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The Nat Blog

Museum apprenticeships are a wonderful way for students to gain experience in their field of interest—and here at The Nat, we’re proud to offer them. This year, we were joined by Desiree Simental and Lynna Thai—both of whom contributed to the health of our museum’s collections and to the scientific research we lead. Read more.


A recent three-day expedition to both the Channel and Coronado Islands surveyed marine life in borderland waters. The crew—made up of marine biology experts and community members from Mexico and the U.S.—recorded observations for the Border BioBlitz. Read more.


You could say he never met a rattlesnake he didn’t like. And he met more than 12,000 of them.  Read more.


She was a paleontologist. He was a mammalogist. They fell in love. The rest is natural history.  Read more.


The San Diego County Plant Atlas project has officially reached 1 million observations on iNaturalist! This is a monumental milestone in botanical discovery and conservation in our region. Read more.


In 1928, a group of nature lovers proposed a protected park in the Borrego desert.  Voters rejected a bond to fund the project, and the idea stalled. But one nature lover—a member of the San Diego Society of Natural History—wouldn’t give up.   Read more.


After the financial crash of 1929 and her husband’s death, Ethel Bailey Higgins was alone in the world. She was widowed, age 67, with 14 cents to her name. But her life was about to bloom.   Read more.


Way back in the 1800s, a small but dedicated group of members from the San Diego Society of Natural History worked to preserve the Torrey pine, unique to our area.  Read more.


Have you heard the term “biodiversity” lately? It’s quite the buzzword, especially in Southern California and the Baja California Peninsula—this region is one of the most biodiverse places in the world. That means this place is home to an incredible variety of plants and animals, some found nowhere else on Earth.   Read more.


Ray Gilmore was a marine biologist and huge fan of whales. His work with The Nat began in 1953 and continued for over 30 years. The research he did on whale migratory patterns helped preserve the gray whale.  
Read more.