Paleontological Research Institution
Encyclopedia
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
with a mission including both research and education. PRI is affiliated with Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, houses one of the largest fossil collections in North America, and publishes, among other things, the oldest journal of paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
in the western hemisphere, Bulletins of American Paleontology.
History
PRI was founded in 1932 by Gilbert HarrisGilbert Harris
Gilbert Lloyd Harris is an American football running back who is currently a free agent. After going undrafted in the 2006 NFL Draft, Harris was out of football until he was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2007. He played college football at Arizona.-External links:*...
, a professor of geology at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
from 1894 to 1934. He founded PRI to house his collection of fossils and to publish research in paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
- the study of the history of life on Earth. PRI began as a small building behind Dr. Harris' home in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...
. Through various additions over the next two decades, the original building grew into a 20-room complex that housed the Institution's collections, library, laboratories, and offices.
PRI has continued to grow through the years, requiring a move to larger quarters in 1968. The present facility on West Hill
West Hill
West Hill may refer to:in Canada* West Hill, Ontarioin the United Kingdom* West Hill, Brighton* West Hill, Wandsworth, London* West Hill School, Stalybridgein the United States...
, along Trumansburg Road (N.Y. Rte. 96), holds over 2 million fossils and shells, and a 50,000 volume research library. In 2003, PRI opened the 18000 square feet (1,672.3 m²) Museum of the Earth
Museum of the Earth
The Museum of the Earth is a public natural history museum. It is located in Ithaca, New York, on the campus of the PRI, its parent organization.-Paleontological Research Institution:...
, a natural history museum that showcases PRI's specimens and takes the visitor on a journey through time.
Education
The Education Department at PRI serves audiences in Ithaca, across New York State, and across the nation. These audiences include a diversity of individuals, from Museum visitors to teachers and college students to underserved urban school students.PRI's Education Department offers programs in six major areas: Interactive Programs and Events, Teacher Development, Global Change Education, Evolution Education, Earth Research Partnerships, and National Education Networks.
Collections
PRI houses one of the eight largest American collections of fossils and Recent shells, with over 2 million specimens. Many of these specimens represent invertebrateInvertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s - animals without backbones. The collection represents a staggering array of living things, from the tiny shells of single-celled organisms to dinosaur bones and woolly mammoth teeth. Many of their specimens are especially valuable, because they are from localities now destroyed or unavailable for study today. Among those specimens are over 30,000 type and figured specimens, the 5th largest such collection in the United States.
In 1994-95 the invertebrate fossil and Recent mollusk collections of Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
were transferred to PRI
Paleontological Research Institution
The Paleontological Research Institution, or PRI, is a natural history museum in Ithaca, New York with a mission including both research and education...
on long term loan.
Research
PRI staff members have a wide range of research expertise, including mastodons, Earth science education, and gastropod mollusks.Bulletins of American Paleontology
Begun in 1895, this journal is the oldest continuously published paleontological journal in the western hemisphere. It publishes longer papers in any area of paleontology.Paleontographica Americana
Begun in 1916, the academic journal Paleontographica Americana publishes major illustrated works (longer than 200 published pages) in all areas of paleontology.American Paleontologist
A quarterly newsletter of paleontology designed for everyone interested in fossils and the history of life. American Paleontologist is a benefit of membership of PRI and the Museum of the EarthMuseum of the Earth
The Museum of the Earth is a public natural history museum. It is located in Ithaca, New York, on the campus of the PRI, its parent organization.-Paleontological Research Institution:...
, and features articles by experts in paleontology and related fields, regular columns, book reviews, a Museum calendar of events, and a children's section.
Museum of the Earth
In 2003, PRI opened the Museum of the EarthMuseum of the Earth
The Museum of the Earth is a public natural history museum. It is located in Ithaca, New York, on the campus of the PRI, its parent organization.-Paleontological Research Institution:...
, an 18000 square feet (1,672.3 m²) exhibit facility that houses rotating temporary as well as long-term exhibits about the history of Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
and its life.