Submission Date

7-24-2026

Document Type

Paper

Department

Environmental Studies

Faculty Mentor

Leah Joseph

Comments

Presented during the 28th Annual Summer Fellows Symposium, July 24, 2026 at Ursinus College.

Project Description

Museums are a vital source of educational resources for the general public. They provide information on a variety of topics and disciplines and encourage visitors to be excited about and engaged in learning something new. As we work to comprehend key topics such as climate change, it is especially important for the broader public to better understand science, including geology. While the geological collection at Ursinus, Pieces of Earth’s History, is not in a museum, implementing methods that museums use can improve the reception of the collection. Through the application of research gathered through articles, journals, books, and talking with museum curators, I am working to make the collection more engaging for a wider array of visitors to enjoy. This includes refining and potentially rearranging the existing display cases to add small but informative captions, such as how rocks and minerals form, the history of the collection, and pieces relevant to local geology so that passersby can learn more about the specimens in the collection. The currently empty display case, now purposefully shifted to be more central within the collection, will be designed to include a variety of infographics that introduce visitors to base concepts of Earth science and the connections to other STEM fields. Through offering more about aspects of the collection itself including the science behind the specimens, Pieces of Earth’s History should become a more compelling and enjoyable place for people to visit again and again.

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