Several species of North American mammals in the Panorama exhibit.

Biodiversity Institute & 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

Admission is a suggested contribution of $7 per adult and $4 per child. KU students and members are free. 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.
A graduate student examines a specimen in the herpetology collection.

Upcoming Events

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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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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

A presenter and audience member confer over a research poster at the 2025 KU-Haskell Research Symposium.

Haskell, KU student researchers to present their work at the 26th annual symposium

Twenty-nine undergraduate and postbaccalaureate scholars supported by research training programs at Haskell Indian Nations University and KU will present posters of their research at the 26th annual Haskell-KU Student Research Symposium on April 17.
Photo of the Anglerfish species Bufoceratias wedli from the Field Museum of Natural History.

Research traces evolution of anglerfishes’ famed fishing-rod lures

Variously horrific- or alien-looking, many female anglerfishes sport long, protruding lures used for enticing prey or signaling during mating. Now, research from the University of Kansas is giving new detail to the evolutionary history of anglerfishes’ lures.
Kansas lettering engraved on Strong Hall at the KU Lawrence campus.

U.S. News & World Report ranks 55 KU graduate programs in top 50 among public schools

KU has 55 graduate programs in the top 50 among public universities — including eight in the top 10 — in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings.
Collage with photo of the sky, graphic elements, and photos of K. Christopher Beard, Jianming Qiu, and Michael S. Wolfe. Text reads: 2026 AAAS Fellows

Three KU professors in paleontology, medicinal chemistry and microbiology named AAAS fellows

Three University of Kansas professors — K. Christopher Beard, Jianming Qiu and Michael S. Wolfe — have been elected as 2025 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows, a distinct honor within the scientific community.
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