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Australian Museum
The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum and Sydney Museum, is a state public museum in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is operated and funded as a cultural institution by the state government of New South Wales.
With its predecessor originated in 1827, the museum is the oldest natural history museum in Australia and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the world. It was first conceived and developed along the contemporary European model of an encyclopedic warehouse of cultural and natural history, and features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology and anthropology. The scientific stature of the museum was established under the curatorship of scientist Gerard Krefft in the 1860s.
Apart from permanent displays in its galleries, permanent and temporary exhibitions, the museum also undertakes research and is involved in community programs. Since 1973 it has operated the Lizard Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef, studying the ecology of coral reefs and the effects of climate change. The Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI), established in 2013, is the central hub for its researchers in Sydney. As of 2024[update] the CEO and executive director is Kim McKay AO, who was the first woman to be appointed to the position in 2014.
The establishment of a museum had first been planned in 1821 by the Philosophical Society of Australasia, and although specimens were collected, the Society folded in 1822. An entomologist and fellow of the Linnean Society of London, Alexander Macleay, arrived in 1826. After being appointed New South Wales Colonial Secretary, he began lobbying for a museum.
The museum was founded in 1827 by Earl Bathurst, then the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who wrote to the governor of New South Wales of his intention to found a public museum and who provided £200 yearly towards its upkeep. Its foundation in 1827 makes the museum the oldest natural history museum in the country, the fifth oldest in the world.
It was first conceived and developed along the contemporary European model of an encyclopedic warehouse of cultural and natural history, and features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology and anthropology. In the museum's early years, collecting was its main priority, and specimens were commonly traded with British and other European institutions.
In 1832[clarification needed] George Bennett, curator of the Australian Museum, explained the role of the museum:
"Here, in a public museum, the remains of the arts, etc., as existing among them, may be preserved as lasting memorials of the former races inhabiting the lands, when they have ceased to exist."
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Australian Museum
The Australian Museum, originally known as the Colonial Museum and Sydney Museum, is a state public museum in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is operated and funded as a cultural institution by the state government of New South Wales.
With its predecessor originated in 1827, the museum is the oldest natural history museum in Australia and the fifth oldest natural history museum in the world. It was first conceived and developed along the contemporary European model of an encyclopedic warehouse of cultural and natural history, and features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology and anthropology. The scientific stature of the museum was established under the curatorship of scientist Gerard Krefft in the 1860s.
Apart from permanent displays in its galleries, permanent and temporary exhibitions, the museum also undertakes research and is involved in community programs. Since 1973 it has operated the Lizard Island Research Station on the Great Barrier Reef, studying the ecology of coral reefs and the effects of climate change. The Australian Museum Research Institute (AMRI), established in 2013, is the central hub for its researchers in Sydney. As of 2024[update] the CEO and executive director is Kim McKay AO, who was the first woman to be appointed to the position in 2014.
The establishment of a museum had first been planned in 1821 by the Philosophical Society of Australasia, and although specimens were collected, the Society folded in 1822. An entomologist and fellow of the Linnean Society of London, Alexander Macleay, arrived in 1826. After being appointed New South Wales Colonial Secretary, he began lobbying for a museum.
The museum was founded in 1827 by Earl Bathurst, then the Secretary of State for the Colonies, who wrote to the governor of New South Wales of his intention to found a public museum and who provided £200 yearly towards its upkeep. Its foundation in 1827 makes the museum the oldest natural history museum in the country, the fifth oldest in the world.
It was first conceived and developed along the contemporary European model of an encyclopedic warehouse of cultural and natural history, and features collections of vertebrate and invertebrate zoology, as well as mineralogy, palaeontology and anthropology. In the museum's early years, collecting was its main priority, and specimens were commonly traded with British and other European institutions.
In 1832[clarification needed] George Bennett, curator of the Australian Museum, explained the role of the museum:
"Here, in a public museum, the remains of the arts, etc., as existing among them, may be preserved as lasting memorials of the former races inhabiting the lands, when they have ceased to exist."