Recently, 41 students and their teachers from St. Damian School in Westland, Michigan, toured the UMMZ Mammal Division.  Their visit was part of fieldtrip organized through the UM Museum of Natural History.  Dr. Cody Thompson, UMMZ collections manager and EEB assistant reseach scientist, led the students during their visit, which included handling a large skull of a western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) as well as seeing a variety of large African ungulates.  "I always enjoy interacting with students at this level", said Thompson, "it is great to see schools getting their students out of the classroom to take advantage of all the great resources that the UM museums have to offer".  The UMMZ mammal collection houses nearly 150,000 specimens from around the world and has been active since 1837, making it one of the oldest collections in North America.  The UMMZ collections generally are not open to the general public; however, special tours can be arranged via the UM Museum of Natural History.

Pictures were provided by Mr. William Tucker, St. Damian School.  For more information, please contact Mr. Tucker at wgtucker@outlook.com.