Museum: Natural History Collections

Natural history specimens in collections storage at the Point Reyes National Seashore Museum Collections facility.

NPS / Point Reyes National Seashore Museum

Point Reyes National Seashore maintains a natural history collection for exhibition, research, education, and resource management. The collection contains mainly voucher specimens from biology, paleontology, and geology. The park's extensive Herbarium is part of the biology collection. The museum keeps all records and findings associated with specimens collected within park boundaries during scientific research in the Archives and Research Library.

NPS museum natural history collections and associated documents provide a record of species living in specific ecosystems and environments at different points in time. Climate change presents the greatest challenge the National Park Service faces today. Natural history specimens provide scientists with the ability to research how our planet is changing in response to climate change. Science in the parks helps us learn how to manage our planet better and conserve our cultural and natural resources for all living things.

• All researchers wishing to collect, document collections, and conduct other associated collecting activities must possess an approved collecting permit. If you would like to apply for a scientific collecting permit at Point Reyes National Seashore, please visit the Integrated Resource Management Applications (IRMA) Portal website to start the process.
• No species listed as classified, threatened, or endangered on either the Federal or California State lists will be specifically collected for the park unless the need is identified in an approved research plan and has the approval of either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the California State Department of Fish and Game as appropriate.

For more information, please contact the Museum Curator. As of 2021, the museum curator position is vacant.