Dear Supporter,
A new month brings another big announcement. We are thrilled to share that longtime patrons Jann and Tom Rudkin have made a generous $1 million gift to create an accessible entrance at the Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum. KU Endowment shared the news in a press release in late January.
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This new ramp will completely transform Dyche Hall's front entrance, making it easier for all visitors to enter through the double doors, see the Bunker Mosasaur suspended above the lobby, and be greeted by staff at the front desk.
Any remaining funds after construction of the ramp will go toward partial restoration of the Panorama exhibit, which is still under construction and closed to the public. Construction of the new entryway is expected to take place in the summer of 2026.
Sincerely,
Natalie Vondrak
Communications Coordinator
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“This [gift] will allow everyone, regardless of mobility, to experience the museum the way it was meant to be experienced."
- Jann Rudkin |
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Darwin Day: Valentine’s Edition
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February 14 | 1:30-4:30 p.m.
KU Natural History Museum
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Join us for a unique museum mashup: celebrate Valentine’s Day at the same time as Charles Darwin’s birthday! Learn about Darwin’s life, colleagues, and their scientific discoveries. Plus, explore the wild world of animal courtship, mating, and reproduction. Learn More »
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February 16 | 1-4 p.m.
KU Natural History Museum
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We’re opening our doors to high school and college transfer students during Rock Chalk Days. Visitors can join one of three guided tours of our collections and laboratories to see how undergraduate students from a wide range of majors can get involved at the BI/NHM. Learn More »
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| Science on Tap with
Dr. Samanta Orellana
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February 25 | 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Free State Brewing Company
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Grab a pint and learn how digital tools are advancing the study of global biodiversity. By accelerating the digitization of natural history collections across North and Central America, Dr. Orellana is helping make neotropical beetles more accessible to the public. Learn More »
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Curating Collections:
Invertebrate Paleontology
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The Biodiversity Institute houses over 11 million biological specimens and 2 million archaeological artifacts from around the world—each with a story just waiting to be shared!
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The Cockroaches of the Cambrian?
Photo Credit: Natalia López Carranza, KU Division of Invertebrate Paleontology specimen number 521018
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In his book Family Man, Calvin Trillin remarked, after living there, that an apartment on Amsterdam Avenue in New York City was likely the ancestral breeding ground of the cockroach, given its profound level of infestation. Although not strictly accurate in an evolutionary sense, Trillin’s musings bring to mind specimens well represented in KU’s Invertebrate Paleontology collection that derive from the Cambrian period, some 500 million years ago.
This was a time when neither cockroaches nor insects had yet evolved. However, the broader phylum they belonged to, the Arthropoda, was certainly present and highly diverse, having evolved at least 50 million years prior. And no other Cambrian arthropod group was more diverse or abundant than the trilobites that crawled and scurried on the seafloor. In fact, there was a place in the Cambrian, it so happens to be in today’s House Range of Utah, where a single species of trilobite reached such truly prodigious numbers that it likely surpassed the number of roaches found in Trillin‘s New York City apartment.
That species, Elrathia kingii, is a well known fossil, often encountered in rock shops. Based on numbers recovered so far, there are purported to be as many as one quadrillion (a one followed by 15 zeroes!) specimens. There are more than 1,000 specimens of Elrathia kingii in the KU Invertebrate Paleontology Collection, and studies of this species have yielded information on predatory attacks on trilobites and indicate that even 500 million years ago most animals were functionally right handed.
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See a full list of recent publications at the end of this newsletter.
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| Christina Lutz named lead preparator and lab manager in vertebrate paleontology
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We are pleased to share that Christina Lutz is the new vertebrate paleontology lead preparator and lab manager. In her role, Lutz will support the research and educational mission of the Vertebrate Paleontology Division by preparing fossil material collected in the field and creating high-quality molds and casts of vertebrate fossils for use in research, teaching, and public exhibits. Read More »
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| KU alumni revisit past memories through field notes and collections
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Recently, the Ichthyology Division welcomed back two program alumni and their wives for a tour of the division and its collections. Dave Wiseman and Owen Gorman were students who worked with Frank Cross in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During their visit, they viewed specimens they had collected themselves, as well as original copies of their field notes. Read More »
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| Herbarium records trace the arrival of invasive common reed in Kansas
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Researchers from Wichita State University and the University of Kansas, including Craig Freeman, senior curator of botany, used Kansas specimens to investigate when the Eurasian subspecies of common reed (Phragmites australis subsp. australis) arrived in the state. Using morphological and genetic identifications, the authors found that the invasive species appeared in Kansas in the 1970s–1980s and likely replaced the native subspecies by the late 1990s. Read More »
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Photo credit: Larry Halverson, iNaturalist
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KU Natural History Museum featured in Lawrence Journal-World
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We are pleased to share that the KU Natural History Museum was featured in the first installment of the Lawrence Journal-World's “user guides,” which provides readers with information on how to access and use everything from public spaces to community organizations. We hope this media coverage inspires more local and regional visitors to step inside our halls and discover something amazing about our natural world. Read More »
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Hey, KU students — We're hiring!
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We’re looking for a Visitor Experience Assistant to help create positive, memorable, and engaging experiences for visitors at the KU Natural History Museum. In this student hourly position, you'll greet and interact with visitors, open and close the museum, restock the gift shop and more. Apply here »
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Play the game, save the world!
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VENOMventure, a collaborative project from the KU Natural History Museum and the UC Museum of Paleontology, continues to make waves for its success in teaching the public about phylogenetics. This traveling pop-up game brings evolutionary science to life in natural history museums and rural and urban libraries. Read more »
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Staff & Student Spotlights
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Stay up-to-date with current activities and events by following us
on your favorite social media channels.
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Invertebrate Paleontology Curator Bruce Lieberman recently conducted fieldwork in Florida, collecting fossil mollusks dating back 2 million years. Working with colleagues from the Florida Museum of Natural History and the Milwaukee Public Museum, the team documented a range of specimens including a notably large fossil snail! This research is part of Lieberman’s NSF-funded Biodiversity on a Changing Planet grant.
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Say, insects! The Entomology Division wrapped up January with a lively social, bringing together students and staff to swap stories from the field, the conference circuit, and their latest research.
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KU Biodiversity Institute and Partido State University students and staff researchers pose for a photo before they prepare their collection for export, following a three-week collaborative specimen collecting expedition to the forests of Lagonoy and Caramoan on the Caramoan Peninsula (Bicol Region) of southern Luzon, Philippines. The BI/NHM field team included members from three divisions: Herpetology, Ornithology, and Mammalogy.
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We’re excited to welcome five new staff members to the BI/NHM community in 2026! From left to right:
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Christina Lutz, Vertebrate Paleontology Lead Preparator and Lab Manager
- Jason Melton, Research Engineer for the Specify Collections Consortium
- Cecilia Cottrell, Collection Assistant in Archaeology
- Andrew Paget, Visitor Experiences Employee
- Victor Gonzalez, Michener Assistant Curator in Bee Biodiversity and Evolution
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Kenzie Grover is one of several KU mammalogists conducting a long-term study of small mammals in woodland and prairie habitats at the KU Field Station. The data they collect will help scientists better understand the connections between parasite and pathogen prevalence, population size, and seasonal changes in weather.
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Photo credit: Wendy Holman
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Celebrating Women in Science
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Saturday, March 28 | 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
KU Natural History Museum
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In honor of Women's History Month in March, we invite you to our 5th annual Celebration of Women in Science! Meet scientists from KU and beyond, learn about scientific techniques, view specimens, and try fun, hands-on experiments at exploration stations throughout the museum. Learn about women scientists from around the world and explore a variety of careers in science. This is a family-friendly, drop-in style event with something for everyone.
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The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university’s programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and procedures and is the Title IX Coordinator for all KU and KUMC campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY. Reports can be submitted by contacting the Title IX Coordinator as provided herein or online and complaints can be submitted with the Title IX Coordinator or online.
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