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Sea star

Oreaster reticulatus

The American Museum of Natural History was established in 1869 in a world very different from today's. Even by the late 19th century, we did not have a firm knowledge of many of Earth's land regions and oceans, the diversity of cultures outside of western societies, and the essential history and organization of life on Earth. Darwin's revolutionary Origin of Species had been published only ten years before. It would be 30 more years before the structure of the atom would be revealed and the laws of heredity disclosed, 40 years before Einstein would share his theories of relativity, and 132 years before the entire three billion nucleotides of the human genome would be mapped.  MORE >

Eleanor J. Sterling
Director, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation

Eleanor J. Sterling directs the Center for Biodiversity Conservation (CBC) and is the curator of the exhibit Water: H₂O = Life.   MORE >