The Specimens Collection is a growing archive of natural artifacts, with a special emphasis on specimens from Kansas alongside materials from across North America and around the world. The collection includes insect species, fossils, and a diverse array of rocks and minerals, with notable samples from Kansas’ unique geological formations. Additionally, the collection houses seashells, indigenous plant specimens, bird feathers, local and regional skeletal remains, and preserved parasites.

Complementing the specimens, the collection also includes mathematical and scientific model-building games, a life-sized human skeleton model, and examples of student artwork inspired by direct engagement with these materials. A dissecting microscope is available for onsite viewing and documentation. Select specimens may be checked out for classroom use or private research.

Nature Collab is home to a research and teaching collection of specimens from the natural world, scientific and mathematical model-building games, resource books, and student artwork inspired by direct engagement with nature. A dissecting microscope is available for in-house viewing and photo documentation, and select artifacts may be loaned.

Virtual Collection

Explore Nature Collab’s growing, digital resources! A curation of open source and collected photo- and videographic examples, the Virtual Collection includes images from the natural world, documentation of art works inspired by nature, and projects that fall at various intersections of art, science, and mathematics. 

Nature Collab Reference Library is a growing selection of curated books.

VIRTUAL COLLECTION

“Have you ever seen an inch worm crawl up a leaf or a twig, and then clinging to the very end, revolve in the air, feeling for something to reach something? That’s like me. I am trying to find something out there beyond the place on which I have a footing.

– Albert Pinkham Ryder