Kingman Museum of Natural History — University Research & Academic Partnership Initiative
Kingman Museum of Natural History is actively developing a formal academic partnership program designed to open its 155-year-old natural history collection to regional colleges and universities as a living research resource — while simultaneously creating new pathways for university-sponsored positions that strengthen the museum’s long-term operational capacity.
The initiative rests on a straightforward premise: Kingman holds something rare. A collection spanning geology, paleontology, zoology, botany, and regional natural history accumulated over more than a century and a half represents the kind of primary source material that academic researchers spend careers trying to access. Much of it has never been formally studied. Some of it has never been fully catalogued. All of it sits in Battle Creek, Michigan — within reasonable reach of a remarkable concentration of higher education institutions — and until now, largely outside the awareness of the academic community that would benefit most from knowing it exists.
That changes with this initiative.
Making the Collection Available for Academic Research
Kingman is establishing a structured framework for colleges and universities to access its collection for legitimate scientific study, natural history research, and academic inquiry. Faculty researchers, graduate students, and undergraduate research teams will be able to engage with the collection through formal research agreements that govern access, handling, documentation, and attribution.
Research opportunities span a wide range of disciplines. Geology and mineralogy faculty can access the museum’s rock and mineral holdings for regional study. Paleontology researchers can examine fossil specimens that document the natural history of southwest Michigan and the Great Lakes region. Zoology and ecology programs can work with the museum’s biological collections to support biodiversity research, species documentation, and environmental baseline studies. Historians and anthropologists can engage with the museum’s regional artifact holdings in ways that connect natural history to human history.
The museum’s ongoing digitization work — including its PastPerfect Online collections database and its developing Educator Collection Portal — means that researchers will increasingly be able to identify relevant specimens and plan research engagements remotely before ever setting foot in the building. This lowers the barrier to access and makes Kingman a more attractive and efficient research partner for institutions whose faculty and students operate on tight timelines and limited travel budgets.
University-Sponsored Positions
Beyond collection access, Kingman is creating a formal framework for universities to sponsor professional and student positions within the museum — filling critical operational gaps while simultaneously providing real-world professional experience that academic programs cannot replicate in a classroom.
Sponsored position opportunities include:
Collection Management Fellows — Graduate or advanced undergraduate students placed at Kingman to assist with cataloguing, digitization, condition reporting, and collections care. These positions give students hands-on experience with museum collections management practices while directly advancing the museum’s digitization and accessibility goals.
Curatorial Research Assistants — Students working alongside Kingman staff to research, document, and develop interpretive content around specific collection areas. This work feeds directly into exhibit development, the Educator Collection Portal, and the museum’s growing digital presence.
Museum Management Interns — Positions focused on nonprofit operations, grant writing, donor relations, community programming, and communications — giving students in museum studies, nonprofit management, public administration, and related fields the kind of operational experience that defines careers in the sector.
Endowed or Sponsored Staff Positions — For institutions with the capacity and interest, Kingman is open to conversations about university-sponsored full or part-time staff roles — positions formally funded through a university partnership agreement that serve the museum’s mission while carrying academic affiliation and research connection back to the sponsoring institution.
Faculty Research Residencies — Short-term arrangements where faculty members spend dedicated time working with the collection, contributing expertise in exchange for research access and the opportunity to co-publish findings that formally credit Kingman’s holdings.
Why This Matters for Both Sides
For universities, the value proposition is concrete. Kingman offers something that no laboratory can replicate — a century and a half of accumulated physical evidence of the natural world, held in a community institution with deep local roots and a genuine mission to serve the public good. Partnering with Kingman gives academic programs access to primary research material, community engagement credentials, and student placement opportunities that strengthen both curricula and institutional profiles.
For Kingman, university partnerships provide something equally essential — intellectual capacity, professional expertise, and sustainable funding for positions and programs that a small nonprofit operating on grant funding and volunteer labor cannot easily maintain on its own. Each sponsored position advances the museum’s collections, strengthens its programming, and builds the organizational infrastructure needed to serve its community for another 155 years.
Regional Partners Kingman Is Pursuing
The Battle Creek region sits within reach of a strong network of higher education institutions — including Kellogg Community College, Western Michigan University, Michigan State University, and others — each of which maintains programs in the natural sciences, education, history, museum studies, and nonprofit management. Kingman is actively working to initiate conversations with these institutions, with the goal of establishing formal memoranda of understanding, research access agreements, and sponsored position frameworks in the near term.
Where Things Stand
This initiative is in active development. Collection digitization, the foundation of any serious academic partnership, is underway. Kingman’s leadership is identifying the right contacts at regional institutions, developing the formal agreements and frameworks that will govern research access and sponsored positions, and building the case — in collections depth, mission alignment, and community impact — that makes Kingman an institution worth investing in academically.
The opportunity is significant. The collection is real. The partnerships are within reach.
Explore. Observe. Contribute.
The Kingman Community Science Network connects people with the natural world through real scientific participation. Visitors, students, and volunteers contribute to ongoing biodiversity, environmental, and research initiatives using trusted platforms such as iNaturalist, eBird, GLOBE Observer, and Zooniverse.
Whether you are spotting wildlife on the museum grounds, tracking bird migrations, measuring environmental conditions, or helping analyze research data, you are contributing to a growing body of knowledge about Southwest Michigan.
What You Can Do
- Record plants and animals in your neighborhood
- Join guided bird walks and seasonal surveys
- Participate in climate and environmental monitoring
- Help classify images and data for real research projects
- Contribute to museum-led BioBlitz events
Program Milestones
Phase 1: Launch (Year 1)
- Establish Kingman’s regional observation project
- Introduce monthly bird walks and seasonal programs
- Launch partnerships with schools and community groups
- Host inaugural Kingman BioBlitz
Phase 2: Growth (Year 2–3)
- Expand participation across Southwest Michigan
- Integrate programs into school and youth curriculum
- Launch museum-led digital research projects
- Develop a growing dataset of local biodiversity and environmental observations
Phase 3: Impact (Year 3–5)
- Position Kingman as a regional hub for community science
- Contribute meaningful data to national and global research efforts
- Publish annual findings and community impact reports
- Integrate community-generated data into exhibits and programming
Why It Matters
The natural world is constantly changing. By participating in the Kingman Community Science Network, you help document those changes, support scientific research, and build a deeper connection to the environment around you.
This is science that belongs to everyone.
Get Involved
Join an upcoming program, attend a field session, or start contributing today. No experience required.
Kingman Community Science: Help Classify Our Collection
Part of the Kingman Community Science Network
Step into the role of a scientist. Explore real objects from the Kingman Museum collection and help identify animals, rocks, fossils, and cultural artifacts. Your contributions support ongoing research, improve our records, and bring Southwest Michigan’s natural history and culture to life. No experience needed, just curiosity.
As a featured project within the Kingman Community Science Network, this initiative connects the public directly to active museum work. Powered by Zooniverse, participants help transform thousands of collection records into richer, more searchable data that supports exhibits, education programs, and future research.
Our project on Zooniverse Kingman Community Science: Classifying the Collection
