Are natural history museums going extinct?
Science Friday

Are natural history museums going extinct?

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 1, 202617 min
  • Interview

Leaders of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University say they can’t afford to keep the museum open to visitors. And there are rumors that another natural history museum, in Hays, Kansas, may be closing its doors. What happens to the collections, and are museums going the way of the dinosaurs? Jason Cryan, from the Natural History Museum of Utah, and Barbara Thiers, formerly of the New York Botanical Garden, join Host Flora Lichtman to discuss the challenges of running a natural history museum. Guests: Dr. Jason Cryan is The Sarah B...

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I'm Flora Lichtman, and you're listening to Science Friday. Earlier this week, the oldest natural history museum in the country, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia, closed its doors to the public. Museum leaders said attendance never came back after COVID, and it's too expensive

0:22

to keep the doors open for visitors. There's also rumors that the Sternberg Museum of Natural History in Hayes, Kansas may be mothballed soon, according to the local paper, The Hayes Post. What is going on?

0:36

How can natural history museums stay relevant when there's a lot of competition for our attention? And what happens to the collections when a museum shuts down? Will the dinosaur bones be going the way of the dinosaurs?

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