Collections Operations

A new study published in Science shares a groundbreaking database aimed at addressing 21st century challenges. The MCZ is among the 73 participating natural history museums and herbaria from 28 countries. MCZ Director Gonzalo Giribet , former director and...

Scientific Specimens Are Going Online, But Much Remains Hidden In Storage MCZ's Faculty-Curator of Ornithology Scott Edwards, and other museum staff around the country, talk to NPR about current programs to make specimen data available online.

MCZ collections have been closed for three months but MCZ curatorial staff have continued to work their usual schedules from home. With paper files in hand they have been busy imputing and updating information in our specimen database, MCZbase. Learn more...

Research led by Harvard alumna Jenna Tonn revealed how an MCZ exhibition on the genetics of domesticated animals, featuring specimens from Ornithology and Mammalogy, modernized the natural history museum. Read more about the history of early 20 thcentury...

MCZ material on display in the special exhibit "Bringing Nature Inside: 17th Century Natural History, Classification, and Vision" at the Harvard Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments from October 2004 and continuing into 2005. Harvard Magazine...

MCZ specimens are the focus of the book " The Rarest of the Rare: Stories Behind the Treasures at the Harvard Museum of Natural History."

The MCZ's collections and research space in the Northwest Building received LEED platinum certification "the highest rating possible" from the U.S. Green Building Council. Read more about the project in the Harvard Gazette.

The MCZ's use of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) to examine internal morphology of museum specimens is discussed in the July-August 2015 issue of Harvard Magazine. The scans are available to view on select specimens pages in MCZbase.

James Hanken, MCZ Director and Curator of Herpetology, tells Harvard Crimson about the Museum of Comparative Zoology, highlighting the history of the collections, numbers of specimens (over 21 million), biodiversity, operations, and use by researchers.

The 2016-2017 MCZ Annual Report is now available. Read about special projects completed during the year, faculty, staff and student awards, headline-making research, and more.