About Us

History

In 1999, the sixteen natural history collections at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge were designated by the state legislature as the “Louisiana Museum of Natural History.” Together, these collections hold a total of more than 2.8 million specimens, objects, and artifacts that document the rich natural history of our state. These collections are dispersed among six independently administered units on campus, and include the Vascular Plant Herbarium, the Mycological Herbarium, the Lichen Herbarium (more information on these three collections can be found by following the LSU Herbarium link above), the Louisiana State Arthropod Museum, the Palynology Collection, the Mineralogy and Petrology Collections, the Textile and Costume Museum, the Louisiana Geological Survey Log Library and Core Repository, and, within the LSU Museum of Natural Science, the Collection of Amphibians and Reptiles, the Collection of Birds, the Collection of Fishes, the Collection of Genetic Resources, the Collection of Mammals, the Vertebrate Paleontology Collection, the Collection of Microfossils and Invertebrates, and the Anthropological and Ethnological Collections.

In Spring of 1999, these sixteen collections formed a non-administrative consortium called “The LSU Museum of Natural History,” and in early June of 1999, Governor Murphy J. Foster signed House Bill 826 (sponsored by Representative Weston, and others) designating this consortium as the official state museum of natural history, to be known as the “Louisiana Museum of Natural History.”

This important legislation united the LSU campus museums into a formally recognized entity that can speak with a single voice on collection-related issues. More importantly, designation as the official state museum of natural history recognizes the central role of the LSU collections as the premiere repository of specimens, objects, and artifacts documenting the extraordinary natural history of our state. The Louisiana Museum of Natural History seeks to interact with other natural history collections in the state to create an integrated network of natural history collections representing the entire state.

Contact Us

Collection curators and other interested individuals are encouraged to contact Robb Brumfield (robb@lsu.edu) for additional information about the Louisiana Museum of Natural History.