Museum Director: Dr. Reese Barrick, Ph.D
The Sternberg Museum of Natural History houses over three million paleontology, zoology, and geology specimens that document life and environments in the Great Plains region of North America. Consequently, the collections are vital to understanding, measuring, and monitoring the biodiversity of past and present ecosystems of the region. The paleontology collection includes invertebrate and vertebrate specimens representing taxonomic diversity from all Phanerozoic time periods. The paleobotany division houses more than 500,000 fossil plants and has the largest collection of fossil grasses in the world. Zoology specimens are divided into entomology, ichthyology, herpetology, ornithology, mammalogy, and invertebrate zoology holdings. These collections form the backbone of exhibits, research, education, and outreach at the museum.
