100 Years of Discovery
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History holds five million specimens, protects more than 12,000 acres of natural habitats in Northeast Ohio, and welcomes more than 375,000 visitors each year to see Balto the famous sled dog, Lucy the Australopithecus afarensis, Dunk the Dunkleosteus. Visitors are drawn to Perkins Wildlife Center, the Shafran Planetarium, and many other attractions. Now in he midst of a $150 million, 10-year expansion and renovation transformation, CMNH is preparing for its next century of discovery.
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Cleveland Museum of Natural History anthropologists Emma Finestone and Ebeth Sawchuk spent last summer in Kenya, conducting fieldwork crucial to the study of human evolution—excavating sites spanning 3 million years and studying how herders and farmers moved around the Central Rift Valley over the last 5,000 years.
Fifty years ago, the discovery of an
Australopithecus afarensis in Ethiopia by Cleveland Museum of Natural History paleoanthropologist Don Johanson and his team revolutionized our understanding of human evolution. Lucy's journey from fossilized bones to scientific icon illustrates Lucy's impact and the contributions of Northeast Ohio to human origins research.
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History's Science and Conservation teams are preparing items for public display as the $150 million transformation nears its end.. Come take a sneak peek at the transformation prep work!
Cleveland Museum of Natural History paleoanthropologist and assistant curator of human origins Dr. Emma Finestone in April was awarded the Robert J. and Linnet E. Fritz Endowed Chair of Human Origins. The position was part of a $3 million gift from Robert and Linnet Fritz toward the museum's Transforming the World Of Discovery campaign. Finestone was part of a group who, in Nyayanga, Kenya, discovered some of the oldest stone tools ever found.
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History will be partying like it's 1974 on Thursday, June 20 with a retro version of its Think & Drink (with the Extinct) event: Get Groovy With Lucy. The museum will celebrate the discovery of Australopithecus Lucy, along with partners from Kent State University and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in this adult cocktail, 70s themed event. Costumes welcome!
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