Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Collections & research:this program encompasses the activities of six research departments with a staff of curators and assistants. Each department is continually involved in developing and conserving extensive collections of specimens, artifacts, books and manuscripts, etc., that number over 3.5 million items, as well as making these resources accessible to researchers, either during actual visits or through web-based services. Expenses include staff salaries, collection acquisition, conservation, biodiversity and archaeological research, production of publications, ecological field surveys, public exhibit development and community outreach.library:total library visitors for 2022 was 9,272 people. Library staff provided 149 researchers with reference assistance ranging from pulling materials from library and archive shelves, to more in-depth collection deep-dives that can take up to several hours per request. Additionally, staff assisted with 67 inquiries by phone or email and answered 481 questions from guests that ranged from, "where is a good place to eat lunch," to "where can i find books about dinosaurs? "to compliment the fall maximus gallery exhibit, a parliament of owls, the library exhibited a rare eleazar albin 1738 edition of the Natural History of birds opened to a hand-colored copper engraving of a great horned owl. Also, on exhibit was the large folio publication new and heretofore unfigured species of the birds of north america by daniel giraud elliot.additionally, library staff completed processing the ralph hoffmann manuscript files and field notes that were used in producing his publication birds of the pacific states, along with family photographs and correspondence beginning in1879 when hoffmann was nine-years-old and including his bird observation notebooks.

Education:the Museum's educational programs promote scientific literacy and instill a passion for nature and a commitment to learning. These rich educational experiences were provided to approximately 5,500 school children and 69,000 community members either on site or via a virtual program. The Museum participates in the "no child left inside" movement and is a regional leader of the national children and nature network. The Museum also runs a nationally recognized teen program, quasars to sea stars, which offers four years of education and work experiences for 16 high school students. Through mentorship, research opportunities, work shifts and volunteer activities, the teens develop time management, public speaking, project management, scientific research skills. Throughout the year, teens assist in the butterfly pavilion, curiosity lab, Museum backyard, as sea center interpreters and aquarist assistants. In 2022, teen programs served 84 teens across three programs. The summer saw a revival of the counselors in training (cit) and volunteen programs, which had been paused during the prior summers due to covid-19. The programs consisted of 36 cits and 27 volunteens during the summer, in addition to the 15 teens in the year-round quasars to sea stars program. Cits logged 2,322 volunteer hours within nature adventures camps. Volunteens logged 571 volunteer hours in the Museum backyard. In addition to paid shifts, quasars to sea stars teens logged a total of 2,568 volunteer hours during 2022, with 501 in the spring months, 1,288 over summer, and 779 during the fall season.during the summer, freshmen quasars took weekly classes of Museum 101, taught by department heads throughout the Museum. They used their gained knowledge of Museum operations and History to construct their own hypothetical museumafter school classes and camps:classes and camps were back to being in-person. Class themes included ethnography, skills development with microscopes to telescopes, and building with simple machines. Camp themes varied from astronomy, bugs and carnivores to paleontology, rocks and wizardry and everything in between. The classes enrolled 21, 39 and 55 participants for the winter, spring and fall seasons, respectively, while 39 and 404 campers enrolled in the spring and summer sessions.outreach efforts for 2022 included participating in the Santa Barbara public library childcare education program. There was one occasion (january) where nature adventures participated in the park event and another event where a peewee naturalist webinar was delivered via zoom by Museum staff. The Museum's school and teacher services (sts) program provides grade specific, standards aligned field trip programs. The department rebuilt an entire suite of new backyard and sea center programs, and welcomed a new sts team member this year who took the lead in building the six brand new school programs that are currently being delivered to school groups at the sea center. In the 2022-23 program year, the group offered on-site programming at both mission creek and sea center locations, and continues to offer virtual field trips one day a week. The sts department hosted 1125 students virtually, 713 self-guided participants, 3359 students on Museum field trips and 326 students on sea center field trips. Many of the field trip visits are facilitated by members of the Museum educator program who guide the students through the subject matter. The Museum educator program provides materials, information and teaching techniques to these docents who engage the kids in fun learning experiences.

Exhibits & visitor services:the Museum has two sites, its mission creek campus and the sea center located on stearns wharf.gate attendance at the mission canyon campus in 2022 was 109,387. In addition, 14,972 children and adults attended educational programs, 3,260 came for community uses and 462 came specifically for research, for a total attendance at the mission canyon campus of 128,081.the sea center was closed until mid-march 2022 for infrastructure repairs. Gate attendance in 2022 at the sea center was 89,511. In addition, 326 children and adults attended educational programs, 1,341 attended community events for a total attendance at the sea center of 91,178. Butterflies alive! :the Museum reopened its outdoor butterfly pavilion in a way that allowed social distancing and still, an intimate experience with butterflies. Guests were able to move through a beautiful garden while about 1,000 live butterflies fluttered freely about them. The exhibit featured a dazzling variety of butterflies from local favorite to exotic tropical varieties. Visitors learned about the life cycle and behavior of these spectacular invertebrates while observing the up close. 0 to 60: an underwater adventure from the equator to Alaska. A photographic exhibit by richard salas:an exhibit of underwater photography documenting 4,000 miles of underwater adventure. The exhibit was showing simultaneously at two venues: the mission creek campus and the sea center.curiosity lab:the curiosity lab allows visitors to explore the Natural world through hands-on activities in a dynamic learning lab. Visitors can become Natural artists, take an up-close look at objects, ask questions, and participate in a variety of scientific activities, including the nature exchange. Curiosity lab, which had a successful first quarter, was closed in early april and reverted back to a space for rotating exhibits. It had almost 9,000 visitors in 2022 up to that time. The Museum backyard and nature club house: the Museum backyard & nature clubhouse is an ada accessible play area nestled in the oak woodland along mission creek. Guests can relax, explore and play along the backyard creek, the sensory garden. The biobuilders zone allows children to build and create shelter and art, while the nature club house is staffed with friendly naturalists that answer questions and share activities about the Natural world and what makes the Santa Barbara region unique. The club house reopened in may, 2022 after several weeks of reorganization to incorporate cabinets and specimens for the popular nature exchange program and create office space for incoming staff. Throughout the year, 1,046 nature exchange trades have taken place. The number of traders increased by 376. The summer and late fall saw the return of the quasars to the backyard and club house. They not only helped monitoring the artificial creek but also added much to the backyard by playing mystery box, rox in a box or setting up pop-up science stations. Quasars also beautified the wooden toy boats that visitors float in the creek. The re-opening of the dry "mud kitchen" was also greeted with enthusiasm. More than 45,000 visitors came to enjoy the backyard and the creek, to enter the club house, or watch the birds in the aviary and with their handlers. Maximus gallery:the john and peggy maximus gallery located at the mission canyon campus is dedicated to preservation and display of antique prints presents two to three original exhibits a year which highlight the History and development of the sciences.two original exhibits were created by in-house curator and staff exhibit designer for the maximus gallery in 2022. The summer exhibit, hummingbirds, featured hand-colored lithographs from john gould's famous 19th century monograph on the family of hummingbirds. An accompanying slide show of exotic hummingbirds not seen in north america was projected on the back wall. Display cases of specimens from our vertebrate zoology department demonstrated the phenomenon of iridescence, size, and beak variation, as well as nests and eggs of these fascinating birds. The hummingbird vocalizations, obtained from the cornell lab of ornithology, provided the audio background. Fall 2022 saw the installation of a parliament of owls. Some notable donations and loans rounded out the intriguing display of 300 years of bird illustration. Due to the extensive nature of the Natural History print collection being historic and far-ranging, the curator and exhibit designer drew inspiration from examples by english, dutch, french. German, italian and american naturalists and artists. Visitors were invited to compare and contrast different versions of these interpretations of the owls printed between 1676 and 1880. A gallery guide was available as a takeaway.at the sea center:after six months of structural upgrades, staff renewals, and much needed repairs, the sea center reopened in march 2022. The sea center and exhibits staff designed and installed a new 2nd floor exhibit, "dive in", which has been well received and includes interpretation on the various habitats that make the Santa Barbara channel such a special and unique place. The augmented reality sand table and immersive kelp forest projection have greatly increased the time visitors are spending on the second level. Guests to the sea center are able to look at and learn more about sea horses and coral reef habitats, jellies and similarly elegant animals, touch sharks and get their hands wet as they explored the wonders and beauty of local marine life int eh intertidal wonders touch pools. Trained naturalists guide visitors in the discovery of a variety of marine animals that call the Santa Barbara coast their home. Along with the naturalists, there are currently 100 volunteers who have donated 6,791 hours of service to interpret at the interactive stations for visitors.in collaboration with nasa, jpl and uc merced the sea center was the location for temporary deployment of the ramses prototype sensor. The sensor, in conjunction with aircraft flyovers, measures multiple terrestrial and oceanographic parameters with the goal of minimizing atmospheric interference so a similar sensor may be deployed in the future from space. White abalone captive breeding program:as a partner in the white abalone captive breeding program and a member of the white abalone recovery consortium, the sea center continues to care for white abalone and participate in collaborative efforts such as spawning attempts. In february, as part of the commitment to the white abalone recovery consortium, the aquarist team conducted a weight and measurement survey of the sea center abalone population. The information gathered is an essential part of recovery efforts. Continual monitoring and a commitment to improvement, especially to our closed systems such as sea horses and abalone, are critical to sustaining animal health. In conjunction with cabrillo marine aquarium, the endangered giant black sea bass was outfitted with a tracking device and released this year.