Imagine you鈥檙e a researcher studying the effects of climate change on the Pacific Northwest. You鈥檝e read countless studies, but words can only take you so far: You want to see the change for yourself. This is where the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture comes in.
In addition to connecting the public with the past, the museum鈥檚 16 million specimens 鈥� housed at the museum and offsite facilities 鈥� serve as a living encyclopedia for researchers. Want to learn how Alaska Native communities wove intricate baskets 200 years ago? Interested in seeing how birds adapted to warming temperatures? Find it all 鈥� and more 鈥� at the Burke.
Scroll through our photo essay to get a glimpse of the museum鈥檚 many wonders, and learn the fascinating stories behind a few items.
With more than 50,000 specimens, the Burke mammal collection is among the largest in the nation. Its cabinets are stuffed with rows and rows of almost every mammal you can think of. A drawer of porcupines sits in the center of the room near a whale skeleton, while a taxidermied beaver looks down on a lion.
With a wealth of specimens at the ready, the collection enables researchers in a variety of fields to learn about and compare species. Most importantly, emphasizes Collections Manager Jeff Bradley, the animals will help answer future questions about our changing world.
Mount St. Helens mammals
On May 18, 1980, the ground shook. The skies over the Pacific Northwest grew dark, and thick ash came down for hours. Mount St. Helens, a volcano in southeastern Washington, was erupting. It was the most deadly and economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history, and it completely devastated the surrounding natural area, home to many species of plants and animals. The eruption created a great natural experiment: How does nature recover from such devastation? And, more specifically, how long would it take animals to return?
Researchers saw many species return as soon as two years after the eruption, and by 2014, 19 species they expected to return had done so. The collection of Mount St. Helens rodents also enabled researchers to track the gradual return of fungi聽species, evident through the rodents鈥� diets.
More than 64,000 specimens of fossil dinosaurs, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fishes make up the Vertebrate Paleontology Collection, including the first dinosaur fossil ever found in Washington state.
Throughout the long process of getting fossils from the field to the museum floor, much work is actually done by dedicated volunteers. At the Burke, volunteers are instrumental in the preparation of fossils, which entails hours of careful scraping to remove specimens from the rocks they鈥檙e encased in.
Triceratops
Twenty-five feet long, nearly 10 feet tall and weighing close to 26,000 lbs, Triceratops roamed 鈥� or, rather, bulldozed its way across 鈥� North America about 68 million years ago. With its characteristic horns and frill, Triceratops is one of the most recognizable dinosaurs.
This Triceratops fossil, part of the massive frill, was discovered at the Hell Creek Formation in northeastern Montana by Burke researchers. Hell Creek boasts an international reputation as a fossil treasure trove; in fact, the first Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton was found in the area in 1902. Today, Greg Wilson, adjunct curator of vertebrate paleontology, brings students and faculty to the site for annual digs, with new discoveries unearthed each summer.
The Burke Museum鈥檚 Culture Department (which includes archaeological and ethnological collections) cares for over one million objects of culture heritage, primarily from the Americas, Oceania and Asia. In addition to housing the objects, the museum works closely with American Indian and Alaska Native and Pacific Islander communities to help people engage with the objects of their ancestors.
Heritage
On the day of our visit to the collection, women from Eastern Washington tribes 鈥� including the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Spokane Tribe 鈥� were gathered around a large table in the back of the museum.
Examining a buckskin tunic, beaded bag and a pair of leggings (dated to the late 1800鈥檚), the women laughed and shared family stories as they worked. One of the women pointed out that an item might have been from her tribe, since her great-grandmother possessed an item with a similar pattern. And as modern weavers, sewers and beaders, the delicate craftsmanship of the originals provides tremendous inspiration.
Down by the Montlake Cut, the Burke Museum鈥檚 Ichthyology Collection houses one of the largest fish and larval fish collections in the world, including more than eight million individual larval fish. It鈥檚 known as a regional collection, featuring about 4,100 species (鈥淓verything you鈥檇 expect to see,鈥� says Collections Manager Katherine Maslenikov) from the North Pacific, Bering Sea and Pacific Northwest freshwater sources.
Otoliths
Have you ever wondered how fish swimming in the dark depths of the ocean know which way is up? It鈥檚 thanks to these small inner-ear bones, called otoliths. “The otolith floats in a chamber of liquid, and doesn’t move in the same direction as the bones in a fish’s head surrounding the chamber,” explains Maslenikov. “Fish sense the position of the otolith, which tells them their position in the water.”
Much like trees, otoliths have growth rings researchers can count to determine a fish鈥檚 age. New technology also allows researchers to analyze otoliths for the chemical signature of the water the fish was swimming through in each year of its life, which opens endless possibilities for studying climate change and ocean acidification.
Walking through the rows and rows of plant collections at the 天美影视传媒 Herbarium is like walking through the best of the Pacific Northwest: The sweet smells of dried grasses, lavender, mint, and pine mingle in the air as cabinets are opened in succession.
About 700,000 specimens of vascular (e.g. flowering plants), non-vascular (e.g. aquatic plants, mosses), lichens, fungi and marine algae document the diversity of plant life in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, the Herbarium features the largest collection of PNW plants in the world. And each year, more species are discovered and added to the best-smelling library you鈥檒l ever visit.
Trevor Kincaid
The Herbarium traces its roots all the way back to the beginnings of the Burke: Museum founder Trevor Kincaid was an avid plant collector. Kincaid was part of the Young Naturalists Society, whose members included Edmond Meany and Charles Denny, son of Seattle founder Arthur Denny. In 1885, the group raised funds for a small building on the UW鈥檚 original campus in downtown Seattle to house their collection, which eventually evolved into the Burke Museum.
Kincaid earned his bachelor鈥檚 degree from the UW in 1899, and after receiving his master鈥檚, he joined the UW faculty as a biology professor. Throughout his life, Kincaid identified and named of hundreds of species 鈥� even as an undergraduate. He extended his love of the outdoors to his students, and founded the UW鈥檚 Friday Harbor Laboratories in the early 1900鈥檚 so they could experience the rich biodiversity of the San Juan Islands.
With the opening of the New Burke Museum in 2019 鈥� with a 66 percent larger facility 鈥攙isitors will get a closer look at many of these collections thanks to an inside-out view of preservation processes.
Learn more about these collections and others at