Latest News
MAY 24th! Traveling Exhibition: Animal Armor
05-01-2025
The exhibit Animal Armor brings together a fascinating, eclectic mix of creatures all bound by their similar use of armor. The exhibit offers an exciting tour through the last 500 million years of armor evolution. The rise of armor in the animal kingdom is illustrated by dozens of pieces, including ... more
FREE DAY FOR DARWIN!
02-16-2025
Free day at the Sternberg Museum! February 16th 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. It is Darwin day at the museum on the 16th. Meet Charles Darwin and ask him questions about his life, evolution and fossils! Come in for free, learn about Darwin and explore evolution. Meet our scientists and see fun special exhibi... more
WATER’S EXTREME JOURNEY
01-29-2025
‘WATER’S EXTREME JOURNEY’ INTERACTIVE MAZE BRINGS TO LIFE WATER QUALITY ISSUES THAT IMPACT PEOPLE AND THE ENVIRONMENT... more
Book your birthday party at Sternberg Museum
08-21-2024
If you are looking for that once-in-a-lifetime party, look no further than the Sternberg Museum. Birthday-goers are presented the opportunity to get hands-on with the museum’s animals, including lizards, snakes, mammals and insects -- all under the guidance of a museum expert. Kids can also become... more
Rattlesnake Genomics Funded By K-INBRE!
08-14-2024
Dr. Jackson Roberts’ grant proposal to study the genomics and origin of the introduced Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes at Kanopolis State Park in Ellsworth County has recently been funded by the Kansas Idea Network of Biomedical Research Excellence (K-INBRE) for $4,000. This funding will pay for s... more
Children's author shoots Sternberg photos for book illustrations
08-07-2024
Children’s author Jordan Lowe recently visited the museum to take photos for her upcoming book, “Hattie & Hank in Kansas,” which is scheduled to be released later this year. The book, which is the second in a series of non-fiction books related to geography, are targeted towards children in kinderg... more
Science campers uncover partial mosasaur
07-17-2024
A partial mosasaur has been added to the collection at the Sternberg Museum of Natural History. The specimen was uncovered by a group of science campers under the direction of David Levering, Sternberg's assistant director of sciene camps. It was discovered on the Smoky Hill Ranch in this fall wher... more
4-H student receives help identifying specimens
07-10-2024
Hays High School junior Mariella Dreiling and her mother Monica recently visited the museum to receive help from director Reese Barrick in identifying some geological specimens. Mariella collected several specimens from Gove and Ellis Counties as part of a 4-H project for the Ellis County Fair. Mari... more
Summer intern joins Sternberg staff
06-26-2024
Atlanta native Claire Duerr has joined the Sternberg Museum staff as a summer intern. Duerr, a biology and anthropology major at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., will be entering her senior year when she returns to school this fall. She began working at Sternberg on June 10 and will be primar... more
Dr. Jackson Roberts co-publisher of collections-based research
06-12-2024
Zoology Collections Manager Dr. Jackson Roberts recently published with colleagues from the Field Museum, the Iridian Genome Project, the Louisiana State University Museum of Natural Sciences, and the University of Texas - Arlington a paper depositing 18 new whole snake genomes representing 18 snake... more
Expedition Dinosaur 2024
05-22-2024
Sternberg Museum of Natural History will host another blockbuster dinosaur exhibit set to open on May 25 and run through Aug. 17. Exhibition: Dinosaur turns back the clock 165 million years to the Jurassic Period and combines life-sized animatronic dinosaurs with educational interactive experiences... more
Collections Management class takes part in field trip
05-01-2024
The Collections Management course taught by Zoology Collections Manager Dr. Jackson Roberts recently took a field trip to the far southwestern edge of the FHSU University Farm.... more
Students volunteer at Howard Reynolds Nature Trail
04-24-2024
As part of his Eagle Scout project, John Weisenborn (left) worked along-side several FHSU students who participated in the "Big Event," an FHSU program in which students volunteer one-half day toward a community project. The group worked on the Howard Reynolds Natural Trail, removing sumac and cactu... more
New collection started with modern-age tags
04-10-2024
New collection catalogue started at Sternberg.... more
Former Sternberg campers to lead summer camps
04-03-2024
Most kids grow up wanting to become dinosaur-hunting paleontologists. At some point in their early teenage years, many of these budding dinosaur hunters move on to other interests. However, Maggie Wolf and Marjie Cone never waivered in a lifelong, shared, unquenchable curiosity about the natural wor... more
Easter Eggstravaganza set for March 30
03-13-2024
Sternberg Museum will host a fun Easter activity for the entire family on Saturday, March 30 from 6:30 p.m. unitl 8 p.m. Easter Eggstravaganza will feature a variety of games of prizes, the opportunity to hold our critters and tast snacks that every bunny will love. Join us for this come and go ev... more
Instructors to lead December trip to Costa Rica
02-28-2024
Camps Instructors Marjie and Maggie return again, this time to lead a trip to Costa Rica in December. This will be our first ever winter-break trip, and our return to international programs that we haven't done since our Australia paleontology program in 2019.... more
Darwin Day lecture series planned on Feb. 22
02-20-2024
Sternberg researchers will celebrate Darwin Day on Feb. 22 with a special lecture series on how they use the museum's collections to student evolution.... more
'Tea Rex' planned to celebrate 25th Anniversary of Sternberg Museum
02-20-2024
Sternberg Museum and Forsyth Library will celebrate the 25th Anniversary of Sternberg Museum with an activity on March 4 from 2-4 p.m.... more
John Cody’s Moths Reemerge
02-07-2024
As the Midwest anticipates the rare co-emergence of the 13- and 17-year cicadas this spring, Sternberg Museum showcases its own entomological re-emergence. This one’s not as loud, but it’s much more beautiful. It features colorful watercolors of saturniid moths by the late Dr. John Cody. These exqui... more
Insect Specimens Re-identified in 2023
01-31-2024
Brett Isaac Fox, sophomore at FHSU and curatorial assistant at Sternberg Museum, has been busy re-identying insect specimens. The photo shows Fox working on species identification and storage optimization of Lepidoptera (butterflies), while the chart shows the wide diversity and number of insect spe... more
Sternberg Camps Set Record Opening Enrollment
01-18-2024
Registration for the 2024 Sternberg Science Camps opened on January 5th, and has already surpassed 85% of the entire 2023 enrollment in just over one week... more
Kansas Museum Association Annual Meeting
10-31-2023
The Sternberg Museum and the Ellis County Historical Society played host to the 2023 KMA Annual Conference! The theme this year is Great Plains Passages, and we are looking forward to sharing stories of growth and highlighting the diverse lenses that Kansas museums use to connect to our communities... more
Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Virtual Meeting
10-31-2023
Hello! Welcome to the 2023 Society of Vertebrate Paleontology Virtual Meeting! We have a fantastic four days of events lined up for you to enjoy and learn from, which you can find listed further into this document. Our goal this year was to provide ample opportunities for SVP members to network, so... more
A New Way to Museum
01-07-2021
A New Way to Museum is a new YouTube series created by the Sternberg Staff. Explore the Museum and the world, all from the comfort of your home. New episodes drop every Thursday at 12 CST on YouTube. Subscribe to our channel to stay up to date with our videos. ... more
Rent a Sternberg Exhibit - A Look Inside
01-03-2021
Medical Diagnostic Imaging, such as X-rays and Computed Tomography (CT) scans, have recently become more affordable and available to non-medical academic researchers. They help to answer a variety of natural history questions. Scientists can use these images to examine the insides of preserved speci... more
The Sternberg Museum’s Coronavirus Policy
01-02-2021
The Sternberg Museum is still taking every necessary precaution to maintain the health and safety of its guests and staff. In order to help us continue to make the museum a fun and safe environment, we have a few policies in place so guests can plan their visit accordingly.... more
The Sternberg Museum’s Coronavirus Policy
07-02-2020
The Sternberg Museum is still taking every necessary precaution to maintain the health and safety of its guests and staff. In order to help us continue to make the museum a fun and safe environment, we have a few policies in place so guests can plan their visit accordingly.... more
donate-today
05-18-2020
Support the Sternberg Museum during this time by donating. Change Designation to “Other.” In the text box that appears, write in where you would like the money to go.... more
a-91-million-year-old-fossilized-shark-discovered-in-kansas-newly-described-as-cretodus-houghtonorum
11-25-2019
A 91-million-year-old shark, recently described as Cretodus houghtonorum, was discovered in 2010 near a ranch located in Mitchell County. The discovery and excavation were conducted by the authors, Kenshu Shimada and Michael Everhart, adjunct researchers of the Sternberg Museum, along with two assis... more
Book a Tour
09-17-2018
Come to the Sternberg Museum and experience a tour with experienced staff. Group Tours (min. of 12 people) are available as a part of the Sternberg experience. Guided tours last anywhere from 45 minutes to 2 hours, after which participants are welcome to spend any additional amount of time they wi... more
camps-blog-marjies-wilderness-first-responder
03-30-2018
My name is Marjie cone, and I just became a WFR! Now, when I say that people hear “woofer” and ask me if I train dogs or something like that. No, no dogs here. I took a Wilderness First Responder course (hence WFR), and I now have basic medical training for remote outdoor settings. This is definitel... more
camps-blog-guest-post-by-intern-maggie-wolf
02-21-2018
Hello everyone, my name is Maggie Wolf, and I am a freshman at the University of Evansville majoring in Biology. I attended the Sternberg Paleontology, Southwest Biology and Expedition Ecuador camps, all of which provided me with amazing experiences and helped me learn more about the things I love. ... more
camps-blog-hello-from-the-head-outdoor-nerd
02-20-2018
Welcome to the Sternberg Science Camps Blog! My name is David. I’m the Director and lead instructor for the Sternberg Science Camps. Let me tell you, in abbreviated fashion, how a pop-up book brought me to Kansas. When I was three years old, living in California, my uncle got me a pop-up book of... more