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Couple’s $1 million gift will add accessible entrance to KU Natural History Museum
A gift from Tom and Jann Rudkin will support the construction of a new accessible entrance from Jayhawk Boulevard to Dyche Hall. Remaining funds after construction will go toward partial restoration of the historic and beloved Panorama exhibit, including taxidermy specimens and other items on display.
Victor Gonzalez Betancourt named curator in bee biodiversity and evolution
The Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas has named Victor Gonzalez Betancourt as the inaugural Charles D. Michener Assistant Professor and Assistant Curator in Bee Biodiversity and Evolution. He will begin his role in early January 2026 with a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.
A clerical error caused misidentification of frog specimen that once stood for an entire species
Researchers at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum recently uncovered a slipup from decades ago: the misidentification of a poison frog specimen from Peru used as a holotype.
Willadsen places in Top 3 at the 2025 ESA Annual Meeting
EEB Graduate Student Peter Willadsen received second place in the SysEB, Evolution and Systematics session of the graduate poster competition at the Entomological Society of America 2025 Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. Willadsen’s poster was titled, "Untangling the evolutionary history of the water scavenger beetle subfamily Enochrinae (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)". Willadsen is a PhD Student in Dr. Rob Moyle’s lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), at KU.
All News
Tue, 01/20/2026
A gift from Tom and Jann Rudkin will support the construction of a new accessible entrance from Jayhawk Boulevard to Dyche Hall. Remaining funds after construction will go toward partial restoration of the historic and beloved Panorama exhibit, including taxidermy specimens and other items on display.
Mon, 01/05/2026
The Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum at the University of Kansas has named Victor Gonzalez Betancourt as the inaugural Charles D. Michener Assistant Professor and Assistant Curator in Bee Biodiversity and Evolution. He will begin his role in early January 2026 with a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology.
Mon, 12/15/2025
Researchers at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum recently uncovered a slipup from decades ago: the misidentification of a poison frog specimen from Peru used as a holotype.
Sat, 11/22/2025
EEB Graduate Student Peter Willadsen received second place in the SysEB, Evolution and Systematics session of the graduate poster competition at the Entomological Society of America 2025 Annual Meeting in Portland, Oregon. Willadsen’s poster was titled, "Untangling the evolutionary history of the water scavenger beetle subfamily Enochrinae (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae)". Willadsen is a PhD Student in Dr. Rob Moyle’s lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), at KU.
Tue, 09/30/2025
VENOMventure, a bilingual STEM-themed experience developed by the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, was honored with a 2025 Roy L. Shafer Leading Edge Award at the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) conference in San Francisco.
Tue, 09/23/2025
The University of Kansas moved up seven spots to No. 74 among public universities in this year’s U.S. News & World Report “Best Colleges” rankings, released Sept. 23.
Tue, 09/02/2025
Scholarship from the University of Kansas shows the cellophane bee is specialized by evolution to handle the harsh shocks and cold temperatures of early spring.
Tue, 08/26/2025
Researcher Gloria Arratia serves as editor and contributor to the just published first volume of “Catfishes: A Highly Diversified Group,” a two-volume reference.
Tue, 07/22/2025
A conclave of about 20 prominent paleontologists, data scientists and editors from academic journals will gather Aug. 4-5 at the University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum to improve how data is shared among professionals in the field — and beyond.
Mon, 06/23/2025
Paleontologists from the University of Kansas have described for the first time a species of Swaindelphys discovered in Texas’ Big Bend National Park, though the ecosystem was drastically different in the Paleocene, when it thrived, than today.