University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY
82071
1-307-766-1121
Collection of Fossil Vertebrates
The Collection of Fossil Vertebrates is an integral part of UW's Department of Geology and Geophysics. It is a component of the Departmental Scientific Collections and is housed in the Earth Sciences Building on the Laramie campus. This nationally recognized, specimen-based research facility exists to aid the greater scientific community in the study of vertebrate evolution and biostratigraphy. Although the collection emphasizes Mesozoic and Tertiary vertebrates from Wyoming's mountains, basins, and plains, its holdings serve students of evolution across the globe. The Collection of Fossil Vertebrates, as a facility dedicated to research and advanced teaching, stemmed from The Geological Museum in the mid 1990s.
The Geological Museum is housed between the Geological Survey of Wyoming and the S. H. Knight Geology Building on the University of Wyoming's campus. It is administered through UW's College of Arts and Sciences and provides educational service to the entire university. Highlighting Wyoming's ancient natural treasures, The Geological Museum has a series of displays on rocks, minerals, and fossils. The museum is intended to support education in the geosciences for the general public, and it emphasizes paleontology. Roots of the museum's history go back to UW's earliest years through pioneering collecting of dinosaurs at nearby Como Bluff.
The University of Wyoming Insect Museum is the only research collection of insects in the state of Wyoming. Present holdings are estimated at more than a quarter of a million specimens. It is an important regional resource, as well as a collection of national and international significance. Holdings are particularly strong in the major orders Hymenoptera (53%), Diptera (12%), Lepidoptera (10%), and Coleoptera (9%). Several unique voucher collections are housed at University of Wyoming including the Pawnee National Grasslands Collection, Johnston and Wyodak Power Plant Collections, Hanna Strip-Mine Collection, the 1989-1990 Yellowstone Post-Fire Collection, Shelterbelt Insect Collection, the 1992 Brazilian Araguaia River Expedition Collection, and the world's largest research collection of Costa Rican parasitic wasps of the family Braconidae.
Red Buttes Environmental Biology Laboratory
The Red Buttes Environmental Biology Laboratory is located on a 400+ acre site, nine miles south of Laramie on US 287. Facilities include the original caretaker house constructed by Game and Fish in the early 1900's, a storage barn, and the main laboratory building. The 9,600 square foot laboratory building houses classrooms, aquatic and terrestrial animal holding and experimental areas, chemistry and physiology labs, surgery rooms, an environmental chamber, specialized water treatment facilities, and outdoor facilities including corrals and pens for small and large wildlife species and ponds for fish holding and aquatic research.
The primary function of the Herbarium (RM) is research in floristics and systematics. For many decades it has enjoyed the distinction of being the largest facility of its kind between St. Louis and Berkeley. It is the 16th largest of over 1200 herbaria in the USA with nearly 800,000 accessions. It also is an active center for taxonomic research especially on members of the Apiaceae, Asteraceae, Bromeliaceae, Caryophyllaceae, and Salicaceae. A major emphasis in the past 23 years has been floristics. Although much research has been done on the flora of Wyoming and the Rockies, the region is still poorly known. As an example, more than 287 species and varieties were described by various researchers as new to science during the 20 year period ending in 1994. Since 1977, more than 400,000 collections have been made in over 40 detailed inventories by the Curator, the Herbarium Manager, and graduate students at RM. More than 130,000 square miles have been covered with emphasis not only on the general flora but also species of conservation concern and invasives. These recent acquisitions and thousands of other specimens are in the RM database. The Herbarium also serves a vital function related to the teaching of courses and also in providing service through the identification of plants and in providing information.
The Wilhelm G. Solheim Mycological Herbarium facilitates the study of fleshy fungi (e.g., mushrooms, puffballs, truffles) and parasitic ones (e.g., rusts, smuts, powdery mildews). The herbarium contains over 48,000 specimens from around the world. It represents in part the life's work of Dr. Solheim who, for over 50 years, assembled specimens through his research on the fungi of the Rockies and through the exchange of duplicates with colleagues here and abroad. The herbarium is available for study by qualified students and researchers. A mycological reference library is housed with the collection.
University of Wyoming-National Park Service (UW-NPS) Research Center
The primary function of the Research Station is to promote excellence in research by furnishing housing, laboratory space, transportation, equipment and financial support to enable investigators in the biological, physical and social sciences to access the rich and diverse environments of Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, Bridger-Teton and Targhee National Forest and the Gros Ventre and Teton Wilderness Areas.
