Behind the Scenes at NHMU: Paleontology Collections

NHMU's collections are home to nearly 2 million objects held in stewardship for the people of Utah. From massive fossils to tiny fungi, delicate pottery to thousands of preserved insects, the Museum's collections are a vast and growing record of natural history in Utah and beyond. With consideration for preservation and research, much of the collections are off limits to Museum guests — which means only a small fraction of the objects within our collection are available for public display. 

We’re always looking for ways to give visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the exciting work and research happening at NHMU, which is why we’ve created mini collections tours for you to enjoy over your holiday break. 

Explore our Paleontology Collections with NHMU's Paleontology and Mineralogy Collections Manager, Carrie Levitt-Bussian, as she discusses her passion for paleontology. 

Meet Carrie Levitt-Bussian

Carrie Levitt-Bussian is a paleontologist and the Paleontology and Mineralogy Collections Manager at the Natural History Museum of Utah. As she describes it, she's the "librarian of fossils," making sure every fossil (big or small) is safely stored, organized, and accessible for research projects. But her work extends beyond dinosaurs — she works with paleontological specimens that include vertebrate, invertebrate, and paleobotanical fossils, as well as important gems and minerals from our Mineralogy Collections. During the summer, she spends weeks excavating dinosaurs across Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, and New Mexico. She received her Masters of Science in geology (emphasizing in vertebrate paleontology) from the University of Utah in 2013.