Introduction to the Natural Sciences Collections
The Ulster Museum's Sciences Division comprises of the Departments of Geology (minerals, rocks and fossils), Botany (plants) and Zoology (animals) together with the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR).
Today the Sciences collections are large and growing - in total, about half-a-million specimens. Their origins can be traced back nearly two centuries, to the establishment of a museum by the Belfast Natural History Society.
The Sciences collections provide a unique and comprehensive record of Northern Ireland's changing environment through time. They also include a wide variety of exotic plants, animals and geological material acquired from around the world. The Ulster Museum holds these collections in trust for you, for all the people of Northern Ireland and, ultimately, for all people everywhere.
The curators in the Sciences Division are practising scientists, seeking to improve our understanding of the natural world. Their role is to collect, study, interpret and preserve the collections - so that we can all enjoy and better appreciate the world around us, now and in the future.
Habitas is the comprehensive website of the Natural Sciences Division.
History and content of the Ulster Museum herbarium
Object of the Month/Ammonite Slab
Image: Well-preserved Jurassic ammonites from the Dorset coast