Preserving the past, helping the future

Imagine you’re a researcher studying the effects of climate change on the Pacific Northwest. You’ve 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’s 16 million specimens — housed at the museum and offsite facilities — 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 — and more — at the Burke.

Scroll through our photo essay to get a glimpse of the museum’s 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 species, evident through the rodents’ diets.

The rodents are arranged in order of reappearance on Mount St. Helens. — Various specimens from Mount St. Helens.

The Mammalogy Collection has about 1,300 specimens of small rodents from Mount St. Helens. — The Mammalogy Collection has about 1,300 specimens of small mammals from Mount St. Helens to date. Surveys of the area are ongoing, so the collection will continue to grow.

In addition to helping researchers understand how nature recovers from an event like the 1980 eruption, the collection is also important for learning how to respond to future disasters. — In addition to helping researchers understand how nature recovers from an event like the 1980 eruption, the collection is also important for learning how to respond to future disasters or cases where the environment is damaged and in need of repair.

The Burke's mammal collection features specimens from every continent except Antarctica. Many of the bats pictured here hail from South and Central America. — The Burke’s mammal collection features specimens from every continent except Antarctica. Many of the bats pictured here hail from South and Central America.

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’re encased in.

Triceratops

Twenty-five feet long, nearly 10 feet tall and weighing close to 26,000 lbs, Triceratops roamed — or, rather, bulldozed its way across — 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.

These Triceratops beak (left) and frill (right) fossils were found at the Hell Creek Formation in northeastern Montana.

A Burke volunteer works on a skull fragment from a Ruhuhucerberus (say that three times fast), a bear-sized predator that pre-dates the dinosaurs.

The Burke Museum’s 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 — including the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Spokane Tribe — 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’s), 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.

This dance tunic — which dates to the late 1800s — is from either the Tlingit or Athabaskan tribe in southeastern Alaska and Western Canada, and was most likely worn during a potlatch. Thanks to recent work, the tunic is in remarkable condition, showcasing the careful beadwork of its creator.

Researchers from Alaska to Tonga visit the collection to study the objects of their ancestors. Last year, there were only five days that researchers weren't at the museum. — Researchers from Alaska to Tonga visit the collection to study the objects of their ancestors. Last year, there were only five days that researchers weren’t at the museum.

Down by the Montlake Cut, the Burke Museum’s Ichthyology Collection houses one of the largest fish and larval fish collections in the world, including more than eight million individual larval fish. It’s known as a regional collection, featuring about 4,100 species (“Everything you’d expect to see,” says Collections Manager Katherine Maslenikov) from the North Pacific, Bering Sea and Pacific Northwest freshwater sources.

While the Ichthyology Collection primarily covers the North Pacific and the Pacific Northwest, there are a few exceptions, including these fish from the Bikini Atoll Nuclear Test Site.

This flatfish is one of hundreds in the collection that were cleared and stained with an enzyme solution and special red dye. By dyeing a fish, researchers can examine its skeleton without touching a scalpel.

This anglerfish is one of the best-preserved anglerfish specimens in the world, made even more impressive by the fact that they are only featured in a small number of museum collections.

The lure attached to the top of their head, which can emit light, enables anglerfish to attract prey. Only female anglerfish have lures.

Otoliths

Have you ever wondered how fish swimming in the dark depths of the ocean know which way is up? It’s 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’s 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.

Like trees, otoliths have growth rings that you can count to determine a fish's age. — Like trees, otoliths have growth rings that you can count to determine a fish’s age.

Walking through the rows and rows of plant collections at the University of Washington 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’ll 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’s original campus in downtown Seattle to house their collection, which eventually evolved into the Burke Museum.

Kincaid earned his bachelor’s degree from the UW in 1899, and after receiving his master’s, he joined the UW faculty as a biology professor. Throughout his life, Kincaid identified and named of hundreds of species — even as an undergraduate. He extended his love of the outdoors to his students, and founded the UW’s Friday Harbor Laboratories in the early 1900’s so they could experience the rich biodiversity of the San Juan Islands.

Trevor Kincaid (1872-1970) was one of the founders of the Burke Museum, as well as an avid plant collector.

Lichen (seen here on leaves) can grow in — or on — various places, including soil, trees and rocks. Lichen is particularly abundant here in the Pacific Northwest. — Lichen can grow in — or on — various places, including soil, trees and rocks. Lichen is particularly abundant here in the Pacific Northwest.

A special neutral-pH glue is used to mount the specimens. The process makes the plants (in this case, red algae) look almost like watercolor paintings.

Both of these specimens were collected by Trevor Kincaid, during forays in 1934 (left) and '97 — 1897, that is. — Both of these specimens were collected by Trevor Kincaid, during forays in 1934 (left) and ’97 — 1897, that is.

With the opening of the New Burke Museum in 2019 — with a 66 percent larger facility —visitors 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 burkemuseum.org