California Academy of Sciences

The California Academy of Sciences, the fourth largest natural history museum in the United States, is home to the Steinhart Aquarium, the Morrison Planetarium, and the Natural History Museum, as well as eight research departments and over 18 million scientific specimens. After celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2003, the Academy left its long time home in Golden Gate Park and moved into a transitional space in downtown San Francisco in order to embark on an extensive rebuilding project in the park. Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano is designing the new Academy, which is expected to open in 2008. Meanwhile, the Academy is open to the public at 875 Howard Street in downtown San Francisco. The site houses thousands of animals from the Steinhart Aquarium as well as changing natural history exhibits. Visitors to the Howard Street museum can enjoy daily penguin-feeding shows, come face to face with the slithering inhabitants of Sssssnake Alley, touch live sea stars and hermit crabs at the Touch Tidepool, watch as a wetsuit-clad diver feeds the fish and anemones in the Academy's two-story Coral Reef tank, and explore the current natural history exhibits. Additionally, visitors can examine scientific specimens and participate in hands-on activities with Academy naturalists in the Naturalist Center.

For more information, call 415-321-8000 or visit www.calacademy.org.