The Bishop Museum of Science North Education Center and Mosaic Nature Backyard Universe

Overview

Originally opened in 1947, the South Florida Museum was re-branded as the Bishop Museum of Science & Nature in 2019. The museum hosts 70,000 visitors annually. The rebranding included an expansion and renovation which refurbished the permanent exhibit spaces and added a new education wing supporting a robust science education program.

The Mosaic Backyard Universe includes scale models of the solar system, a freshwater pond filled with turtles, fossil dig pit, cardboard rocket, a Science Shed and the life-sized Ralph S. French Charitable Foundation Mighty Oak towering above it – all indoors for year round enjoyment.

The Bishop Museum is the largest natural and cultural history museum on Florida’s Gulf Coast with permanent exhibits that interpret the region from the Pleistocene Epoch to the present. Highlights include fossil evidence of Florida’s earliest animal inhabitants, the Montague Tallant collection of prehistoric and early post-contact archeological artifacts, and the Environmental Hall focusing on Florida’s ecology and biodiversity in the Pine Uplands and Riverine Galleries.

The Science & Nature Center includes a Planetarium that features one of the most advanced all-digital projection systems in the world, and The Parker Manatee Rehabilitation Habitat.

Features

In addition to the exhibit spaces and classrooms, the numerous facility elements were upgraded, including air handling units, VAV terminal units and HVAC controls incorporating energy conservation measures, voice/data systems, access control, intrusion detection, and video surveillance systems. Exhibit lighting includes ETC architectural lighting controls systems, power distribution and DMX-controlled LED lighting.