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    Puget Sound Museum

    One of the Pacific Northwest's significant natural history collections, focusing on research & education.

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    Student Involvement

    Unique undergraduate student access to natural history collections through the museum Docent Program & student research.

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    Collections-based research plays an integral part of the Puget Sound Museum's mission.

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    The Puget Sound Museum emphasizes education & outreach by bringing collections & specimens to the public.

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  2. Puget Sound Museum of Natural History

Puget Sound Museum of Natural History

In this section

  • Museum of Natural History New
    • About
      • History
    • Education & Outreach
      • Museum Docent Program
      • Nature in the Classroom
        • Resources for Teachers
      • Night at the Museum
      • A Bird in the Hand
      • Beyond the Classroom
      • Project GROWS
        • Protocols
          • Polymerase Chain Reaction
          • Restriction Digest of Salmon PCR Product
    • Collections & Research
      • Virgin Nurdle Project
      • Specimen Preparation
      • Specimen Salvage & Donation
      • Policies for Collection Use
      • Search/Browse Collections
    • Exhibits
      • Gray Whale Skeleton
        • Albert Shepard
        • Gray Whale
        • Installation
        • Skeleton Preparation
      • Marine Panel
      • Terrestrial Panel
      • Salmon
      • Ecosystems to Genes
    • Resources
      • Amphibians & Reptiles
        • Washington Amphibians
        • Washington Reptiles
        • Key to Washington Frogs
        • Key to Washington Lizards
        • Key to Washington Salamanders
        • Key to Washington Snakes
      • Birds
        • Wing & Tail Image Collection
          • Digital Imaging
        • Songs
        • Birds of Washington
        • Pac NW Gull Identification
          • Gull Images
          • Breeding Adult Identification
          • Measurements
        • Images
          • Gulls
          • Land Birds
          • Raptors
          • Seabirds
          • Shorebirds
          • Sword-Billed Hummingbird
          • Waterfowl
        • Glossary
        • Specimen Handling
        • Dissection
          • Gonad Identification
        • Feather Atlas (USFWS)
      • Fish
        • Freshwater Fish of Washington
        • Marine Fish of Washington
      • Geology
      • Insects
        • Bug Guide
        • Butterflies of the U.S. & Canada
        • Dragonflies
          • Images
          • Collecting & Preserving Specimens
          • Families & Genera
          • Glossary
          • Regional Lists
            • Idaho
            • Mexico
            • Middle America
            • North America
            • South America
            • Washington
            • West Indies
          • World Odonata List
        • Silphidae of Washington
      • Mammals
        • Collection Database
        • Washington Mammals
        • North American Mammal Checklist
        • Skulls & Teeth
        • Small Mammals of British Columbia
      • Pacific Northwest Moths
      • Plants
      • Publications
      • World Biomes
        • Bioclimatic Zones
          • Desert
          • Islands
          • Montane
          • Savanna
          • Steppe
          • Taiga
          • Temperate Broadleaf Forest
          • Tropical Dry Forest
          • Tropical Rain Forest
          • Tundra
The Puget Sound Museum of Natural History is one of the Pacific Northwest's significant natural history collections, with over 100,000 bird, mammal, reptile, amphibian, plant, insect, and geological specimens. Focusing on research, education, & engaging university students with museum collections.

Where dead things come alive!
Welcoming our new Director
University of Puget Sound professor Kena Fox-Dobbs will take over museum leadership from Professor Emeritus Peter Wimberger.
Meet the Director
There's more than one way to see our museum specimens up close...

Interact with Museum Specimens

01 Explore our Research Collections
02 Volunteer with the Docent Program
03 Borrow a Nature in the Classroom kit
04 Spend a Night at the Museum
Explore our Research Collections
Explore our Research Collections

Explore our research collections and stay up-to-date on the research happening behind the scenes at the museum.

Learn More
Spread wings
Volunteer with the Docent Program
Volunteer with the Docent Program

University of Puget Sound undergraduate students have the unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in a natural history collection through our museum docent program.

Learn More
Student docents at the Sustainability Expo
Borrow a Nature in the Classroom kit
Borrow a Nature in the Classroom kit

Bring the rich biodiversity of the Pacific Northwest into your classroom with our free Nature in the Classroom science curriculum kits.

Learn More
Nature in the Classroom being taught
Spend a Night at the Museum
Spend a Night at the Museum

Visit the museum for one of our wildly popular Night at the Museum events and see our dead things come alive!

Learn More
Eme at NATM
hidden specimen
The Hidden Specimen

Museum collections through the eyes of local artists.
August 28 - October 14

A collaboration between the Puget Sound Museum and the Kittredge Gallery, The Hidden Specimen is a science art exhibit featuring the work of local artists and UPS students inspired by the museum's specimens and collections. Viewable during Kittredge Gallery hours. Curated by Madison Mayfield.

 

Visit the Museum Virtually

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Virtual Collection Tours

Can't visit the museum in-person? Check out our virtual museum tours on YouTube!

Watch the Video
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A Bird in the Hand

Step inside the museum prep lab and see what birds our Collections Manager, Gary Shugart, has been working on!

See our virtual prep lab
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Form & Function

Check out this stop-motion video explaining form and function in bird beaks, featuring specimens from the museum and made by University of Puget Sound students!

Watch the Video
  • 1926

    Established in
  • 100,000+

    research specimens
  • 2nd

    largest natural history collection at a liberal arts college in the U.S.
specimen drawers
Visit
The museum does NOT have open hours for the public. Visits to the museum are by appointment only.
Learn More
Contact
Thompson Hall, Room 295 pugetsoundmuseum@pugetsound.edu 253.879.3357
Contact Us
Donate
Help us continue to support our museum collection and outreach programs by giving to the museum.
Give Now

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