborations with other organizations.  Museum staff greatly benefited from the professional development opportunities afforded by partnering with the other five museums in the consortium.  The Museum also formed strongly positive relationships with faculty in several departments and the research museums (EEB, Astronomy, Physics, Paleontology, Zoology, and others), and raised its profile on campus.

    The Museum continued to lead or co-lead LSA theme semesters for several years thereafter, including “The Universe:  Yours to Discover” in partnership with Astronomy (2009); “Meaningful Objects:  Museums in the Academy,” which grew to be a theme year, in partnership with the Museum of Anthropology and the other campus museums (2010-11); “Water,” in partnership with the Program in the Environment, the Graham Environmental Sustainability Institute, and the Michigan Society of Fellows (2011); and “Understanding Race” (2013), in partnership with the Department of Afroamerican and African Studies, the Program on Intergroup Relations, the Ginsberg Center, and the School of Social Work.

    During the non-LSA theme years, the Museum organized its own internal themes, including “What on Earth is Biodiversity?” (2004), “Mastodons and the Ice Age” (2005), “Wild Weather, Changing Climate” (2007), “Science at the Poles” (2008), “Evolution and Health” (2012), “Brain Science (2014), and “It’s About Time” (2015).

    Starting with “Explore Evolution,” each theme had an associated exhibit. Some were traveling exhibits; some were developed in-house.  Traveling exhibits displayed in the traveling exhibit gallery included “New Views of the Universe:  The Hubble Space Telescope” (2009), “Evolution & Health” (2012), and “Race:  Are we so different?” (2013). In-house exhibits included displays of faculty research on mastodons (a major undertaking involving a Buy-A-Bone campaign to fund a new male mastodon skeletal mount in 2005), climate change, and astronomy.

    In 2008, a 500-square-foot  gallery was created where the fourth-floor Geology Gallery had been. The first exhibit featured “flexibit” panels about the NSF’s ANDRILL (Antarctic Drilling project), accompanied by rock samples from Antarctica and expedition equipment.  The gallery next housed an exhibit curated by Professor Raymond Silverman on contemporary brass casting from Ghana in 2009; an exhibit about research by Museum of Anthropology curators, “Archaeology!;” and an exhibit developed by Arts of Citizenship graduate student intern Abigail Celis, “Race in this Place:  A Community Conversation” (2012-13).  In 2013, “Archaeology!” was updated and reinstalled.

    Development and Membership

    The Museum’s first Buy-A-Bone fundraising campaign was launched in 1995 to purchase a cast skeleton of Deinonychus, the first substantial addition to the Hall of Evolution in 30 years. Intern Angela Moggo initiated the campaign based on an idea from another museum. A total of $33,000 was raised and more than 1,000 contributors attended the opening.

    The Museum used the Buy-A-Bone strategy to support subsequent campaigns for the Dorudon skeleton and whale evolution exhibit; for a pterosaur display; to update Edmontosaurus; to expand the Mastodon exhibit; and to update the earlier exhibit on whale evolution, with the addition of the 45-foot skeleton of Basilosaurus. “Snake vs. Dinosaur:  Caught in the Act” was added in 2014.

    The Museum’s membership program was greatly expanded for a time in the early 2000s in a partnership with the Alumni Center.  Later, social media promotions with LivingSocial and Groupon led by Assistant Director for Development Nora Webber greatly increased the membership numbers.  The large increases tended to be short-lived, as the purchases were generally made because of deep discounts, but a subset of these new supporters became loyal members and donors.

    The Museum pursued annual gifts through bi-annual mailings and sought sponsorships for events from businesses and grants from foundations. The largest grants funded the Family Reading and Science program and activities in the  Understanding Race Project. The largest individual gift received was Lee Hess’s lead gift of $50,000 for the 2007 Planetarium renovation.

    The donation box remained an important revenue source.  Receipts increased over the years along with attendance. By 2014, the suggested donation was $6 per person and total annual revenue exceeded $60,000.

    The Museum also sought foundation grants and individual gifts to support scholarships for visits by financially challenged schools.  Scholarship support enabled hundreds of school children to visit the Museum who otherwise would not have been able to attend.

    Facility

    Major changes in the Museum’s space in the Ruthven Building between 1993 and 2013 included the 1997 transformation of the “Physical Environment” alcove into a new staff office; the creation in 2005 of a 2000-square-foot gallery for temporary exhibits on the fourth floor; the renovation of the Planetarium in 2007; the removal of geology exhibits to create a small changing gallery in 2008; a new elevator in 2009; and the renovation of the front entrance in 2010 to make it accessible. The front entrance project included a new sloped plaza leading to the front door; the doubling of the Butterfly and Pollinator Garden; restoration of the lobby’s original design by removing the office and the Museum Store from the two bays flanking the front door; the addition of a ramp leading to the Rotunda level; and a new, larger Museum Store where a mollusk range had been.  The expanded Museum Store set numerous sales records in the succeeding years. The Museum’s wood shop was permanently closed in 2009 because of fire safety concerns, and metalworking activities in Room 4011 ceased for the same reason.

    The Future (2015 and beyond)

    Shortly after the Exhibit Museum became autonomous in 1956, Director Reimann expressed the need for a new and separate building. He repeated this need several times during his tenure and in 1963, described how the facilities were taxed “very nearly to their limit” and how the building was “badly planned for public attendance and exhibit purposes.”

    Today, the lack of climate control and other restrictions of a 90-year-old building present concerns about the safety of specimens and comfort of visitors.

    In 2011, the Provost announced a plan to build a new Biological Sciences Building that could incorporate the Museum of Natural History.

    In 2014, the the Regents approved the new Biological Science Building which would include a new Museum of Natural History. The new Museum facility is expected to open by early 2019. The structure and design of the new museum will enhance its ability to support the University’s and LSA’s research and teaching missions, as well as to attract the general public. Academic research labs will be visible to visitors, enabling faculty and students to share their research with the public. The facility will include a Presentation Space, two public Investigate Labs, a student-curated exhibit area, and an enhanced Digital Dome Theater.  All-new exhibits are in development as of this writing, making use of existing specimens and artifacts and updating both the science and the exhibit experiences.  Expanded engagement of undergraduate students is one of the goals of the new facility.