Museums Science Florida
Gainesville

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Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention
Gainesville, Florida

Science, Specialized

To inspire creative thinking, future inventors, and early entrepreneurs. The Cade Museum for Creativity + Invention - located in Gainesville, Florida - is named for Dr. James Robert Cade, the physician, musician, researcher and inventor best known for leading the University of Florida team that created Gatorade, to honor his creative spirit and passion for new ideas. The Cade Museum is a hands-on solution to some very real problems. American Creativity Quotient (CQ) scores have been steadily and significantly declining since 1990*, coupled with falling academic performance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). We propose to help change that by highlighting the link between creative thought and breakthrough ideas.

Florida Museum of Natural History--Exhibits & Public Programs
Gainesville, Florida

Archaeology, Natural History, Science

Visitors to the Florida Museum, on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville, can enjoy hundreds of exotic butterflies in a rainforest setting, witness a South Florida Calusa Indian welcoming ceremony, experience a life-size limestone cave, and see a mammoth and mastodon from the last Ice Age. Permanent exhibits include Northwest Florida: Waterways and Wildlife, South Florida People and Environments, Hall of Florida Fossils: Evolution of Life and Land, and the McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity, which features the screened, outdoor Butterfly Rainforest exhibit with hundreds of live butterflies.

Dickinson Hall houses the museum's other research activities and vast collections containing more than 40 million natural history specimens and artifacts.

Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo
Gainesville, Florida

Science, University, Zoo

The Santa Fe College Teaching Zoo is the local zoo for the Gainesville area and the laboratory for the Zoo Animal Technology program. Set in a naturally wooded environment, the 10-acre facility is open to the public and has a diverse collection of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. Home to over 75 different species of animals, our diverse collection contains both native and exotic species that everyone can enjoy. Some family favorites are the Bald Eagle, White-throated capuchin monkeys, Matschie’s tree kangaroos, Asian small-clawed otters and the White-handed gibbons. We are open to the public 7 days/week from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.; last entry at 2:30 p.m.

Florida Museum of Natural History--Administration/Collections/Research
Gainesville, Florida

Archaeology, Natural History, Science

The Florida Museum is Florida's state museum of natural history. The museum's two main facilities are located in Gainesville, FL on the University of Florida campus.

Powell Hall, the education and exhibition center, is home to the permanent and traveling exhibit programs, adult and children's classes, group tours and special events. Visitors can enjoy hundreds of butterflies, witness a South Florida Calusa Indian welcoming ceremony, experience a life-sized limestone cave and see a mammoth and mastodon from the last Ice Age. More than 200,000 people visited the museum in 2008.

Dickinson Hall houses the majority of the Museum's research activities and vast collections containing more than 40 million specimens and artifacts.

Kanapaha Botanical Gardens
Gainesville, Florida

Botanical Garden, Science

Kanapaha Botanical Gardens is a 62 acre facility developed and operated by the North Florida Botanical Society, a non-profit educational organization. In 1978, the Society signed a lease agreement with Alachua County whereby it gained access to a 33 acre tract of land for the development of a public botanical garden; in 1982, an additional 29 acre parcel was added to the lease, bringing Kanapaha Botanical Society to its present size. The Gardens' name is derived from its proximity to 250 acre Lake Kanapaha. The word Kanapaha is derived from the Timucua Indian words for "palmetto leaf" and "house." Taken together, they refer to the thatched dwellings that were home to the original residents of a small Timucua village on the western shore of Lake Kanapaha.

MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Georgia Association of Museums 2025 Conference

February 5 - 7, 2025

Milledgeville, Georgia

Georgia Association of Museums 2025 Conference

Wednesday, February 5 - Friday, February 7, 2025

Ina Dillard Russell Library Georgia College & State University

Milledgeville, Georgia

Hosted by: Georgia Association of Museums

The Whole Story Is The Meanin

“For the fiction writer himself the whole story is the meaning, because it is an experience, not an abstraction.”― Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Pros

Join us in Milledgeville, Georgia, for the annual Georgia Association of Museums conference as we explore the profound wisdom of Milledgeville author Flannery O'Connor’s words. In a world where narratives intersect and perspectives diverge, this theme invites proposals that delve into the essence of storytelling within museums and cultural institutions. Our work in the museum field requires us to look at stories from as many angles and perspectives as possible so that we might do our best to tell the “whole story.

Through thought-provoking discussions, interactive workshops, and engaging presentations, we will uncover the layers of meaning embedded within every artifact, exhibition, and historical account. Just as O’Connor masterfully crafted narratives that resonate with universal truths, museums hold the power to illuminate the whole story behind many objects, artworks, and cultural phenomena

We will examine how museums can embrace inclusivity, diversity, and authenticity in their storytelling practices. By acknowledging multiple perspectives and amplifying marginalized voices, we can enrich our understanding of the past and present, fostering empathy and connection within our communities.

Small Museum Association 41st Annual Conference 2025

February 17 - 19, 2025

Gaithersburg, Maryland

Small Museum Association 41st Annual Conference 2025

Monday, February 17 - Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Gaithersburg Marriott Washingtonian Center

Gaithersburg, Maryland

Hosted by: Small Museum Association

The annual SMA conference attracts more than 300 museum professionals, board members, and volunteers from a wide variety of small museums. They attend sessions on topics ranging from collections and education to staffing and board issues.

We offer a large Museum Resource Hall and plenty of informal networking opportunities for you to talk with (and get ideas from!) other small museum professionals and volunteers

Theme for 2025: Make It Happen!!!

Is there an exhibit, program, or fundraiser that you've been talking about doing for years? Do you feel stuck because of procrastination, lack of board support, or insufficient funds? It's time to take action

At SMA 2025, small museum professionals will share their tips and tricks of how they made it happen!

2025 California Association of Museums Conference

February 18 - 22, 2025

San Fransico, California

2025 California Association of Museums Conference

Tuesday, February 18 - Saturday, February 22, 2025

San Fransico, California

Hosted by: California Association of Museums

CAM is hard at work planning for the 2025 conference, set to take place from February 18–22, 2025 in San Francisco. We look forward to highlighting best practices and innovative ideas from California's museum community

The California Association of Museums is excited to continue offering in-person programming for 2025. We will not be requiring proof of COVID vaccination/s, but highly encourage vaccination and boosters. For the health and safety of our colleagues, masks are also encouraged (but not required). Capacity and spaces will be thoughtfully considered in the planning of this event.

For more information, please email programs@calmuseums.org.

Virginia Association of Museum's 2025 Annual Conference!

March 15 - 18, 2025

Blacksburg, Virginia

Virginia Association of Museum's 2025 Annual Conference!

Saturday, March 15 - Tuesday, March 18, 2025

The Inn at Virginia Tech

Blacksburg, Virginia

Hosted by: Virginia Association of Museums

2025 Conference Theme: Looking Back to the Future For the past several years, many museums have been deeply involved in planning programs and events to observe the 250th birthday of the United States of America. While this is certainly an occasion to celebrate, this anniversary also forces us as a society to reckon with ongoing inequities and challenges within the US that go back to its inception. As museums ask their audiences to look to the past to understand the present and shape a better future, perhaps now is a good moment in time for Virginia’s museum community to take pause and look back at its own history. We are excited to see you in Blacksburg in March 2025 as we take a moment in our hectic schedules to take pause and visit our diverse pasts. Let’s uncover and share our histories to build a more resilient Virginia museum community.

2025 Am Assoc for State and Local History Annual Conference

September 10 - 13, 2025

Cincinnati, Ohio

2025 Am Assoc for State and Local History Annual Conference

Wednesday, September 10 - Saturday, September 13, 2025

TBD

Cincinnati, Ohio

Hosted by: American Association for State and Local History

The 2025 AASLH Annual Conference, in partnership with Ohio Local History Alliance, will take place as the history field makes the final preparations to kickoff off the 250th commemoration of the founding of the United States.

The 2025 conference theme, inspired by AASLH’s Making History at 250: The Field Guide for Semiquincentennial, is an opportunity to broadly explore one of the guide’s themes, The American Experiment. For many in the American colonies in 1776, independence from Britain represented a “leap into the dark” into an unknown future

We are excited for you to join us in Cincinnati as we encourage discussion about our democracy and civic institutions and how they can help strengthen understanding, inspire action, and reveal ways that all of us can participate in and shape the ongoing American experiment.

For more information, please call 615-320-3203 or email info@aaslh.org.

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