Dear friends and supporters,
I’m pleased to welcome you to our fiscal year 2024–2025 annual report. This past year has been one of tremendous change and growth for the Florida Museum of Natural History, and I’m excited to share some of the milestones that shaped it.
After nearly three decades of visionary leadership that propelled the institution to incredible heights, Douglas S. Jones stepped back to his faculty role in invertebrate paleontology. His impact on the Museum has been extraordinary, and we are deeply grateful for his dedication.
As a result, I’m thrilled to be back at the Florida Museum as the interim director and honored to lead it during this period of transition. Some of you may remember me as the curator of mammals and a former department chair. For the past five years, I have served in the University of Florida’s Office of the Provost helping guide UF’s artificial intelligence initiatives.
This year also marked the retirements of two longtime curators, Larry Page, curator of ichthyology, and Kitty Emery, curator of environmental archaeology. Their many years of contributions are sincerely appreciated, and we wish them both the very best.
In March, we closed Powell Hall to begin a long-awaited renovation with Ennead Architects and Scorpio Construction. The project includes a new façade, gift shop and exhibit space, with reopening anticipated for late 2026. Nearby, construction continues on the Thompson Earth Systems Institute’s building, which translates UF’s Earth systems research into resources for teachers and students statewide.
Even with exhibits closed, our teams have been active across the community through hundreds of outreach events and pop-ups. Faculty, staff and student discoveries continue to earn national and international attention, while the Natural History Department secured more than $2 million in new external funding for research and education.
There’s much more to discover in this report, and I encourage you to take a look and join us in celebrating our achievements over the last year. Thank you for your continued support.
David Reed
Interim Director
The Department of Natural History had another exceptional year of scholarship and training. Faculty, staff and student research and discoveries garnered national and international media attention. The department secured over $2.1 million in new external funding to support its research and educational efforts. Two new faculty curators joined the team: Advait Jukar, assistant curator of vertebrate paleontology, and Vaughn Shirey, assistant curator of Lepidoptera for the McGuire Center. Museum Director Emeritus Douglas Jones also returned to the faculty and resumed his research activities. The department strengthened its commitment to undergraduate engagement by appointing Mariela Pajuelo as its first undergraduate coordinator, who led events and workshops tailored to UF students. Faculty and staff mentored more than 100 graduate students and over 300 undergraduates from nine UF colleges through hands-on research and curation experiences. Additionally, they taught more than 600 students, primarily from the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Agricultural and Life Sciences. The departmental internship program also received new private funding, enabling support for 20 undergraduates engaged in behind-the-scenes research.
UF’s Dr. Robert Ferl and Roger Portell with the moon snail from the invertebrate paleontology collections that went into space on the Blue Origin flight. ©Florida Museum/Kristen Grace
In partnership with UF Innovate, Florida Museum fossils took flight aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket. Back on Earth, Museum scientists revealed giant croc-like sebecids survived in the Caribbean about 5 million years after they went extinct elsewhere and that tegus, today an invasive species in Florida, had ancient native relatives here millions of years ago. Other collections-based projects expanded frontiers, from identifying disco gene pathways in moths that may regulate circadian rhythms, to analyzing rare elephant fossils in India that provide the earliest evidence of butchery on the subcontinent, to a federally-funded initiative that described more than 100 new species of ribbon worms.
A brown thrasher was captured at Prairie Creek Conservation Area. ©Florida Museum/Mia Keriazes
Museum researchers partner with local people and organizations, bringing science into everyday Florida landscapes. Paleontologists unearthed a “graveyard” sinkhole in the Big Bend region of Florida with half-million-year-old sloth, horse and giant armadillo fossils, discoveries made possible through collaboration with local fossil collectors. They are also guiding regional utility companies to manage the plants on their lands to double as pollinator habitat, demonstrating how conservation can align with industry needs. And at the UF Bird Observatory, based at Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, new long-term monitoring of migratory species is connecting bird science with community volunteers.
During the XPRIZE Rainforest finals competition, the on-board camera systems photographed and automatically classified 250,000 insects in just 24 hours. Photo courtesy of Cat Kutz
The Museum continued its tradition of excellence with faculty and staff earning university and national recognition. Faculty highlights include Mariela Pajuelo named UF Engagement Advisor of the Year, Charles Cobb selected as a 2025 UF Research Foundation Professor and Megan Ennes honored as an Early-Career Research Fellow in Education Research by the National Academies Gulf Research Program. Robert Guralnick and several current and former graduate students and postdoctoral researchers secured first place and a $5 million prize in the XPRIZE, an international biodiversity competition. And in the crowning achievement of a career, Florida pottery expert Ann Cordell was recognized with a lifetime achievement award.
Students sift through the sandy Florida soil for objects that have remained buried for hundreds of years. ©Florida Museum/Kristen Grace
The Museum has made important strides with its obligations under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Working across divisions, the NAGPRA coordinator submitted notices for cultural objects for non-anthropological collections, as well as summaries within the archaeological divisions. The Museum also submitted and published more than 30 notices to the federal government, which makes the process possible to repatriate over 700 ancestors and 13,000 funerary objects to Tribal Nations in the U.S. This work was facilitated through federal awards to the Museum and led by a dedicated coordinator and other Museum staff and faculty. In an effort to introduce UF students to the fundamentals and best practices in archaeology, curator Charlie Cobb created a new field course that excavated a Spanish mission site.
Makenzie Mabry poses with a rare Tiganophyton plant during a field expedition in Namibia. Photo courtesy of Makenzie Mabry
By working behind-the-scenes with Museum faculty and staff, UF students are gaining experience with scientific collections, communicating science and finding future careers. These students and postdocs are widely recognized for their accomplishments, including three postdocs who received University of Florida awards: Makenzie Mabry was named UF Postdoc of the Year, Ivone de Bem Oliveria received a Distinguished Postdoc Mentor Award and Bert Foquet was awarded a travel grant. Graduate students were celebrated through the Museum’s annual Austin (Maria Vallejo-Pareja), Biodiversity (Sarah Steele Cabrera) and Bullen awards (Domenique Sorresso).
Students from P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School touch a Teleoceras skull, an extinct ancestor of the rhinoceros, in the museum’s vertebrate paleontology collection. ©Florida Museum/Kristen Grace
In December, the Museum completed the move of its vast “wet” collections, specimens preserved in alcohol, including fishes, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates, into the state-of-the-art Special Collections Building. Staff relocated approximately 4 million specimens stored in about 60,000 gallons of preservative, safeguarding one of the nation’s largest ichthyology and invertebrate zoology collections and a herpetology collection ranked among the top 10 nationally. With the move complete, Dickinson Hall opened its doors to the public for the first time in more than two decades, offering a prized glimpse into its research. Museum faculty and staff welcomed middle school students from UF P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School behind the scenes to explore fossils, bird skins and invertebrates, meet researchers, and experience cutting-edge labs for CT scanning and 3D modeling.
Peer-reviewed publications
New grants and contracts worth $2.52 million
Undergraduates working in the collections
Postdoctoral fellows working in the collections
Million specimens & artifacts
New accessions to collections
New specimens & artifacts cataloged
Specimens & artifacts loaned via 250 loans
Editorial mentions in news articles
Yellow imperial moth, Eacles imperialis. ©Florida Museum/Jeff Gage
The McGuire Center experienced a year of significant growth and renewal, expanding its community to 16 graduate students and 5 postdoctoral fellows, further solidifying its commitment to training the next generation of scientists. A major milestone was the installation of a new roof at the Thomas C. Emmel Research Facility (TCERF), ensuring long-term preservation of the Center’s world-class collections and research spaces. These investments highlight McGuire’s dedication to both its people and infrastructure, reinforcing its position as a global leader in Lepidoptera research, conservation and education.
A breeding and release program will help boost the frosted elfin’s faltering population numbers in Florida. ©Florida Museum/Jeff Gage
The McGuire Center reinforced its leadership in applied conservation and interdisciplinary science. Under Jaret Daniels’ leadership, large-scale butterfly conservation efforts advanced significantly, including a $1 million initiative to recover the frosted elfin butterfly and a $130,000 Florida Department of Transportation-funded project that planted 9,000 native milkweeds along Florida roadsides to support monarch populations. Simultaneously, Akito Kawahara partnered with UF Department of Chemical Engineering researchers to develop innovative biomaterials from Lepidoptera silk, integrating biodiversity research with advancements in materials science and biomedicine through a $1.4 million NSF-funded study on bagworm moth genetics. These initiatives highlight the Center’s broad impact, from protecting vulnerable species to fostering cutting-edge scientific innovation.
Vaughn Shirey collaborated with artist Jason Edward Tucker to create a series of cyanotypes using melted ice and snow. ©Florida Museum/Kristen Grace
Digitization remained a top priority, with Keith Willmott and newly appointed curator Vaughn Shirey spearheading efforts to broaden access to the Center’s exceptional collections. Thousands of specimens have already been digitized, providing researchers worldwide with powerful tools to study Lepidoptera diversity and evolution. The newly launched Shirey Lab is at the forefront of developing innovative computer vision techniques to organize and digitize unsorted specimens, securing funding and publishing influential papers on invertebrate conservation. These initiatives underscore the McGuire Center’s leadership in modernizing biodiversity research and enhancing the accessibility and impact of its collections.
Volunteers work alongside staff sorting animal remains from an archaeological site, using modern comparative skeletal specimens from the Museum’s Environmental Archaeology collection. ©Florida Museum/Annisa Karim
This year, educational programming at the Randell Research Center was expanded. With the support of the Friends of the Randell Research Center and a dedicated team of center volunteers, the RRC offered two public-friendly expert lecture series about archaeology and history, and an expanded Harbor History Tour series. Each of these series highlighted the deep natural history, maritime lifeways, and community resilience characteristic of southwest Florida through time – from the Calusa to the historic Rancheros, and into the present. Staff also produced five enrichment workshops for RRC volunteers to support their love of learning and curiosity.
Visitors enjoy the waterfront view of Pine Island Sound at the Randell Research Center. ©Florida Museum/Michelle LeFebvre
As a publicly accessible, year-round community resource, the Calusa Heritage Trail is just as special for its preserved archaeological, cultural and environmental heritage as it is for the people who help the dedicated RRC staff care for it. This year, staff worked with members of the center’s volunteer corps, Randell Research Center Advisory Board members and partners from across a spectrum of Pine Island organizations, including the Matlacha/Pine Island Fire Control District and AmeriCorps, to begin to restore the trail following three major hurricanes in two years.
UF Gulf Scholar and GatorCorps students on the Calusa Heritage Trail. RRC volunteer Kevin Lollar (center) treated the students to a special tour. ©Florida Museum/Michelle LeFebvre
This year, the RRC partnered with the UF Bob Graham Center for Public Service to host a group of undergraduates affiliated with the UF Gulf Scholars Program and GatorCorps on Pine Island. The students participated in Calusa archaeological heritage preservation related efforts tied to recovery from hurricanes Helene and Milton. This service opportunity allowed the center to share Pineland and Calusa archaeology with the group, including students with interests in anthropology, journalism, engineering and architecture. All enjoyed a long weekend of hard work as well as inspiring discussions about the importance of Museums in leading cultural heritage and natural resource conservation in Florida.
Graduate committees chaired
Graduate committees served
Independent studies supervised
Courses taught by museum faculty
Maria Camila Vallejo shares paleontology fossils with 7th-grade science students at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School as part of the TESI Scientist in Every Florida Schools program. ©Florida Museum/Kristen Grace
This spring marked a monumental achievement for the Scientist in Every Florida School (SEFS) program: its 5,000th classroom visit and more than 250,000 K-12 students reached in Florida since 2019. SEFS’s mission is to engage K-12 students with Earth systems science by facilitating meaningful connections with real scientists. The program has not only expanded in scope and reach but also transformed the way students and teachers interact with science education. What started as a bold vision to connect Florida’s students with working scientists has grown into a dynamic and far-reaching program that has touched every corner of the state.
Sadie Mills speaks with UF students at the TESI Swamp for the Springs table during a pop-up museum event at the Marston Science Library. ©Florida Museum/Kristen Grace
TESI was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida to educate the UF community about Florida’s springs and inform them of ways they can act to protect spring resources. Many of the 93,000 students, faculty and staff learn about, visit and enjoy recreation in the springs for the first time while at UF. Through TESI’s Swamp for the Springs project, members of the UF community were able to take part in a campus-wide survey, learn more about the springs through six outreach events and participate in a springs clean-up effort. TESI was also able to host two UF Gulf Scholars interns to hone their science communication skills while working on the project.
Students hold up a sign during the “CSI Planet: Mystery of the Missing Manatee” event put on by TESI and the UF Theatre Strike Force improv comedy troupe. ©Florida Museum/Jeff Gage
This year, TESI’s Environmental Leaders (EL) Network grew its reach by hosting four major outreach events and six professional development opportunities, engaging more than 200 students. Guided by student interest surveys, the program connected participants with leading professionals, including Dr. Kirk Johnson and Ray Troll, while also creating spaces for students to build community with their peers. As a result, the EL Network membership now spans 76 undergraduate and 16 graduate programs with nearly 500 students, reflecting its growing role in preparing the next generation of environmental leaders.
Scientist in Every Florida School (SEFS) scientist visits
K-12 students reached through SEFS scientist visits
Lifelong learners & undergraduate students reached by TESI outreach programs
TESI supports over $3M in UF research projects through education and outreach programs
This past year has been both exciting and uniquely transitional. Starting in July, Dr. Jaret Daniels took over as Interim Director of Exhibits and Public Programs (EPP) following the retirement of Darcie MacMahon. Jaret is also a curator in the Museum’s McGuire Center for Lepidoptera and Biodiversity and returns to this leadership role for a second time, having initially served a three-year term which began in 2012.
Following the very successful 101-day summer run of the museum-created exhibition Science Up Close: Incredible Insects, much attention pivoted to planning for our large expansion project. This will create new additions to the front and rear of Powell Hall to accommodate a new state-of-the-art exhibition and learning spaces; an updated modern facade; and a larger collectors shop along with additional offices and educational spaces for the Thompson Earth Systems Institute and education department. The scope of the demolition and construction, in combination with the project schedule, required the Museum to close for an extended period of time. Efforts now focus on innovative ways to connect with the community, ensuring that the Museum continues to deliver the highest quality educational programming outside the physical walls of the facility. Museum staff additionally took this opportunity to begin several renovation efforts and help refresh several of the public spaces inside the Museum to ultimately enhance the visitor experience upon reopening.
The year came to a close with Public Programs Coordinator, Catherine W. Carey, retiring after almost 14 years of service to the Florida Museum. While her work with the Education team started in 2012, her initial involvement with the Museum began with an undergraduate internship in 1980. In her role as a museum educator, Catherine inspired thousands of people to care about life on earth. She leaves behind her programmatic legacy “Museums for Me,” a program created for people on the autism spectrum, and their families.
Annual visitation through March 23, 2025
Public program participants
Visitors to museum traveling exhibits at other venues
Youth program participants
Youth field trip participants
Community outreach participants
The photo shows a praying mantis seen through a magnifying glass in the Science Up Close: Incredible Insects exhibit. ©Florida Museum/Jeff Gage
Incredible Insects was the second installment of the Florida Museum exhibition series, Science Up Close. Developed and executed in collaboration with the UF Department of Entomology and Nematology, with additional assistance from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, it represented a highly innovative model for communicating interdisciplinary research to broad public audiences and highlighting careers in science. It provided an in-depth introduction to the ecological, economic, human health and cultural significance of this hyper-diverse animal group. Visitors enjoyed an immersive multimedia experience, a live insect zoo and a large working lab where they could interact one-on-one with rotating scientists from 14 entomological disciplines.
A child touches a grasshopper during a public outreach event about pollinator conservation and planting native plants. ©Florida Museum/Kristen Grace
Florida Museum on the Go! was launched in March 2025 as a strategic initiative to sustain the Museum’s community engagement during a major expansion project. Since its inception, the Education Department, in collaboration with Visitor Services, has reached 8,905 individuals through 129 events, averaging approximately 32 events per month from March through June. Program highlights include Florida Museum Pop-ups at the Marston Science Library, the Grove Street Farmers Market and various other community venues, reflecting the Museum’s continued commitment to accessible, high-impact outreach.
The refurbished bas-relief sculpture displays various habitats in the South Florida People & Environments exhibit. ©Florida Museum/Jeff Gage
Although the larger Museum expansion project has deservingly received the most attention, two large exhibition hall renovations were also initiated. Funded in part with a gift from the 1923 Fund, the Museum fully upgraded its temporary exhibition gallery, adding state-of-the-art theatrical lighting equipment, new flooring and other enhancements to help boost energy efficiency and better accommodate an exciting future slate of changing exhibitions. The South Florida People and Environments exhibit hall also began a partial rejuvenation with matching funding from the Florida Division of Historical Resources’ Cultural Resource Protection grant. Both projects will appreciably enhance the overall visitor experience and meaningful engagement.
Toomey brothers honor Doug Jones’ lasting legacy with inaugural gift supporting paleontological research

Jim Toomey
Growing up on Florida’s Sanibel Island awakened a sense of wonder and discovery in the Toomey boys. Their parents, Barbara and Reed Toomey, built their home there and the boys’ thirst for adventure flourished as they hunted for seashells, insects, bones and rocks. Mike and Jim Toomey’s quest for knowledge and desire to explore the natural world hasn’t waned over the years. These interests brought them to the Florida Museum, and they have supported countless educational outreach programs and exhibits to help inspire that same enthusiasm in others.

Mike Toomey
As close friends of the Museum, the Toomeys seemed a natural fit for the Museum’s next great undertaking, establishing the Douglas S. Jones Endowment. The fund supports fieldwork, research and educational outreach related to paleobotany and vertebrate and invertebrate paleontology, areas of great interest to the Toomey brothers as well as Doug’s areas of expertise.
Mike and Jim jumped at the chance to make the inaugural gift to launch an endowment in honor of Doug’s tenure as he stepped down from the director’s position. When asked about the motivation for this gift, Jim stated, “Doug has led the Museum for the past 29 years and this is a fitting tribute to his dedication and passion for its mission. Mike and I are honored to be part of creating this endowment which will support the field of paleontology long into the future.”
Hours donated
Total volunteers
Total Gifts FY 24-25
Total Endowment Value
Deferred
Cash Gifts
Pledges
Gifts in Kind
| Deferred | $3,137,334 | 57.90% |
| Cash Gifts | $1,742,821 | 32.17% |
| Pledges | $360,000 | 6.64% |
| Gifts in Kind | $178,000 | 3.29% |

Interim Director
Following five years in UF’s Office of the Provost guiding the university’s artificial intelligence initiatives, Reed returns to the Florida Museum as interim director. He previously served as curator of mammals and natural history department chair.

Interim Associate Director of Exhibits & Public Programs
Daniels is a curator of Lepidoptera at the McGuire Center and is currently serving as interim associate director for EPP.

Associate Curator of Museum Education
Ennes was promoted to associate curator and awarded tenure by the University of Florida.

Associate Curator of South Florida Archaeology & Ethnography
LeFebvre was promoted to associate curator and awarded tenure by the University of Florida.

Research Scientist
Stanley was promoted to full research scientist by the University of Florida.
UF and State Allocation
Contracts and Grants
Investment Income
Other UF Income
Gifts
Earned Income
| UF/State Allocation | $16.00M | 44.89% |
| Contracts and Grants | $7.98M | 22.40% |
| Investment Income | $4.11M | 11.52% |
| Other UF Income | $3.98M | 11.16% |
| Gifts | $2.10M | 5.89% |
| Earned Income | $1.47M | 4.14% |
Salaries and Benefits
Other Operating Expenses
Overhead and Other Fees
Transfers for Future Programming
| Salaries and Benefits | $19.48M | 65.56% |
| Other Operating Expenses | $7.77M | 26.14% |
| Overhead/Other Fees | $2.22M | 7.46% |
| Transfers for Future Programming | $0.25M | 0.84% |
Sarah Steele Cabrera
Charles Cobb
Ivone de Bem Oliveira
Robert Guralnick
Makenzie Marby

President’s Award, The Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections
Gil Nelson
Mariela Pajuelo
Florida Museum Dirty Trowel Award
Aditi Persad
Dominique Sorresso
María Vallejo-Pareja