About the Museum

The University of Alaska Museum of the North is a thriving visitor attraction, a vital component of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the only research and teaching museum in Alaska.

The museum's research collections - 2.5 million artifacts and specimens - represent millions of years of biological diversity and thousands of years of cultural traditions in the North. The collections are organized into 10 disciplines (archaeology, birds, documentary film, earth sciences, ethnology/history, fine arts, fishes/marine invertebrates, insects, mammals, and plants) and serve as a valuable resource for research on climate change, genetics, contaminants and other issues facing Alaska and the circumpolar North. The museum is also the premier repository for artifacts and specimens collected on public lands in Alaska and a leader in northern natural and cultural history research.

These collections form the foundation for the museum's research, education programs, and exhibits. Highlights include a 2,000-year spectrum of Alaska art, from ancient ivory carvings to contemporary paintings and sculpture, in the Rose Berry Alaska Art Gallery; the state's largest public display of gold and Blue Babe, an almost 50,000-year-old mummified steppe bison, in the Gallery of Alaska; and an ever-changing sound and light installation driven by the real-time positions of the sun and moon, seismic activity, and the aurora in The Place Where You Go to Listen. The museum offers special exhibits, events and lectures, and family programs on a variety of topics throughout the year.

Museum members receive free admission to the museum, invitations to exclusive member events, enrollment in the UAMN Curiosity Club for kids, and a 15% discount for select departments in the Museum Store, which offers a wide variety of Alaska Native artwork, jewelry, books and other merchandise. All material in the store relates to the museums collections, and all proceeds support the museum's operations.