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College of Life Sciences

BYU’s Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum to Re-Open After Two-Year Renovation

Open house festivities include live animal shows, guided behind-the-scenes tours of the museum’s research collections, hands-on activities for children and the chance to view the museum’s 25 new exhibits and displays

Public Invited to Opening Day Festivities on Saturday, June 7, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Media Preview Day: Thursday, May 29, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum at Brigham Young University is re-opening after a two-year renovation project, featuring a 32,400 square foot expansion and new exhibits.The public is invited to an open house to celebrate the re-opening on Saturday, June 7, 2014, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the Bean Museum.“We are so excited to introduce the public to the new Bean Museum,” said Museum Director Larry St. Clair. “It is a beautiful facility and a great place to explore and learn more about the wonderful creatures of our world.”Open house festivities include live animal shows, guided behind-the-scenes tours of the museum’s research collections, hands-on activities for children and the chance to view the museum’s 25 new exhibits and displays.Visitors to the museum’s 32,400 square foot expansion and renovated facility will be able to explore even more of the earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity through new exhibits, including:

  • Our Living Planet – the unique, life-sustaining characteristics of planet Earth, featuring an eight-foot-in-diameter fiberglass globe, mapped with the most current NASA satellite images.
  • Life on Top: Apex Predators – see what it’s like to live at the top of the food chain with this display of animals as they might be found in the wild.
  • Whooo Lives Here? – play area designed just for toddlers that teaches young children about animal homes with a talking owl, a bear cave and a tree nest with slide.
  • Fred and Sue Morris Bird Gallery – a collection of more than 100 species of birds donated by Fred and Sue Morris.
  • Boyd K. Packer Gallery – this exhibit features the wildlife art of President Boyd K. Packer, the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including animal carvings and paintings.

The expanded facility also has a new orientation room and two new classrooms that will be used for outreach programs for local schools. The research and collections facility has been expanded and secured. There is a new wet collections facility for ethanol-preserved collections including fish, crustaceans, aquatic insects and mammals. In all, there are 2.8 million specimens housed in the museum. The new addition was paid for by donor contributions. About the Monte L. Bean Life Science MuseumLocated on the campus of Brigham Young University at 645 East 1430 North in Provo, UT, the Monte L. Bean Life Science Museum has a collection of 2.8 million specimens, the oldest dating back to 1900, carefully maintained and made available to research scientists and educators, with exhibits and educational programs for the public. The museum is open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thanks to an endowment started by a generous donation by Monte L. and Birdie Bean, the museum originally opened in March 1978, and admission is always free. mlbean.byu.edu

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Originally published in BYU News