OUR GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS
Whether searching for evolutionary clues on distant continents or eyeing biodiversity in L.A. backyards, fieldwork is in our genes.
The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County—the Natural History Museum and the La Brea Tar Pits—are world class destinations. They are also major research institutions with vast cultural and scientific collections. One tangible way we further this research is through expeditions in Southern California and around the globe.
When our explorers travel to dusty quarries, cloud forests, remote islands, or into parks around L.A., they are seeking to understand more about the varied cultures of the world, and the natural sites that may be disappearing. When teams are planting their boots in the Utah badlands or tiptoeing into sticky asphalt seeps to unearth evidence of ice age beasts, or chronicling how indigenous communities are affected by sea level rise, they are taking critical steps towards answering existential questions about life on our planet.
Our scientists collaborate with local institutions and often share the specimens and artifacts they've collected from the field, which bolsters the capacity of these places and countries to do natural history research. In this way, every intrepid inquiry, whether it be far afield or in L.A., offers the chance for us to become better stewards of our natural and cultural worlds.
Follow the numbers on the map below and you'll be ushered from islands off the Southern California coast to the mountains of Antarctica. Let us be your guide to where we've been.