An individual in a lab coat brushes dirt off the fossil of a dinosaur skull in a lab at NHMU.

NHMU Volunteer Ann Johnson brushes debris off a fossilized tyrannosaur skull being prepared in the Museum's Paleo Prep Lab. ©Mark Johnston | NHMU

Explore Science

Our Collections

The Natural History Museum of Utah opened its doors to the public in the George Thomas Building at the University of Utah in 1969. Since then, collections have been transferred from the University's academic departments and grown through research, acquisition, and contributions to number nearly 2 million objects. The Museum has solidified its position as the state museum of natural history and has developed strong programs of exhibits and education, both on-site and statewide. In November 2011, we moved to a new home, the Rio Tinto Center, with state-of-the-art collections care and research facilities. 

We invite you to explore the collections below.

Other Research

Two girls work at a laptop

Learning Sciences

The term learning sciences describes an interdisciplinary field that works to advance scientific understanding of learning.

The Great Salt Lake exhibit at NHMU.

Urban Ecology

Urban ecology is a relatively young but fast-growing field of study that focuses on the cities and towns we live in, as complex ecosystems in their own right.

For Researchers & Repositors

For visiting researchers, repositors, or anyone wishing to explore the digitized collections, see the links below. Click the images below to learn more. 

For Researchers

Learn More About Science at NHMU

A large butterfly corn maiden kachina

Science Stories

The Museum is full of more than 1.6 million objects and countless stories. We are constantly writing and recording these for sharing with our online audience in blog posts, videos, and podcasts. 

Citizen Science

Citizen scientists contribute enormously to the research of NHMU scientists by aiding in the logging of observations, transcription of field notes, digitization of collections, and much more.