Our Mission |
The Georgia Museum of Natural History is among the largest and most diverse in the Southeast, with more than 5 million items in its collections. It was officially designated the state Museum in 1999, with a mission to preserve the cultural and natural heritage of Georgia, to provide instruction and foster stewardship among its people, and to encourage scholarship and service related to the collections.
The Museum’s 11 natural history collections are supported by five departments at the University of Georgia: Anthropology, Plant Biology, Entomology, Geology, and Plant Pathology. Each collection is the largest of its kind in Georgia. The collections are primarily administered and supported by their academic departments and colleges. While public service, outreach, and some administrative programs fall under the Office of Director of the Museum, 10 collections are supported by the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.
The Friends of the Georgia Museum of Natural History was also founded in 1999 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to raise awareness of the Museum and its holdings.
BOARD MEMBERS
John Maerz, President [elected 2024]
Dr. Maerz is the Dennis and Sarah Carey Distinguished Professor of Forestry and Natural Resources and a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. He is affiliated with the Center for Integrative Conservation Research's Integrative Conservation Ph.D. Program (ICON) and is adjunct faculty in the Odum School of Ecology. He joined the UGA faculty in 2005. He is a wildlife ecologist whose research focuses on how terrestrial and aquatic environmental change impact wildlife, particularly amphibians and reptiles, and how to apply ecological and evolutionary principles and research to inform management decisions for herpetofauna and other wildlife. He teaches courses in Principles of Fish and Wildlife Management and Animal Behavior and taught Herpetology for 18 years at UGA. He is also an inaugural GMNH Fellow.
David Titshaw, Vice-President
Jane Boyd, Secretary
Margi Flood, Treasurer
Associate Professor of Biology at University of North Georgia, Gainesville campus. She is a Freshwater Ecology. She likes to play in streams or plant daffodils [and native plants!] when not trying to get dog and cat hair off the furniture.
Jeff Auerbach
Bobbie Epting
Retired. Former Director of Development for the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Community volunteer and activist. Nature lover. Aspiring visitor to a NEW Georgia Museum of Natural History facility worthy of the museum's extensive collection.
Frances Dielmann
I lived in Germany for 40 years working as a legal translator and sport administrator before returning to my home town of Athens. I visited numerous archaeological and other cultural sites in Europe. My main interests are in geology, archaeology and genealogy.
.Julie Lynn Glenn
Norman Hardin
Elizabeth Reitz
Karl Scott
“I am a retired public school science teacher with lifelong interests in Nature, education, and outdoor recreation. You could say I grew up in the museum as my zoologist father, D. C. Scott collected many of the early fish specimens, and in some cases I was holding the jar.”
Daniel Sniff
Alfie Vick
Anvi Srivastava , content manager
Undergraduate Student at the University of Georgia majoring in Ecology.