Mississippi Museum of Natural Science, Natural science museum in Jackson, United States.
The Mississippi Museum of Natural Science is a natural science museum in Jackson, Mississippi, featuring living animals, plants, and large aquariums under one roof. The exhibits focus on species native to the state, from freshwater fish and turtles to land animals found in local forests and wetlands.
The museum was founded in 1933 by Francis A. Cook as part of the Mississippi Game and Fish Commission. In the 1920s she led the drive to create the commission, touring local and state fairs with educational exhibits, and in 1932 she wrote the state's first game laws. She became the museum's first director once the legislature established the commission.
The museum displays living creatures and plants native to Mississippi, helping visitors understand how these species exist together in their natural environment. The exhibits encourage people to observe and care for the living world around them.
The museum sits inside LeFleur's Bluff State Park, so the indoor galleries and the nature trails outside are visited in one outing; sturdy shoes help on the trails. The state's research collections, with more than a million specimens, are held here as well, and school groups are the main daytime visitors, so weekday mornings can be busiest.
The outdoor trails run alongside the Pearl River and pass through habitats like bluffs and swamps that are rarely found within a city museum setting. Visitors can watch wild animals in their natural surroundings without ever leaving the museum grounds.
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