Natural History Museums

The Natural History Museums of Los Angeles County (NHMLAC) is a public nonprofit cultural and scientific institution headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It encompasses two flagship sites — the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park and La Brea Tar Pits in Hancock Park/Mid-Wilshire — and stewards more than 35 million specimens and artifacts, the largest natural and cultural history collection in the western United States.

NHMLAC's mission is to inspire wonder, discovery, and responsibility for our natural and cultural worlds. The organization serves approximately 1.2 million visitors annually and positions itself as "a museum for the movement," building community around a natural history for the future. Its strategic framework aims to make it museums "of, for, and with L.A.," cultivating meaningful relationships with local communities.

As a research institution, NHMLAC's Research and Collections Department produces academic scholarship in history and science. In 2021–2022, it received more than $6.4 million across 15 science, humanities, and research grants, reflecting its national standing. The organization also runs community science and urban nature research programs leveraging the biodiversity of the Los Angeles metropolitan region.

Innovations in areas such as collection digitization, urban biodiversity research, community science platforms, or sustainable museum operations would be directly relevant to NHMLAC's goals of expanding access, generating new knowledge, and influencing sustainable futures.