Nature

Exhibitions

Deep Sea Challenger sub underwater and exploring

Pressure: James Cameron Into the Abyss

Explore the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER
Dec 12, 2022–Feb 20, 2023

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Scanning Electron Microscope Lab

See how big discoveries can come from the tiniest things in the Gem and Mineral Hall.

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April 22, 2025 | NHM

Earth Day

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Frozen in Time: Images of Antarctica

See the frigid continent of Antarctica in a new light through the mesmerizing work of award-winning photographer Diane Tuft.

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The Woolsey Fire in Southern California seen from Malibu Canyon Road.

February 25 - August 5, 2019 | NHM

Wildfire

For many years, we've been adding fuel to the fire.

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Events

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Opossum on a stick sculpture with an audience in the background

nhm

Tours & Activities

Meet a Live Animal

Get up close and personal with the Museum's resident animals! Hear amazing stories about critters that are often misunderstood or overlooked.

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daily

3:00 pm

nhm

Tours & Activities

Meet a Live Animal

Get up close and personal with the Museum's resident animals! Hear amazing stories about critters that are often misunderstood or overlooked.

Learn more

daily

3:00 pm

nhm

Tours & Activities

Meet a Live Animal

Get up close and personal with the Museum's resident animals! Hear amazing stories about critters that are often misunderstood or overlooked.

Learn more

daily

3:00 pm

nhm

Tours & Activities

Meet a Live Animal

Get up close and personal with the Museum's resident animals! Hear amazing stories about critters that are often misunderstood or overlooked.

Learn more

daily

3:00 pm

Visitors looking up, holding binoculars to their eyes

nhm

Tours & Activities

Nature Gardens Exploration

Enjoy NHM’s one-of-a-kind Nature Gardens while learning more about urban wildlife. Visitors of all ages are welcome to stop by anytime during the hour and stay as long or short as you’d like!

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weekly

11:00 am

Saturdays and Sundays

Stories

LA Nature Quest

Join LA Nature Quest this October and discover and share biodiversity across Los Angeles

Bat Specimens from the Mammalogy Collection laid back to back with their specimen tags visible

Digitized Mammals

How the new digitization project Ranges is unlocking the potential of NHM's Mammalogy Collection

A Northern White Rhino Skeleton From the San Diego Zoo Comes to NHM

The new specimen highlights the crucial relationship zoos play in ensuring rare and endangered species are represented in museum collections.

The Fairy Poppy Bee's Dance of Fragility and Resilience

Discover one of the 1600 species of native California bees and the intimate portraits in conservation photographer Krystle Hickman's forthcoming book, The ABCs of California Native Bees

Elongated Violet Snail (Janthina umbilicata)

Rare Purple Snail Lands Here

The shells of a violet-colored sea snail, Janthina janthina, washed up on SoCal beaches recently.

How To Build A Bat Box

When Southern California (or other bat-heavy areas) sees waves of extreme heat, the second-largest order of mammals can be put at significant risk. But with a little community assistance, our nocturnal neighbors like this Yuma myotis can sleep safely during hot days in a comfortable bat box — which you can easily build and install yourself.

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Wild LA: Introduction to Camping at NHM

The Camp Out at NHM is a night filled with camping activities, nature, and fun-- all hosted in the museum Nature Gardens! These first-time campers will explore the gardens on a night hike and meet museum scientists who study bats, bugs, and other wildlife. They will also share L.A. nature stories while we roast marshmallows over the campfire. Co-hosted with community partners.

Red-tailed Hawk in Cedar Creek smoke - 2 cropped(

Project Phoenix: Investigating Bird Responses to Smoke

This groundbreaking community science project seeks to understand how wildfire smoke is impacting birds.

Backyard Bats

This survey, which is supported by the Disney Conservation Fund, is an opportunity to broaden awareness and interest in conserving species found in urban areas.

First Fridays AMPLIFIED 2025

The 2025 First Fridays season turns the volume up on sound and music. We’ll tap into our relationship with music and how it affects our bodies and our lives.

Newspaper clipping showing collection of publisher and Museum donor William Preston Harrison, 1896

NHMLAC Discovery Talk: Decolonizing Ethnology Collections with KT Hajeian

KT Hajeian, Anthropology Collections Manager hosts a NHMLAC Discovery Talk!

News & Press

Ancient Crocodile-Like Predators Ruled the Islands of the Caribbean

A new study finds that land-dwelling crocodile-like sebecids were the apex predators of the West Indies, surviving on the islands after vanishing from South America

Organized by the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and the Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County, the community science initiative has grown from two cities to nearly 700 worldwide

Through advanced microscopy and imaging techniques, La Brea Tar Pits scientists successfully identify a previously unknown species to Southern California from fossilized seeds, revealing a drought-fueled dance between two species of juniper with lessons for the region’s climate future

The traveling exhibition by the National Geographic Society and National Museum of Wildlife Art features the impactful work of National Geographic Explorer and photographer Ronan Donovan.