Nearly 180 years after U-M first displayed its natural science collections for the public, the U-M Museum of Natural History (UMMNH) has opened the doors to its new home on campus: the Biological Sciences Building (BSB). Once inside, visitors can see the huge hanging ancient Quetzalcoatlus, with its 35-foot wingspan, and the cannibal dinosaur Majungasaurus. Visitors can claim front-row seats to the universe in the Planetarium & Dome Theater.
The physical move parallels a pedagogical shift for the museum, too. Its new interactive exhibits put science on display by blurring traditional boundaries between researchers at the lab bench and kids who can imagine themselves as future scientists. Visitors can peer through the new glass walls of two visible laboratories. In open lab areas, faculty and students from different research groups share space for the first time. With UMMNH embedded in the active lab building, outreach opportunities for scientists and students lie just outside lab doors.
And with all this cross-pollination among researchers at the site of the museum’s new digs, keep an eye out for new discoveries and creative scientific surprises from campus scholars.
Related Links
- “Excavating the Edmontosaurus”
- “Tracking the Mastodons”
- Learn About Supporting the Museum of Natural History
