Biodiversity Bash fundraiser celebrates KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum graduate students

Biodiversity Bash: A benefit for the KU Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum.

Wed, 09/16/2026

Natalie Vondrak

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum invites the public to support future graduate student recruitment and training at Biodiversity Bash on Friday, Sept. 25, at the new KU Conference Center, 815 Fambrough Drive. This vibrant event will bring together community members, scientists and graduate students for a night inspired by the wonders of the natural world.

Doors open at 6 p.m. with food, a silent auction and stations featuring interactive activities highlighting graduate student experiences and the Biodiversity Institute’s natural history collections. The formal program begins at 7:30 p.m. with brief remarks by Krishtalka Director Nico Franz, followed by a live auction and a final social hour. The event will conclude at 9 p.m.

Tickets are $125 for general admission or $950 for a table of eight. Members of the KU Natural History Museum can purchase discounted tickets at $100 or $750 for a table of eight. Ticket and event information is available on the Biodiversity Bash website.

The live auction will feature seven unique items, including a cocktail party at Alberts, a signed 1914 copy of *Ponds, Pond Fish, and Pond Fish Culture* by renowned naturalist and taxidermist Lewis Lindsay Dyche, and a concrete replica of Dyche Hall’s iconic lion grotesque.

The event’s live auction includes several offerings, including a replica of Dyche Hall’s lion grotesque, a Kansas fieldwork expedition to the Konza Prairie with Krishtalka Director Nico Franz, naming rights to a new bee species and a framed Jayhawk Dreamin’ print signed by five legendary KU basketball coaches.

KU Ornithology graduate student Katherine Crawford is pursuing a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology. She works closely with the Biodiversity Institute's natural history collections researching bird hybridization in the Great Plains.

Funds raised through the Biodiversity Bash will support Curatorial Assistant positions held by graduate students. Curatorial Assistants serve three important purposes: They actively investigate museum specimens to produce new knowledge, help care for and expand the natural history collections, and provide hands-on training in collections management and curatorial practices.

Curatorial Assistants play a critical role in advancing the Biodiversity Institute and Natural History Museum’s mission to study past and present life on Earth to educate, engage and inspire.

The University of Kansas Biodiversity Institute is an internationally recognized center for research and graduate student education, with curated collections of more than 11 million biological specimens and 2 million archaeological artifacts. The KU Natural History Museum, part of the Biodiversity Institute, is home to four floors of public exhibits including the historic Panorama, live snakes and insects, fossils, a Paleo Garden, and more.