Several species of North American mammals in the Panorama exhibit.

Biodiversity Institute & Natural History Museum

We are a biodiversity research institute and a public natural history museum. We study past and present life on Earth to educate, engage and inspire.

Natural History Museum

Museum Hours & Admission

Tuesday-Saturday, 9am-5pm
Sunday, 12pm-4pm
Closed on Mondays

Free admission, suggested donation of $7 for adults, $4 for children. All proceeds support the museum.
Plan Your Visit

Location & Contact Info

Dyche Hall
1345 Jayhawk Blvd
Lawrence, KS 66045

Phone: 785-864-4450
Email: biodiversity@ku.edu
Directions & Parking

Membership

Support the KU Natural History Museum with a Museum Membership and enjoy benefits at the museum and at 300+ institutions around the country!
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Panorama Newsletter

Keep up with the latest news, events, and more by subscribing to the Panorama Newsletter, a monthly email from the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum.
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Natural History Museum

The KU Natural History Museum is home to four floors of public exhibits including the historic Panorama, live snakes and insects, vertebrate and invertebrate fossils, flora and fauna of the Great Plains and more.
A child holds his arms up imitating the Pteranodon on display.

Biodiversity Institute

The KU Biodiversity Institute is an internationally recognized center for research and graduate student education in evolutionary biology, systematics and biodiversity informatics, with curated collections of over 11 million plant, animal and fossil specimens and 2 million cultural artifacts.
Four researchers gathered around herpetology collection specimens
Dyche Hall, KU Natural History Museum

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The KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum relies on your support to fund its programs, research, exhibits and more.

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Upcoming Events

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Education & Outreach

Group of students sitting at a table and getting feedback from the instructor on the geology activity they just completed.

K-12 School Programs

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Students looking at a wet specimen in a jar.

KU Student & Faculty Programs

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Scout group with museum staff and 6 youth in front of the silvisaurus dinosaur exhibit

Scout Programs

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News

Two seated students listen to a standing student giving presentation.

U.S. News & World Report ranks 48 KU graduate programs in top 50 among public schools

KU has 48 graduate programs in the top 50 among public universities — including 10 programs in the top 10 — in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings.
One of just seven specimens of the mysterious Leyte Chorus Frog

After 80 years stumping scientists, strange Philippine frog unmasked as hybrid

The Leyte Chorus Frog was collected in 1944 and noted for its odd toe discs when it was described in an academic paper in 1954, then not seen again for decades despite a concerted hunt by researchers.
A mountainous region of the exhibit with rocky outcrops and preserved goats, deer, a moose and beaver

Hardy family provides $2 million gift to propel restoration of iconic KU Natural History Museum exhibit

KU alumni Tom and Jan Hardy have provided a $2 million gift to the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum to fuel preservation efforts for the historic exhibit at the heart of the museum, the Panorama. The 132-year-old exhibit showcases a variety of preserved animal specimens in their habitats, with North American mammals at its center.
A photo collage of Kathryn Bigelow, Scott Lovell, and James Saulsbury.

Experts in language promotion, structural biology and extinction receive KU Research Achievement Awards

The annual awards recognize outstanding unclassified academic staff, unclassified professional staff and postdoctoral fellows whose research significantly influenced their fields and expanded intellectual or societal insights.
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