Denver Museum of Nature and Science

Exhibits, Digital Media, Programs & Partnerships: To advance its mission of igniting our community's passion for nature and science, the Denver Museum of Nature & Science presents a dynamic menu of permanent and temporary exhibits (Survival of the Slowest, Guitar, Egypt: The Time of the Pharaohs, Mazes & Brain Games, Apollo, and Unseen Oceans), engaging programming, films in the newly renovated Infinity theater, offsite science play areas and awe-inspiring shows in its digital Planetarium. Diverse program offerings for people of all ages include exciting science theater shows and facilitations, lectures, documentary film screenings, school break camps, and family activity programs. ExciteEd programs for schools include rigorous teacher professional development classes and school group Field Trips. In 2022, the Museum served 1.8 million adults, families, and students, including 650,000 offsite in the community and virtually.

Educational Programs: In 2022, diverse program offerings included After Hours virtual lectures, in-person facilitated family programs, summer and school break camps, numerous virtual program offerings, a Dia Del Nino celebration, Scientists in Action broadcasts from the field, and many more. ExciteEd programs for schools included teacher professional development classes, field trips and overnight stays at the Museum, virtual science labs, camps and offsite programs. We launched our Museum on Wheels: Curiosity Cruiser and a new community engagement team and together they connected nearly 18,000 people with nature and science by going to their events and communities.

Science Division: Museum researchers contribute to scientific knowledge through collection and analysis of data, which are then used to generate and publish new understandings about the earth, its inhabitants, and beyond. The Science staff manages, preserves, and provides access to the Museum's collection of 4.3 million objects and specimens. During 2022, staff fielded 587 research requests from collaborators inside and outside the museum. The Science Division also engaged in abundant educational outreach, communicating science to 126,234 members of the general public and its research community through courses, events, tours, lectures, and fieldtrips in 2022 alone. 4,445 of these guests attended collection open houses or behind the scenes tours of the Avenir Collections Center, and 44,404 of these guests attended virtual programs. Science staff supervised 33 interns, hosted 20 Teen Science Scholars, and mentored 24 undergraduate and graduate students. Our volunteer program continued to rebound following the pandemic in 2020. In 2022, 320 returning volunteers contributed over 46,000 hours. In addition, staff published 26 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, produced 20 popular books, book chapters, articles, and other non-peer reviewed publications, and were cited 1,944 times. Research highlights for 2022 include earth sciences publications on using fossil turtle shells to estimate timing and burial depth of terrestrial rocks (Petermann, Lyson, Hagadorn), documenting that placental mammals evolved brains before brawn after the end-Cretaceous extinction event (Lyson), and describing a new species of fossil laurel from the Cretaceous of Utah (Maccracken). Zoology publications included several on Rocky Mountain bird species and their genetic responses to shifting climate (Spellman), natural history of a spider ant symbiont (Cushing), and genomic insights into chipmunk diversification, along with recognition of two new species (Demboski). Anthropology published a comprehensive catalog of the Peace Medal collection (Nash) and a study of Moche worldview concepts (Koons).