UVM’s Perkins Museum of Geology reopens after 6 years

UVM’s Perkins Museum of Geology reopens after 6 years

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - After years behind closed doors, the University of Vermont’s natural history museum is welcoming visitors again, starting with its most famous resident: a whale.

The Charlotte Whale, Vermont’s official state fossil, is back on display at the Perkins Museum of Geology.

The museum shut its doors during COVID. Staffing shortages kept it closed for six years.

It is now open again and free to the public Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This time, students run the show as interns for the museum, and they earn college credit for it.

“So, they learn how to make exhibits like what you are seeing here so all of the exhibits are intern developed and intern presented,” said Sara Helms Cahan, UVM natural history professor.

The museum turns 200 this year. It started as a private club, with Burlington dignitaries showing off their “cabinet of curiosities.” Two centuries later, it belongs to everyone.

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