Australian Museum
Australia · Oceania
About
The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum and Sydney Museum, is a state public museum in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is operated and funded as a cultural institution by the state government of New South Wales.
With its predecessor originated in 1827, the museum is the oldest natural history museum in Australia and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the world. It was first conceived and developed along the contemporary European model of an encyclopedic warehouse of cultural and natural history, and features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology and anthropology. The scientific stature of the museum was established under the curatorship of scientist Gerard Krefft in the 1860s.
Apart from permanent displays in its galleries, permanent and temporary exhibitions, the museum also undertakes research and is involved in community programs. Since 1973 it has operated the Lizard Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef, studying the ecology of coral reefs and the effects of climate change. The Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI), established in 2013, is the central hub for its researchers in Sydney. As of 2024 the CEO and executive director is Kim McKay , who was the first woman to be appointed to the position in 2014.
Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)。Photography via Wikimedia Commons.