University of California Museum of Paleontology
The University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) is a paleontology museum in Berkeley located on the University of California campus in the Valley Life Sciences Building. It was founded in 1921 and houses the largest paleontological collection of any university museum in the world. Its fossil inventory is mainly used for scientific research, only a few selected pieces are on display in the building.
history
Annie Montague Alexander , a philanthropist and paleontological collector who has been associated with the University of California through her donations and contributions since the beginning of the 20th century, advocated the establishment of a paleontological museum on campus with the university administration. She promised herself a targeted promotion of her scientific area of interest after the well-known paleontologist John C. Merriam (1869–1945) had unexpectedly left the university in 1920 and the independence of the palaeontological department was in question. In 1921 the UCMP was opened under the direction of the paleontologist Bruce L. Clark .
In 1931 the museum moved - again at Alexander's request - to a new building with better security precautions, the Hearst Memorial Mining Building. Three years later, Alexander set up a fund to secure the museum's financial livelihood. In 1948 she founded a scholarship for doctoral students, which is awarded by the UCMP to this day.
Collections
The UCMP has the most extensive paleontological collection of any university museum in the world. The collection of biological samples (specimens) includes the areas of microfossils , invertebrates , vertebrates and paleobotany . A library, photo material and the scientific papers of various palaeontologists complete the information on offer for scientific research. The museum's specimen catalog and a photo database can be searched online.
Exhibitions
The UCMP holds an open house in April every year. The rest of the time, the collections are not open to the public. However, a few selected pieces can be viewed in the atrium and corridors of the Valley Life Sciences Building. These include, for example, the skeleton of a free-standing Tyrannosaurus rex , the imprint of a Pachydiscus seppenradensis and the skull of a Triceratops horridus .
Personalities
The museum was run by the following directors:
| 1921–1926: | Bruce L. Clark (1880-1945) |
| 1927–1930: | William Diller Matthew |
| 1939–1949: | Charles Lewis Camp (1893-1975) |
| 1949–1966: | Ruben Arthur Stirton (1901-1966) |
| 1966–1975: | Donald E. Savage (1917-1999) |
| 1971: | Joseph T. Gregory (1914-2007) |
| 1975–1988: | William BN Berry |
| 1987–1989: | William A. Clemens |
| 1989-1997: | Jere H. Lipps |
| until 2003: | David R. Lindberg |
| 2003-2004: | William A. Clemens (interim director) |
| 2005-2009: | Roy L. Caldwell (2005 as interim director) |
| since 2010: | Charles R. Marshall |
Other well-known employees of the museum included Ralph W. Chaney and Samuel Paul Welles .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b History of the UCMP, Part 4. ucmp.berkeley.edu. Retrieved April 12, 2012.
- ↑ collections of UCMP ucmp.berkeley.edu, Accessed 12 April 2012
- ↑ Public exhibitions of UCMP ucmp.berkeley.edu, Accessed 12 April 2012
Coordinates: 37 ° 52 ′ 16.2 " N , 122 ° 15 ′ 43.2" W.