Explore the wonders of the natural world through
collections of animals, fish, plants and prehistoric specimens on display as
the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point opens all of its museum collections
to the public for the fifth annual Collection Crawl.
Hosted by its Museum of Natural History, the event will
be held Saturday, April 5, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Offered to the public free of charge, it allows participants to see the more
than 25,000 square feet of museum collections on display in several university
buildings.
“This is our chance each year
to throw open the doors and allow the public to experience the amazing
diversity of natural science collections held by the museum,” said Ray Reser,
museum director. “Our archived specimens now total over 400,000, providing an
unparalleled opportunity for student research in multiple areas of natural
science. Sharing this resource and our research with the local community is
pivotal to our mission.”
Visitors begin the Collection
Crawl at the Albertson Learning Resources Center (university library), where
they pick up passports then gather stamps at 11 collection areas around campus.
At each stop, university students will provide information and answer questions
for families, students and community members who attend.
In addition to the Museum of Natural History exhibits,
access will be available to the following collections: archaeology, entomology
(insects), geology (rocks), herbarium (plants), herpetology (amphibians and
reptiles), ichthyology (fish), mammalogy (mammals), ornithology (birds),
paleontology (prehistoric life) and parasitology (parasites).
The UW-Stevens Point Museum
of Natural History is an outreach and educational facility aligned with the
College of Letters and Science. The only public natural history museum in north
central Wisconsin, the museum’s exhibits are located on the first floor of the
Alberston library and may be viewed during regular library hours:
Monday-Thursday, 7:45 a.m. to midnight; Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday,
9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to midnight. Visitors may park for free
in Lot R, which is accessible from Portage or Reserve streets. More information
may be found at www.uwsp.edu/museum.