The Geology Department considered improving the Natural History Museum and integrating it into the Amherst community a major goal during the construction process. The four-story geology building provides easier access to natural history displays.
Director of Facilities Jim Brassord explained that the project is on schedule to reveal the new displays at Commencement. "Our push for the past three months has been to finish the museum, with all its displays, in time for its opening at Commencement and we're on schedule," said Brassord.
Some of the exciting new developments include the large skeletal exhibits on the dais near the front windows. "The new skeletal displays," he revealed, "can now be viewed by webcam [on the College Web site]."
Lisa Smith '09 described how tour groups would react when workers bring in large fossils for different displays. "As I would leave class, I would watch as every tour group that walked by would just stop and stare," she said.
With the recent developments, Brassord hopes that the museum will attract more interest from the College community. "[The new museum] is so accessible and so visible," he explained. "[T]hat virtue, I believe, will help draw people, to see the exhibitions," and hopefully, to see them as a 'resource for the campus community,'" said Brassord
Open in time for spring classes, the building also includes classrooms, teaching and research labs, faculty offices and a lecture hall.