Last updated: 3/1/2022
Street Address
University of Florida Cultural Plaza
SW 34th Street & Hull Road
Gainesville, FL 32611
|
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 117800
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611
|
Hours
Monday - Saturday | 10 AM - 5 PM |
Sunday | 12 PM - 5 PM |
Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas
Admissions
Free General Admission;
Fee for Butterfly Rainforest and some Temporary Exhibits
Staff
Catherine Carey, Public Programs Coordinator
Douglas S. Jones, Director
phone: 352-273-1902
Darcie MacMahon, Assistant Director, Exhibits & Public Programs
phone: 352-273-2053
Ian Breheny, Exhibit Designer
phone: 352-273-2078
Amy Hester, Volunteer Coordinator
Elise LeCompte, Registrar and Assistant Department Chair
Griffin Sheehy, Assistant to the Director
Marie Emmerson, Director of Development
Beverly Sensbach, Associate Director
Dale Johnson, Exhibit Project Manager
Kara Schwartz, Development Coordinator
Julie Waters, Exhibit Developer
Donna L. Ruhl, Florida Archaeology Collections Manager
Tina Choe, Exhibit Developer
Jonnie Dietz, Outreach Coordinator
Steve Drury, Lead Security Guard
Kaitlin Gardiner, Marketing Manager
phone: 352-273-2028
 |
|
 |
|
Visitors to the Florida Museum, on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, can enjoy hundreds of exotic butterflies in a rainforest setting, witness a South Florida Calusa Indian welcoming ceremony, experience a life-size limestone cave, and see a mammoth and mastodon from the last Ice Age. Permanent exhibits include Northwest Florida: Waterways and Wildlife, South Florida People and Environments, Hall of Florida Fossils: Evolution of Life and Land, and the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, which features the screened, outdoor Butterfly Rainforest exhibit with hundreds of live butterflies.
Dickinson Hall houses the museum's other research activities and vast collections containing more than 40 million natural history specimens and artifacts.
The state's official natural history museum, dedicated to understanding, preserving and interpreting biological diversity and cultural heritage.
Formerly named the Florida State Museum, established by the legislature in 1917 as the official state museum of natural history.
The Florida Museum's Ethnographic and Archaeological collections contain more than 20 million artifacts.
Anthropology: 8.8 million. It is the world's largest collection of Spanish Colonial artifacts and prehistoric Florida artifacts. Plants: 470,000. This collection leads the state in plant identification. Mollusks: 3 million. This is the eigth-largest U.S. collection. Butterflies and Moths: 1 million. This is the world's third-largest collection. Fish: 2.3 million. This is the fourth-largest U.S. collection. Reptiles and Amphibians: 190,000. This is the eigth-largest U.S. collection. Birds: 73,000. This is the world's third-largest sound recording collection and the fifth-largest skeleton collection. Mammals: 34,000. This is the world's second-largest marine mammal collection. Plant Fossils: 250,000. This collection leads the international research of flowering plant origins. Invertebrate Fossils: 3.75 million. This is the world's largest Florida collection and the fifth-largest North American Cenozoic collection. Vertebrate Fossils: 700,000. This is the fifth-largest U.S. collection.
Total specimens and artifacts combined: 40+ million.
Marvelous Explorations through Science and Stories, operated out of the museum, educates more than 850 children through science and literature-based activities in Head Start classrooms. About 4,500 students participated in docent-led tours during 2002-2003.Science and Engineering Experiences for Knowledge educated 60 students through an after-school program, and received a three-year grant from the National Science Foundation. Other educational activities include an Animal Fair, Sensational Science, Buchholtz BioTrek afternoons and Science Sunday lectures.
University
Annual Reports, published annually. Natural History Magazine inserts, published monthly for members only. Contact the museum front desk to receive a copy.
Gift Shop
This information, including business hours, addresses and contact information is provided for general reference purposes only. No representation is made or warranty is given as to its content or the reliability thereof. User assumes all risk of use. Stories USA, Inc. and its content suppliers assume no responsibility for any loss or delay resulting from such use. Please call ahead to verify the dates, the location and directions.