Natural History Museum

Sparking Curiosity and Understanding of Our Natural World

The Sierra College Natural History Museum is a dynamic and awe-inspiring center for STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) learning initiatives.

Located in the heart of Sewell Hall (the Science Building on Rocklin campus), the Museum and accompanying Planetarium are a regional landmark for thousands of youngsters, students, teachers, teens, adults and parents who come to engage, experience, and discover our collections.

For more than 50 years, the Museum has provided inspirational scientific lifelong learning for its students and the community. Initially funded by a special grant from “Project Gold Mind,” the Museum’s champion and department chair, R.A. Underhill, oversaw the construction of exhibitions based on the rising theme of ecology. A true grassroots effort, faculty, students, and staff worked together for decades to build and augment the Museum’s collections, creating an array of displays examining Earth’s natural past.

Plan Your Visit

Attend an Event

Become a Docent

Museum Events and Programs

Join us at one or all of our events and programs held throughout the year.

Annual Dinosaur Day Science Fest

Rawr!!! Dinosaur Day Science Fest, also known as Dino Day, is an adventure for all ages. For more than 20 years, the Museum has drawn thousands of people to its annual spring science festival.

Typically held the first Sunday in May, this campus-wide festival features live animal exhibitions, lectures, tours, physics and chemistry demonstrations, face painting, paleontological digs, maker stations, and engaging, verifiable scientific dialogue and much more!

Free Saturdays

Join Sierra College instructors, Museum staff, and scientists for a fun, open-house featuring science and math workshops geared for all ages. Immerse yourself, your friends and family in unique experiences paired with themes such as dinosaurs, marine mammals, volcanoes, bats, fossils, carnivorous plants, microbes/stinky foods, magnetic slime, and astronomy.

Storytime features a live reading from a related book, and games, crafts, and snacks are offered as well.

This program typically occurs the first Saturday of specific months from 10am to noon. View our events calendar for more details and to register.

Field Trip Fridays and Saturdays: SCNHM Guided Tours

Visitors of all ages are invited to join us for a guided tour experience, led by an experienced docent (tour guide). Guided tours include information on local ecosystems, organisms, food chains, introductory evolutionary concepts, geology and more. We also offer guided tours of our Nature Trail. Tours accommodate groups of 30 or less, with a 10-person minimum. All participants, including chaperones, pay a $4.00 per person fee for a 50 minute program. If your group is larger than 30 people, or if you are interested in multiple tours and / or a Planetarium Program on the same day, please book your guided tour experience online by emailing the museum.

Planetarium Program

Offered on Fridays, August through May, the Planetarium is a ‘total darkness’ experience recommended for students’ 2nd grade and older. Astronomy Faculty offer insights into our solar system and beyond. Planetarium programs require a minimum of 30 participants, with a maximum of 50 people. For K-12 students, we require responsible adults (2 or more) to be in attendance for Planetarium programs. Participants of all ages, including chaperones, pay a $4.00 per person fee for a 50 minute program. If you are interested in multiple tours on the same day, please book your Planetarium Program experience by emailing the museum.

Visit the Natural History Museum

Get more information about our upcoming events and register for tours or group reservations by contacting the museum.

Rocklin Campus Map

Directions and Parking

Plan Your Visit

5100 Sierra College Blvd., Sewell Hall (Bldg. S), Rocklin, CA 95677
Rocklin Campus Map | Directions and Parking | Accessibility

Museum Hours

Academic school year (August-May)
Hours: Monday – Friday: 8am – 5pm
Select Saturdays for Free Saturday Programs: 10am – 12pm
Closed Saturday and Sundays (unless event days) and during the holidays, including Spring and Winter break
Planetarium is open only by group reservation on Field Trip Fridays, August – May

Group Tours

If you would like to book a guided tour or Planetarium Program, please email museum@sierracollege.edu with your:

potential dates (Fridays or Saturdays only),
times (hourly, between 9am–1pm)
your name
number of participants

We will let you know if your booking is confirmed.

Admission

Individual admission to the Museum is free of charge. Self-guided visits are also free of charge.

For groups/guided tours, admission is activity-based for groups of 10 or more on Fridays during Spring and Fall semesters.

Tour Options	Cost
Guided Museum Tour	$4.00 per visitor
Guided Nature Trail	$4.00 per visitor
Planetarium Program	$4.00 per visitor

What We Offer and Visitor Information

K-12 Field Trips and Educator Resources

Educator Resource Guide

Our Educator Resource Guide provides an overview of Museum offerings for K-12 students, and includes:

A guide through the tour reservation process
How to expedite the logistics of your visit to the Museum

Field Trip Options

Museum Tour
Planetarium (as scheduling permits)
Nature Trail Area
Any combination of the above field trip options

Event Reservations

To schedule a group tour or Planetarium Program, contact the museum.

Scout Patch Program

Earn your patch with us. The Museum offers a Junior Naturalist Scouting Patch in three distinct grade levels. Patch kit includes pack/troop tour and/or hike, workbook, and patch. For more information, contact the museum.

Rocks, Fossils and Minerals for Loan

Educators may borrow one of three Museum traveling loan kits to use in their classrooms for up to two weeks:

Natural History Rocks: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks
Fantastic Fossils: specimens of single cell organisms, prehistoric flora, and megafauna
Mighty Minerals: native elements and other common minerals

To reserve a loan trunk, contact George Bromm in the Museum Office.

Museum Displays, Exhibitions and Repository

With more than 20,000 specimens at the Museum, there is something to spark the curiosity of each and every visitor. Here are just a few of our displays:

There are more than 70 taxidermy animal head mounts and 140 skulls on view focusing on vertebrate species.
The Animals of the World display spans the entire Museum. Marvel at fauna from Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Africa. Many of these massive animals are herbivores, but if carnivores are your favorite, we have some of those as well. An interesting “sleuth” of omnivores can be found in the west lobby Bear display.
The Marine Mammals display features an impressive narwhal and charismatic manatee. A highlight of our Museum’s collection is our hanging 38-foot California Gray Whale, the state marine mammal of California!
Back on land, we have a dynamic fossil Tortoise display and a unique Hawver Cave special exhibition. Other featured Pleistocene Era specimens include the Mastodon and Mammoth Megafauna cases, Gomphothere excavation display, Ice Age Mammals, and a real Tarpit of Doom.
Aspiring paleontologists will enjoy exploring the fossil record through our History of Life exhibition, located underneath a gargantuan fossilized Ichthyosaur. Check out nearby displays of our trilobites, giant horseshoe crabs, and buzz saw-shaped Helicoprion shark tooth!
One of California’s few dinosaurs is the Hypsilophodont; a Sierra College instructor found its left hind leg! You can see it in our Dinosauria gallery, and you can also see how you measure up to a long-necked Apatosaurus.
An impressive Entomology Compendium includes a California Butterfly display.
The Mineralogy exhibit is visually stunning, colorfully showcasing many of the Earth’s beautiful elements and minerals.
Regional geological features, such as the Chico Formation display, warrant a tour stop. Don’t miss the Mosasaur skull fragment found right around the corner from us in Granite Bay.
Look for tremor activity on our real seismograph machine in our Weather Station display.
Our Sierra Forest display is a forest inside a museum case. This lens into our unique ecosystem, the Sierra Nevada foothills, focuses on Northern California plants and animals featuring specimens from cedars to woodpeckers, creepy crawlers in subsoil habitats, owls, and coyotes. There’s even a rare wolverine, Sierra College’s mascot.
More native trees can be found in our Conifers of California display, with almost 30 species of cones.
See one of our many petrified wood specimens. We left one mineralized former tree without an acrylic museum enclosure so you can touch and feel its texture.

Museum Repository
The Museum is a repository* for many federally permitted specimens from the Bureau of Land Management (an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior) and Forest Service (an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) amongst others.

*A repository is a place where objects/specimens may be put for safekeeping or displayed in an exhibition. SCNHM is a secure, organized academic institution that provides safekeeping and display options for such items. For example, we keep specimens found on federal lands on behalf of the U.S. government. While we do not technically “own” these fossils, the Museum (or other Museums) and our scientists receive research permits for lands that are federally managed. We agree to keep important found materials and associated records protected and preserved on behalf of the government agency. In turn, we have access to the specimens for research or exhibition purposes.

Planetarium Shows

Because the planetarium show is a “total darkness” environment, this program is offered for students in first grade and above.

Our Museum offers astronomy shows in Sewell Hall’s upstairs planetarium for enrolled Sierra College students, Planetarium programs for pre-registered visitors, and select Museum events. Built in the late 1960s, this Moon Landing-era Planetarium seats 50 visitors.

The Planetarium Show lasts approximately one hour and consists of a PowerPoint presentation, celestial skies presentation, and Q&A session with an astronomer.

NOTE: Planetarium availability varies per semester and is open to the Museum during K-12 field trips and select events.

Nature Trails

Nature trails are recommended for grades kindergarten and above. Please dress appropriately and stay on the trail. The Nature Trail is not wheelchair accessible. Off-road strollers may work on portions of the trail.

The Sierra College Nature Trail was designed and constructed by members of the Sierra College Science Club and their faculty advisors in the 1960s.

The Sierra College Natural History Museum serves as chief steward of the Nature Area. A shaded path winding through the foothill oak woodland and riparian forests has several miles of trails, including those across Secret Ravine Creek. The Secret Ravine Nature Trail is about ¾ mile long, but there is a branch that includes a gentler loop upslope to accommodate the possibility of off-road-style jogger strollers.

Museum Shop

Directions and Parking

The Museum is located in the Science Building on the west side of the Rocklin Campus in the heart of Sewell Hall. When driving to the Museum, please refer to the directions below as map apps may redirect you to the opposite side of campus near the stadium.

From Auburn/Grass Valley: Take Interstate 80 towards Sacramento. Exit Sierra College Blvd #109 and turn left. Turn right onto Rocklin Road. Turn right at the light on to El Don Drive. At the intersection of E Lot and Campus Drive, turn into F Lot for DAILY PARKING.

From Placerville: Take Interstate 50 towards Sacramento. Turn right on exit #21 Hazel Avenue. (Hazel becomes Sierra College Blvd.) Turn left onto Rocklin Road. Turn right at the light on to El Don Drive. At the intersection of E Lot and Campus Drive, turn into F Lot for DAILY PARKING.

From Sacramento: Take Interstate 80 towards Reno. Exit Sierra College Blvd #108. Turn right onto Rocklin Road. Turn left at the light on to El Don. At the intersection of E Lot and Campus Drive, turn into F Lot for DAILY PARKING.

Parking/Fees
Visit parking for more information. If you are traveling by bus, park in the Dietrich Theatre lot’s bus pullout. If your bus is a State-exempt vehicle, you may park in the S Lot parking lot outside of Sewell Hall. View interactive Rocklin Campus map.

Accessibility

The Museum’s wheelchair access is located on the grassy quad-side of Sewell Hall and an elevator for access to the Planetarium is located adjacent to the Skulls Display Case.

Wheelchair accessible restrooms are located on the ground floor of the Museum on either side of the facility.

We want every guest to have the absolute best experience when visiting the Sierra College Natural History Museum (SCNHM). If anyone in your group needs or desires support from Museum staff for accessibility, it is our pleasure and mission to assist you and make your tour experience extraordinary. As educators ourselves, we recognize that every student learns differently and has diverse perspectives, experiences, and abilities.

We invite you to come and engage with us as we embrace inclusivity and accessibility. We are more than willing to support and accommodate your needs to the best of our ability.

If you have any recommendations on ways to make this experience more inclusive, please do not hesitate to contact the museum.

Stay Connected with SCNHM

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Find Us on Facebook

Become a Museum Volunteer

Virtual Tours and Experiments

In case you may have missed any of the Museum’s virtual tours and experiments on Facebook or want to watch them again, you can access them on our Virtual Tours and Experiments page.

Fun Activities to Do

Be sure to visit this page and our Facebook page to find fun learning activities you can do from home and share with others. Plus, we offer virtual tours, StoryTime Live and S.T.E.A.M. BedTime Story with our co-host, FunGus.

Museum Whale Bones 1000x750 — Visitors enjoy viewing the exhibits at the Sierra College Natural History Museum, including the large Gray Whale skeleton hung from the ceiling at the museum’s entrance.

About the Museum

Museum Leadership

In May 2024, we welcomed our new SCNHM Director, Laura Matzer. Committed to enriching communities through culture and creating welcoming spaces, Laura brings extensive experience in advising visitor engagement strategy, developing self-supporting programming, and crafting relevant interpretative content.

Committees

Sierra College Natural History Museum Committee
The Sierra College Natural History Museum Committee was formed in the 1980s to encourage best museum practices. This committee was established as an all-volunteer group of scientists and science enthusiasts, consisting of faculty, staff, students and community members. The Museum Steering Committee has now grown to almost 40 members and currently resides as a sitting subcommittee of Sierra College’s Academic Senate.

Museum Steering Committee
The Museum Steering Committee is an internal leadership body that assists the Museum Committee in fulfilling the mission of the Museum. The Steering Committee represents the Museum throughout the community, thus supporting the Sierra Joint Community College District. The Steering Committee also spearheads the Museum’s accreditation efforts through the American Association of Museums.

Museum Mission and Core Values

Our Mission is “to spark curiosity and understanding of your natural world.”

The Core Values of Sierra College Natural History Museum are:

To create an educational space that engages and inspires active, lifelong learning.
To provide resources to Sierra College students from all departments to facilitate learning more about the natural world.
To develop and host community events and programs that are designed to inspire a desire to learn more about and to protect the natural world.
To function as an organization that promotes and values equity in its membership, committees, learning and outreach materials, events and programs.
To conduct all Museum business in an ethical manner, consistent with all laws and regulations regarding collections, the American Alliance of Museums (AAM) Best Practices, and the values of the Museum.

Become a Member/Support Our Museum

Gratitude should never go extinct. There are many different avenues to support the Sierra College Natural History Museum, including:

Donate Now

Membership
At the heart of every museum are its members. Our Museum’s constituents are diverse and passionate science enthusiasts, educators and scholars, retired faculty and staff, local business owners, alumni, and families. Membership supports the Museum’s daily operations.

Member perks and benefits may include*:

Free admission to community tours and lecture series
Discounted admission fee during Dinosaur Day Science Fest
Year-round discount in the DinoStore
Early entry at select events and/or invitation to members-only receptions/exhibit unveilings
An automobile decal, Museum enewsletter subscription, and annual appreciation acknowledgement by the Museum.

*NOTE: Benefits conditional to level of membership. All Museum memberships are valid for one calendar year. Renewals are not automatic.

Levels of Membership

Individual (Ages 13 and up): $35.00
Child (Under 5): Free
Child (Ages 5-12)/Student: $10.00
Member Duo: $60.00 covers two individuals
Family: $70.00 covers up to five individuals; maximum of two adults
Seniors (Ages 65 and up): $25.00
Corporate Membership: $350.00
Patron: $500.00

Give the Gift of Membership

You may also gift a Sierra College Natural History Museum Membership. Please contact Sierra College Foundation at foundation@sierracollege.edu for all Membership purchases and/or renewals.

Donations and Sponsorship
The Sierra College Natural History Museum is a program fund of the Sierra College Foundation. Our Museum is grateful for the continued altruism and advocacy that has been exhibited to us by our constituency, both individual and corporate. Such financial sponsorship and support underwrite daily museum operations, including exhibit fabrication, ongoing collections maintenance, refurbishment, educational programs and special events that are critical to our success as an important community educational resource.

Support the Museum

For endowment, corporate, and estate giving, please contact Sierra College Foundation.

Specimens and Collections Enhancement
The Museum’s massive 20,000+ specimen collection has been dually established through District research/excavations and private specimen donations. If you are interested in donating a *specimen to the Museum, contact Museum Director Laura Metzer or Museum Curator George Bromm.

*NOTE: There are legal, safety, and ethical limitations to the specimens we are allowed to accept. The Museum does not purchase specimens or appraise privately-held collections.

Become a Volunteer

Museum volunteers must complete a Sierra College volunteer application and email to museum@sierracollege.edu. Once approved by the Sierra College District and Museum, volunteer applicants undergo fingerprinting and background checks.

Docents. A docent is a teaching volunteer in museums, zoos, and parks. Museum docents conduct the Museum’s K-12 field trips by offering 50-minute-long gallery tours through the Museum and Nature Trail in Sewell Hall, on Fridays. Annually, the Museum welcomes between 2,500-3,000 children on field trips. Students and other volunteers with a background in or a passion for the sciences will be trained to guide and instruct visiting classes (elementary through high school) in engaging and informative ways.
Special Event Volunteers. Our Museum holds many special events throughout the year. Free Saturday events host an average of 300 per program. Dinosaur Day Science Fest engages 4,000-plus participants each year. Special Event Volunteers support with set up, demonstrations, welcoming, hospitality, outreach, and clean-up initiatives.
Green Thumb Gardeners. The Museum Arboretum/Cactus Garden welcomes assistance from volunteers help with weeding, raking, and mulching our established plants. If you have a green thumb and enjoy botany, forestry, and cactus gardening, join our volunteer corps.

Natural History Museum Patrons

Sierra College Foundation and the Sierra College Natural History Museum wish to recognize our annual patrons who supported us during fiscal year 2022-2023. We are grateful to all our donors who have and continue to support the museum as a place where anyone can come to engage, experience and make new discoveries.

Andrew Banta
Catherine Basile
Carol Boles
Laura Brahce
Keely Carroll
Craig Chatelain
Jeffrey Cramer
Dennis Fenwick
Audrey Foley
Judy Fukuman
Jeanette Garcia
Mandy Gerlack
Betty Gudz
Richard and Kristin Hilton
Donald Hoffart
Marlene Ishihara
Carla LaFave
Damon Lake
Shawna L. Martinez
Max Nagasawa (in memoriam)
Jan Nakashoji
Tara Nakashoji
David Provost
William Punch
Jill Rafael
Betty Rivera
Nelda Shearer
Nicole Smith
Robert Smith
Peter Vicencio
Carolyn Walker
James and Harriet Wilson

Paleontological Record Searches

Paleontological record searches obtain relevant information about prospective fossil localities within a given radius of a project site (usually a 1- to 3-mile buffer), and are commonly required for paleontological resource mitigation assessments (per Antiquities Act of 1906; Paleontological Resources Preservation Act of 2009, etc.)

SCNHM holds over 20,000 specimens, including a paleontological database of over 8,000 records.

Effective November 1, 2024, paleontological record searches are completed for a flat donation fee of $150, regardless of the outcome.

SCNHM staff conduct a record search and provide a list of specimens found, if any, and their associated formations, if known. If fossil specimens were not found on private property, we provide location information such as T&R and/or GPS data. Exact localities may be withheld based on record search permissions and underlined agreements. Detailed locality information for U.S. public lands (if known) may be unavailable due to current government regulations regarding paleontological resource management. If the search requires a formal report, specific request, large search radius (usually greater than a mile around project area), specimen photographs, geologic interpretations, estimates of the likelihood of fossil occurrences within the project area, and/or exceeds an hour of time, a $100.00/hour rate applies.

To request a paleontological record search, please email the museum to initiate your request. Simple reports require at least a three-day turnaround around time, and an invoice will be attached to your report, or you may pay online using our museum online donation form. Thank you!

Publications and Academic Research

We offer a variety of ways to learn more about our Natural History Museum and surrounding nature through a variety of publications and published academic research.

eNewsletter Sign Up

Want to learn more about the Sierra College Natural Museum? Sign up for our enewsletter.

Sierra College Press eJournal

The Journal of the Sierra College Natural History Museum, which is published by Sierra College Press, provides information about the college’s extraordinary museum and the natural history of our region and the world. Visit Sierra College Press to read the eJournal.

Museum Affiliated Peer-Reviewed Papers and Associated Research

Sierra Foothills Nature Guide. A comprehensive guide to the biology and ecology of all the Sierra Nevada foothills

Books by Frank DeCourten

Roadside Geology of Nevada
Shadows of Time: the Geology of Bryce Canyon National Park
Dinosaurs of Utah, 2nd edition
The Broken Land

Books by Richard Hilton

Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles of California

Books by Gary Noy

Gold Rush Stories: 49 Tales of Seekers, Scoundrels, Loss, and Luck
Sierra Stories: Tales of Dreamers, Schemers, Bigots and Rogues
The Illuminated Landscape: A Sierra Nevada Anthology. Co-edited with Rick Heide
Distant Horizon: Documents from the 19th Century American West

Charles Dailey

The Identity and Postcranial Osteology of Odocoileu Lucasi (Hay) 1927: A Plio-Pleistocene Deer from California and Idaho by G. Victor Morejohn and D. Charles Dailey

Museum Exterior Carousel — Sewell Hall is home to Sierra College’s Natural History Museum (SCNHM), Planetarium, and classrooms for Agriculture, Anatomy, Astronomy, Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Earth Sciences, Environmental Sciences and Sustainability, Geography, Microbiology, and Zoology courses.

Museum Charles Dailey Whale Carousel — In 1986 Emeritus Biology Professor Charles Dailey meticulously prepared and donated the skeleton of a Gray Whale. The whale skeleton now hangs from the ceiling at the entrance of the Sierra College Natural History Museum.

Museum Mammal Display Carousel — As a center of research, education, and public outreach, SCNHM is part of that effort to better understand our natural world. Our collections document the presence of species at a particular place and time. This display features plants and wild life found in our community and in the Sierra mountains.

Museum Ice Age Fossils Carousel — SCNHM houses more than 20,000 specimens, including this ice age fossil display. As a true, grass-roots effort, faculty, students, and staff worked together for decades to augment the Museum’s collections and create displays examining Earth’s natural past.

Get in Touch

Sierra College Natural History Museum

(916) 660-7924

museum@sierracollege.edu

Rocklin

Building S

M-F, 8am – 5pm (More details below)

SCNHM hours of operation are M-F, 8am to 5pm when Sierra College semester is in session:

Spring semester: January – May
Fall semester: August – December

We are closed Saturdays and Sundays unless event days. Open on Free Saturdays only 10am – 12pm (unless otherwise noted).

The Museum is closed for all Sierra College District holidays, including Summer Break (June – July), Fall Break (Oct.), Winter Break (Dec./Jan.) and Spring Break (March/April). View Academic Calendar for exact dates.

The Planetarium is open only by group reservation on Field Trip Fridays. Guided tours by reservation only during Spring and Fall semesters on Fridays.

Laura Matzer

(916) 660-7924

lmatzer@sierracollege.edu

Rocklin

S-111D

George Bromm

(916) 660-7949

gbromm@sierracollege.edu

Rocklin

S-122