Society of Vertebrate Paleontology

10/30/2026

10/30/2026

Kenshu Shimada, paleontologist, researcher at DePaul University, and adjunct curator at the Sternberg Museum, has submitted a follow-up letter to FHSU president Tisa Mason in response to her October 26 testimony to the Kansas Legislature’s Legislative Budget Committee. In addition to reminding Mason that students both domestically and internationally attend FHSU specifically for the Sternberg, he also writes to clarify the future of the 3,000,000 fossil, animal, and plant specimens housed at the museum, whose future remains unclear in light of the $1.2-million raised by public donations.

“While the Sternberg Museum acts as a custodian responsible for maintaining specimens from the federal lands for the U.S. government and for the people of the U.S., as a state museum, all other Sternberg specimens are the property of the state of Kansas, meaning they too belong to the public, especially to the people of Kansas.

“As such, your personal decision to potentially sell the ‘public specimens’ to private buyers should never have even been a possibility in the first place, and it must never happen.
This brings me to my request for clarification. It is now public knowledge that “employees [of the Sternberg Museum] were told to develop a reliable catalog of the holdings."

“To the scientific community, this directive of yours and additional information provided in the article and other reporting (e.g., potentially moving the collections elsewhere) can only be interpreted as you have not dismissed the possibility of selling specimens in the Sternberg’s permanent collections to private buyers.

“Based on the information provided in this letter, including Examples 1 and 2 below (and in my Sept. 30 letter), is the idea of possibly selling Sternberg’s specimens, even parts of them, still on ‘pause’ and has the potential to resume, or is it now off the table completely?

“I surely hope that the latter is the case, and I would truly appreciate it if you could confirm this through a formal public statement as soon as possible so that my colleagues throughout the world and I can take a deep breath and sleep better.”

Read the full letter here: https://hayspost.com/posts/fdc401d2-6e37-492c-a8ed-02124d0186b8

To follow up with FHSU leadership, you can reach them by emailing directly: Tisa Mason, [email protected]; Jill Arensdorf, [email protected]; Mark Arant, [email protected]; Eric Grospitch, [email protected].

10/27/2026

Many museums are currently under threat of being closed. The Academy of Natural Sciences, the oldest natural history museum in the US, is no exception. Please take the time to read our statement on this matter.

10/27/2026

Please take the time to read our statement on the Sternberg Museum of Natural History.

10/23/2026

The Sternberg Museum of Natural History needs your help now! Much like the terrible situation at the ANSP, the Sternberg Museum is being targeted for closure with the safety of the collections and public museum in danger. You can help by contacting the Kansas Legislative Budget Committee members (panel 3) as well as the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR). See the resources page in comments for more information on the situation and contact information of Kansas state reps and KBOR members.

Time is of the essence to make your voice heard! The Kansas Legislative Budget Committee will be meeting on Monday, October 26 with 90 minutes scheduled to discuss the ongoing situation at the Sternberg. This hearing will include testimony from the FHSU President Dr. Tisa Mason.

10/22/2026

It’s time to show up for The Academy of Natural Sciences!

We need YOU to show up to the City Council hearing on October 26th from 2-5pm in City Hall Room 400.

Arrive by 1:30pm. Bring your signs and your I.D.

Share this post and comment below if you will be there!

10/22/2026

10/16/2026

🗣️Attention students and mentors!!

Are you looking for a fully-supported research and development experience with the National Park Service?

We’re hiring 2 Paleontology Assistants for the Paleontology in the Parks Fellowship Program! Read on for details:
📍Location: Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (just north of Las Vegas, NV)! 🌵
💰Stipend: $4,000 + funded fieldwork opportunities
⏱️Hours: 10–15 hrs/week for 4–6 months (mostly remote flexibility!)
🎓Who can apply: Current US undergrads, grad students, or recent grads applying with a professional mentor.

📅 Priority Deadline: October 15
🔗Apply for the program here: paleosoc.org/nps-ps-paleontology-in-the-parks-application-info
⭐Or go to www.paleosoc.org ➡️ Grants and Programs ➡️ Student Support Opportunities ➡️ Paleontology in the Parks Fellowship Program.

10/15/2026

The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology has published a letter to addressed FHSU President Dr. Tisa Mason in the Hays Post, underscoring the value of the Sternberg Museum as an important research institute and reminding FHSU that it must commit to upholding the Museum's own ethics for deaccessioning specimens. While federal specimens are protected by law, all other specimens in the Sternberg’s permanent collections, including type specimens, must remain in the public trust.

"For other specimens that FHSU can no longer maintain, the policy directs consideration of transfer or exchange with another tax-exempt museum or educational institution where they can continue to serve appropriate research, educational or exhibition purposes.

"There is therefore no justification for treating the Sternberg collections as institutional assets to be liquidated. These collections were assembled over generations and held for the benefit of the public and the scientific community. Their value lies not only in individual specimens, but also in their provenance, locality data, associations with other specimens, preparation histories, research records and continued accessibility to researchers and students. If dispersed into private hands, much of that scientific value would be permanently lost to the people of Kansas and the world.

SVP therefore urges FHSU, in the strongest terms, to abandon any consideration of consultation with commercial dealers regarding the Sternberg Museum collections and to ensure that no specimens are offered or transferred to private commercial interests."

Read the full letter on the Hay's Post website: https://hayspost.com/posts/a9a48fdd-4e55-4a6e-8cfb-3c51eaa12ece