News Articles

July 29, 2019

The museum is opening its doors to its restricted access research area to allow all visitors to come behind the scenes and be among the first to view ancient fossils from different locations around the United States!

July 29, 2019

Dr. Joe Keiper (left), executive director of VMNH and expert forensic entomologist, is at the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy today teaching law enforcement how to use forensic entomology as a tool in homicide investigations. Here, Dr. Keiper simulates a human death scene using pig remains. Don't worry, the pigs used in this excercise were salvaged from a pig farm...no harm was done to the animals.

July 26, 2019

What an amazing first day of dino festival! Fossils, skeletons and crafts galore! Thanks to everyone who came out today and we can't wait to see the rest of you on Saturday!

July 25, 2019

We're ready! Are you?! New displays for Dino Festival are being brought out to the exhibit floor for the big event Friday and Saturday!

July 25, 2019

Alright all you naturalists and insect lovers! Our butterfly garden is currently teeming with activity! We have a sneaking suspicion of what type of butterfly this is...do you?

July 24, 2019

The Museum Store is gearing up for Dino Festival with all new dinosaur toys and souvenirs!!

July 24, 2019

It's National Moth Week! The Recent Invertebrates lab has been busy this spring and summer curating thousands of moth specimens that were collected by the Virginia Natural Heritage program. Specimens like these are used to determine tracts of land that deserve preservation efforts and VMNH is the permanent repository of materials like this.

July 22, 2019

Behold Platecarpus tympaniticus! This sea dwelling mosasaur will make its debut at this year's Dino Festival, along with many other new displays! Join us for the 2019 Dino Festival this Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.!

July 18, 2019

Only 1 week until Dino Festival!!!

July 16, 2019

Are you excited for Dino Festival? We sure are! Thanks to our friends at WSLS 10 / WSLS.com for letting us preview the big event on Daytime Blue Ridge! Learn more at Dino Festival 2019!

July 15, 2019

Deputy Secretary of Education Frances C. Bradford visited the museum today to tour the museum and meet with museum staff! In May, the museum was transferred to the Secretary of Education after previously being an agency of the Secretary of Natural Resources.

July 15, 2019

Dinosaurs are taking over the Virginia Museum of Natural History on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27 in Martinsville! The event features a huge variety of life-size dinosaur cast skeletons and skulls, a plethora of actual dinosaur fossils that visitors can view and touch, expert paleontologists, and an abundance of dino-themed activities! LIFE-SIZE CAST SKELETONS AND SKULLS! Marvel over some of the most well-known dinosaurs to ever roam the earth, including Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Albertosaurus, and other prehistoric favorites! A BEAST OF THE SEA! A 17 foot long, life-size cast skeleton of Platecarpus tympaniticus will be unveiled for the first time! This massive sea serpent or reptile lived ...

July 13, 2019

Ray Vodden, chief preparator at VMNH, has been busy these last several months preparing new displays for Dino Festival July 26-27! If you live in the WSLS 10 (Roanoke - NBC) viewing area, be sure to catch Ray on Daytime Blue Ridge this coming Monday at 11 a.m., as he shows off a small sample of what festival visitors can check-out during the big event!

July 12, 2019

We're only 2 weeks away!!!

July 11, 2019

Dinosaurs are for all ages! Ray Vodden, the museum's chief preparator, is at King's Grant Retirement Community this afternoon to talk up dinosaurs with residents as the museum prepares to host the annual Dino Festival on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27!

July 10, 2019

The annual dinosaur takeover of the Virginia Museum of Natural History will take place Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27 in Martinsville! The event features a huge variety of life-size dinosaur cast skeletons and skulls, a plethora of actual dinosaur fossils that visitors can view and touch, expert paleontologists, and an abundance of dino-themed activities! LIFE-SIZE CAST SKELETONS AND SKULLS! Marvel over some of the most well-known dinosaurs to ever roam the earth, including Triceratops, Stegosaurus, Acrocanthosaurus, Albertosaurus, and other prehistoric favorites! A BEAST OF THE SEA! A 17 foot long, life-size cast skeleton will be unveiled of Platecarpus tympaniticus, a massive sea serpent or reptile that lived ...

July 10, 2019

It's a 2-day dinosaur extravaganza featuring life-size cast skeletons of some of the most iconic creatures of the Mesozoic Era, a large variety of dinosaur fossils, presentations by renowned paleontologists, and dino-themed activities, crafts and concessions! Don't miss the 2019 Dino Festival on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day! Displays and activities to be the same each day. Paying attendees on Friday will be allowed to enter on Saturday at no additional charge. Tickets available at the door. WHEN Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. WHAT Crowds roaring into the Virginia Museum of Natural History on Friday, July 26 and Saturday, July 27 for the museum's Dino ...

July 9, 2019

Over 150 students from the 2019 Summer Residential Governor's School Program in Mathematics, Science, and Technology have descended upon the museum today to take part in a variety of VMNH researcher-led programs. Programs were offered in the areas of archaeology, invertebrate zoology, paleontology, mammalogy, and museum collections management. The students are also participating in a scavenger hunt throughout the museum's exhibit galleries!

July 9, 2019

Future peace officers? Campers taking part in the museum's week-long CSI camp visited the Martinsville Police Department today to learn what it's like to be a police officer!

July 8, 2019

Ray Vodden, chief preparator at VMNH, is busy putting the finishing touches on some of the new dinosaur displays that will debut during Dino Festival July 26-27. Can anyone guess the name of the dinosaur that this skull represents?

July 2, 2019

Dr. Nancy Moncrief, VMNH curator of mammalogy, attended the American Society of Mammalogists (ASM) conference this week where she presented results from her research on genetics of eastern gray squirrels to more than 600 scientists and university students from throughout the United States. She also serves on the Systematic Collections Committee of ASM and attended a meeting of that committee to discuss current best practices for curation of mammal collections.

July 1, 2019

Ray Vodden, research technician, and his team are busy getting ready for Dino Festival on July 26 and 27! Here, they are welding armature for some of the new displays that will be unveiled during the big event!