Natural history collections provide a wealth of information about our past, how we live today, and help us predict the world of tomorrow.

Welcome to the Collections Room

If you're curious about science, we invite you to come visit us, learn, explore, and discover.

Let curiosity spark your inner scientist

The Collections Room celebrates the Faculty of Science’s amazing natural history collections. Natural history collections provide a wealth of information about our past, how we live today, and help us predict the world of tomorrow. 

Hours:  Monday - Friday:  8:30am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-4:30pm

Location: Biological Sciences building, room BI540

What you see here is only a small fraction of these extensive holdings, ranging from rocks, minerals, fossils, plants to invertebrates and vertebrates. The Collections Room highlights the dedicated work of our researchers, staff and students as well as the generous donations from avid collectors and community members.

A wealth of knowledge

What you see on these pages is only a fraction of our extensive holdings, which range from rocks, minerals, fossils, and plants to invertebrates and vertebrates.

The Collections Room highlights the dedicated work of our researchers, staff, and students, as well as the generous donations from avid collectors and community members.

Why collect?

All collections, whether housed in museums, universities or historical parks and villages, capture moments in time. Studying natural history specimens reveals rich stories about the past. Understanding this past—recent or distant—informs areas such as conservation, the environmental sciences, and health and medicine (to name a few).

Our collection grows annually, and plays a key role in teaching and learning, with specimens used in courses and labs each semester.  Our collection lives and moves just as the natural world does.

Click on the images below to learn more about each of our collections.

Geoscience Collection

Invertebrate Collection

Vertebrate Collection

Herbarium Collection