News Articles

April 30, 2018

Meet Zorotypus hubbardi, a member of the rarely collected insect Order Zoraptera. This is the newest addition to the museum's insect collection and the first of its kind to join the collection. With approximately 40 living species, the order Zoraptera - commonly known as angel insects - is one of the smallest insect orders known to scientists. Of these, only two species are known to occur in the United States. These tiny, soft-bodied insects resemble termites. Although they can be rather common in the right habitat, they are rarely collected due to their small size and secretive lifestyle. Many thanks to Kevin Hinson of the South Carolina Botanical Garden, as well as Dr. Art Evans, entomologist, VMNH Board of Trustee, ...

April 30, 2018

Dr. Joe Keiper, executive director of VMNH and expert entomologist, discusses Virginia insects at the Waynesboro Riverfest this past Saturday. Hundreds of people asked questions about dragonflies, stink bugs, praying mantises!

April 28, 2018

VMNH's Ray Vodden and Dr. Elizabeth Moore are still in the field on the Eastern Shore. Here you can see Ray carefully excavating 17th century foundations and lots of oyster. The second photo shows some of the artifacts drying after being washed.

April 27, 2018

Our curators are having a great time sharing their expertise with students from Windsor High School today during their visit to the museum! The students are getting the chance to tour the museum's exhibits, labs and collections areas, as well as engage in hands-on activities with the curators that cover topics in geology, paleontology, and mammalogy!

April 27, 2018

The Virginia Museum of Natural History Foundation held its annual Grapes and Grains Fundraiser on Saturday, April 21 at the museum! The event featured wineries and breweries from across the Commonwealth that specialize in a wide range of wine and brew types. Heavy hors'douvres, live music, and a silent auction kept the night alive! Event proceeds benefit the VMNH Foundation Discovery Fund, which directly supports important museum programs in research, education, and exhibits. "Grapes & Grains"

April 27, 2018

1st graders from Henry
Elementary are having fun, while learning about animal needs today at the museum! Katie Hastings, museum educator, is showing off some of the museum's live animals, while teaching the students about life needs, characteristics, adaptations, and habitats of animals!

April 27, 2018

Elizabeth Moore and Ray Vodden are in the field with the Department of Historic Resources, the Forest Service, and the Archaeological Society of Virginia.

April 26, 2018

The museum hosted students from Franklin County High School's earth science classes today! Dr. Nancy Moncrief (pictured), curator of mammals, and Liberty Hightower, museum research technician, provided a hands-on activity regarding mammals in Virginia, looking at temporal patterns of species occurrence.

April 25, 2018

Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources, Matthew J. Strickler, was at the Virginia Museum of Natural History April 25 meeting with VMNH leadership, as well as touring the museum's research areas and exhibit galleries! In these photos, Dr. Joe Keiper, executive director of VMNH, shows Secretary Strickler the holotype Eobalaenoptera fossils that are stored inside the museum's paleontology collections. Kathy Fell, a long-time museum volunteer, shows Secretary Strickler part of the collection that she and other museum volunteers have been diligently labeling this afternoon.

April 24, 2018

VMNH volunteers are an essential part of the museum's ability to provide exceptional programs in research and education, as well as top-notch events. On Tuesday, April 24, the museum recognized its dedicated volunteers, who combined to donate more than 7,000 (SEVEN THOUSAND!!) hours in the last year. Thank you to all of our volunteers, past and present!

April 24, 2018

A week before you celebrate your mom, celebrate your amphibian friends! In conjunction with Patrick Henry Community College, the museum is hosting a FREE salamander search led by museum curators and PHCC professors on the campus of PHCC from 9 to 11 a.m.! From noon to 3 p.m., the museum will have a special display inside its Harvest Foundation Hall of Ancient Life, with museum specimens and live salamanders! Regular admission rates to the museum apply.

April 23, 2018

HEY TEACHERS! Project Wild and Aquatic Wild workshops to be held at VMNH June 6-7! Sign-up and get certified today!

April 22, 2018

Dr. Kal Ivanov, assistant curator of invertebrate zoology, participated in Longwood University's annual BioBlitz in Farmville yesterday. The community event is an opportunity for citizen scientists to identify and record the large variety of species living in the area, learn about the local wildlife and natural history, and explore the world around them. After the BioBlitz, Dr. Ivanov and Dr. Steve Roble of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation (and longtime VMNH Research Associate) visited Difficult Creek Natural Area Preserve to explore some of its fire management areas, as well as collect insects.

April 20, 2018

The museum hosted its annual Earth Day Student Day event on Friday, April 20 for elementary school children. Schools participating in this year's event were Drewry Mason Elementary, Albert Harris Elementary, Rich Acres Elementary, and Patrick Henry Elementary. Thank you to Boxley and all of the museum's corporate support for allowing the museum to offer a day of free, interactive activities for students aimed to build an appreciation for the planet that leads them to be strong stewards of Earth!

April 20, 2018

We're hosting Earth Day Student Day 2018 at the museum today! Elementary school students from multiple schools are taking part in the activities that teach children the importance of being strong stewards of our planet. Thank you to Boxley Materials Company for support of this program!

April 20, 2018

Philpott Lake Ranger, Jessica Mason, teaches students from Drewry Mason Elementary School about water and watersheds during Earth Day Student Day 2018 at VMNH!

April 19, 2018

Roanoke College student Emma Clarke successfully defended her senior project on a VMNH mastodon today! She's been working with RC professor DorothyBelle Poli and VMNH Paleo Curator Dr Alex Hastings for the last year and put together a great project on mastodon feet. Congratulations to Emma on a job well done! #studentresearch #MastodonsRock

April 18, 2018

We stopped by the paleo lab this afternoon to talk with Ray Vodden, VMNH research technician, about just a few of the many exciting projects the paleontology team has coming up!

April 18, 2018

A new, recently-published study in the Journal of Paleontology by researchers at the University of Bristol named a new type of fossil reptile after paleontologist Dr. Nick Fraser, the museum's former director of research and collections. This newly named reptile is based on VMNH specimens found in England that date back to about 225 million years ago during the Triassic Period. The museum is happy to be the home of this little reptile and welcomes Fraserosphenodon to the world! For more on the study (non-technical): https://phys.org/news/2018-04-mystery-enigmatic-triassic-reptile.html Open access for technical readers: https://www.cambridge. ...

April 18, 2018

Dr. Alex Hastings, assistant curator of paleontology, was at Roanoke College today teaching a lesson for evolution in paleontology with #VirginiaSharks. Fun stuff and great class!

April 18, 2018

HEY TEACHERS! Free food! Free margaritas!! Because you deserve it!!!

April 17, 2018

This week, Dr. Nancy Moncrief, curator of mammals, and Liberty Hightower, biology research technician, are visiting the mammal collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.! They are examining squirrel skeletons for a study of methods used to determine age of individuals.

April 17, 2018

We had a great time hosting 2nd graders from Callaway Elementary School in Franklin County this morning! In these pics, students explored the connections between organisms and the environment during the "Fantastic Food Webs" program led by VMNH educator, Katie Hastings!

April 17, 2018

Dr. Elizabeth Moore, curator of archaeology, was one of approximately 3000 archaeologists at the 83rd Annual Meetings of the Society for American Archaeology in Washington, D.C. last week. During the meetings, Dr. Moore gave two presentations regarding her research at VMNH as part of an invited symposium sponsored by the Middle Atlantic Archaeology Conference. Dr. Moore's first presentation was a co-authored poster in a session titled "Fighting the Anti-Science Hysteria Through Public Archaeology". The second was a paper titled "Fishing at the Beach: the Great Neck site and an Examination of Subsistence Strategies on the Chesapeake Bay".

April 16, 2018

Meet Megalodon, the largest predatory shark of all time!

April 14, 2018

The museum was one of many host sites for the worldwide March for Science. After the march in Martinsville, several participants sounded off for science, explaining why they think science is important.

April 14, 2018

The Southwestern Piedmont STEM Education Collaborative (SPSEC) celebrated the educational achievements of area elementary school students during the 3rd annual STEM Showcase at the Virginia Museum of Natural History on Saturday, April 14. The event provided an opportunity for regional students in 3rd through 5th grades to showcase their STEM-related projects to the public. Each participating student was chosen by his or her school or school division within the Southwestern Piedmont region, which includes schools located in Franklin County, Henry County, Martinsville City, Patrick County, Pittsylvania County, as well as Henry County Home Educators.

April 14, 2018

We're hosting the regional STEM Showcase today until noon! At 1 p.m., we're hosting a March for Science march! Both events are absolutely free to attend/participate, so be sure to come out and celebrate science today at VMNH!

April 13, 2018

It's going to be a super science Saturday at the museum tomorrow! STEM SHOWCASE 10 a.m. to noon Selected students from school districts throughout south central Virginia will be displaying their exceptional science projects! Admission to the museum is FREE during the event, so come out and check-out the amazing projects these students have created and enjoy the museum's exhibit galleries absolutely free! MARCH FOR SCIENCE 1 p.m. The museum will host a march around the block of Starling Avenue/Mulberry Road/Oakdale Street as part of the worldwide March for Science advocacy! Come out and show your support for the sciences and their importance in day-to-day life during this showing of solidarity! Additionally, participants ...

April 13, 2018

Dr. Joe Keiper, executive director of VMNH, and Dr. Jim Beard, curator of earth sciences, are leading a field trip at Pippen Hill Vineyards in North Garden, Virginia today to learn about geology and plant pathology!

April 12, 2018

Dr. Kal Ivanov, Assistant Curator of Recent Invertebrates, is presenting tonight's 2nd Thursday Science Talk.

April 12, 2018

Meet Discothyrea testacea, a tiny ant predator of spider eggs new to the VMNH collection. Notice that it is bald and blind, just like the VMNH Executive Director!

April 12, 2018

Join us this evening at 6 p.m. for the next edition of 2nd Thursday Science Talks! The hour-long presentation is free to attend. "Places in Virginia" Dr. Kal Ivanov, assistant curator of invertebrate zoology In this presentation, Dr. Ivanov will focus on Virginia's unique pine barren areas, as seen through the eyes of a myrmecologist. Afterwards, Dr. Ivanov will take attendees to the museum's invertebrate holdings!

April 11, 2018

Last night, Dr. Alex Hastings, assistant curator of paleontology, was at North Carolina State University talking to the Herpetology Club at NC State about his work on fossil reptiles. It was a great group that even brought some of their live animals to the meeting!

April 11, 2018

We're extremely happy to recognize Brooks Mill Winery as a participant of the 2018 Grapes & Grains wine tasting event to be held on Saturday, April 21 at the museum! Thank you to Brooks Mill Winery and all of the wineries, breweries and distilleries participating in this year's event! Tickets remain available for purchase at the museum box office, as well as online at https://www.vmnh.net/products/cats/id/67/grapes-grains-gala-2018!

April 11, 2018

Students from Ohio University recently visited VMNH to tour the museum and learn about zooarchaeology and microfauna! In this picture, students examine specimens inside the museum's archaeology lab. While at the museum, the students picked-up lithics from the VMNH archaeology collections as part of a collaborative study.

April 11, 2018

VMNH leadership met with Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Matt Strickler this week to discuss all of the successes the museum has achieved in recent years! Left to right: Lisa Moerner of the VMNH Board of Trustees, Secretary Matt Strickler, Michael Phillips (trustee), Len Poulin (VMNH Foundation Board member), and VMNH Executive Director Dr. Joe Keiper.

April 10, 2018

Join us on Saturday, April 14 from 10 a.m. to noon for the annual STEM Showcase, when students from throughout the region showcase their STEM-related projects! After the showcase, the museum will be a host location of the MARCH FOR SCIENCE advocacy event! At 1 p.m., participants will join together on a short march of solidarity to demonstrate the importance of science in society and official policy! Participants will also be given the opportunity to voice why they feel science is so important to every day life! Admission to the museum is FREE during these events!

April 10, 2018

Our Grapes & Grains fundraising gala is set for Saturday, April 21 and we're proud to announce that Stanburn Winery will once again be a part of the wine tasting event! Thank you to Stanburn and all of the wineries, breweries and distilleries that are taking part in this year's event! Be sure to purchase your tickets to next Saturday's big event by visiting the museum's website at https://www.vmnh.net/products/cats/id/67/grapes-grains-gala-2018!

April 10, 2018

FULL-TIME JOB OPPORTUNITY...This could be your new office!

April 6, 2018

Being 150 miles away from Martinsville didn't stop students from Westwood Hills Elementary in Waynesboro from exploring the museum's exhibits today! VMNH Education Manager, Christy Deatherage (right), along with educator Katie Hastings, connected remotely with the students to bring the museum's exhibit galleries and educational programming to them as part of the museum's distance learning offerings!

April 5, 2018

VMNH research technician, Liberty Hightower, noticed that the residents of the museum's Leafcutter ant colony were hyper-active this morning and shot this cool video for our museum fans in social media land!

April 5, 2018

This could be your new colleague!

April 2, 2018

This weekend, VMNH paleontology curator Dr Alex Hastings was back underground for cave training in the area north of Blacksburg, VA. Such a beautiful cave with some great rappelling. Thanks to Mike & Katarina of the Cave Conservancy of the Virginias for the chance to check this out!

April 2, 2018

WSLS 10 stopped by the museum this morning to talk to Dr. Jim Beard, curator of earth sciences, about the establishment of the Pete Henika Memorial Fund. The endowment fund will support high-impact research projects in the field of geology and other science disciplines. Our sincerest thanks goes to Bill and Mary Jane Henika for their tremendous support of VMNH!