Collections-Based Research to Understand the Natural World

The Canadian Museum of Nature is a scientific leader in species discovery and Arctic research.

A centrifuge balance.

Research

Our multidisciplinary team of scientists conduct leading-edge research in the natural sciences.

Lemming specimens arranged neatly in a tray.

Collections

Animals, fossils, minerals, plants and algae—more than 14.6 million specimens are preserved in Canada's natural-history collection.

An illustration of the fungus Clitocybe multiceps.

Our Nature Art and Photo Collections

Explore Online

Explore a rich repository of art and photos from our collections through digitized images and stories.

Colourful flames arising from a match strike.

Ignite!

Video Series

Snappy, five-minute presentations on science at the museum.

A variety of mounted beetle specimens in collection trays.

Search Our Collections

Online Database

Access data from the museum's collections: search, map results, and download data and images. Search our collections.

Two gloved hands use an air scribe on a fossil.

Scientific Services

Let us use our natural-history and collection-care expertise to help you with your needs.

A man looks over an Arctic valley.

Leadership

The museum is a national leader and an important international contributor in the field of collection-based scientific research.

Two people walk through brush.

Science Experts

The museum's multidisciplinary team specializes in collection-based research in the life sciences and Earth sciences.

A view from a helicopter flying over a fjord.

Extraordinary Arctic

Check out this view on Arctic-related activities, events, research, etc. at the museum.

An interior page from Flora Londinensis.

Library and Archives

The library and archives are open by appointment. Search our catalogue online.

An aerial view of a landscape.

Scientific Publications

The museum's science experts regularly publish their work in scientific journals.