Members of the Chicago Academy of Sciences first met in 1857,
gathering at the original Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum to share
their passion for education and the natural world. Though their
meetingplace and library was burnt down in the Great Chicago
Fire, their commitment to natural science stood strong. By 1894,
the Academy had regrouped and rebuilt their collection in
Lincoln Park, using dioramas filled with flora and fauna to
create an interactive learning experience. Today, the museum
welcomes guests on a 6.35-acre campus opened in 1999 and filled
with exhibits that expand the relationship between the public
and nature. In addition to more than 15,000 plant specimens and
22,000 amphibians and reptiles, a wilderness walk takes guests
through Midwestern environments, including praries, savannahs,
and dunes, all filled with living and preserved animals.
Visitors can touch live wildlife from Illinois wetlands and
stand in a swirl of 1,000 exotic butterflies and birds in the
Judy Istock Butterfly Haven and t