The Natural History Collection at the Tom Ridge Environmental Center

The Natural History Museum is a collection that has evolved into a significant resource of natural history specimens primarily from northwestern Pennsylvania. This museum, which includes vascular plants, insects, mollusks, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals, is an initiative of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), managed by the Pennsylvania Sea Grant program.

Museum curator, Dr. Edwin Masteller, professor emeritus of biology from Penn State Behrend, has been collecting specimens since coming to Erie in 1967. During that time he compiled major collections of stoneflies and caddisflies of Pennsylvania, designed and established the museum, amassed an extensive network of expert systematists and volunteers, and created a Web site to give the public remote access to the museum’s collections. The collection has grown to more than 5,700 specimens, including 800 plants, 4,000 insects, and many others.

Contacts:
Dr. Ed Masteller e11@psu.edu