The Museum of Southwestern Biology hosts The Science of Biodiversity in the CERIA Building on Sunday, March 31 from 2-5 p.m. The Science of Biodiversity is an open-collections event that is free and open to the public.
The Museum of Southwestern Biology (MSB) is a research and teaching facility in the Department of Biology at UNM. The Science of Biodiversity is MSB’s annual behind-the-scenes tour featuring student research.
The MSB is one of the finest university-based natural history museums nationwide. For more than 50 years, MSB has been training students and conducting original research of national and international significance on systematics, ecology and life history of plants, invertebrates and vertebrates.
The MSB’s national and international significance has made the museum a staple on UNM’s campus for years. The collections originated through the collecting efforts of Edward F. Castetter beginning in 1938 and were stored in Castetter Hall for many years. As more curators joined the MSB team, the collections grew larger and larger causing MSB to create new divisions of study and eventually move their collections to the CERIA Building.
There are eight divisions within MSB including Anthropods, Amphibians and Reptiles, Birds, Fishes, Genomic Resources, Herbarium, Mammals and Parasites.
MSB also includes a special program called Natural Heritage New Mexico. This program provides current scientific information, research and education on the conservation of New Mexico biota and natural resources to government, business, land managers, scientists and the public.
MSB is usually open to the public by appointment only and must be arranged by divisional staff directly. Paid parking is available on campus.
For more information, see Visiting the Museum.