Website: https://www.alfmuseum.org/
The Collections: High schools are generally not associated with natural history collections, but the Alf Museum is a glorious exception. The Barstow Formation of the Mojave Desert has yielded one of the most important mid-Miocene faunas in the world, and the Alf Museum, thanks to an active student research program, has one f the best Barstow collections out there. It was these mammals that brought me to Claremont, but the museum has also become a focal point for research on the Kaiparowits Plateau of Utah. If that name sounds familiar, it may be because a large chunk of it is located within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument currently under assault by the Trump administration. It's unrelated to the Alf Museum, but I feel compelled to highlight the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology's efforts to lead the charge against the destruction of our priceless national treasures, which you can read about here. If you're looking for a charity to support at the end of the year, SVP would most certainly put your donation to good use...
The Exhibits: Fair warning: all the photos in the video above are a bit dated. The Alf Museum, as I understand, has recently undergone a major renovation, meaning that my photos do not do the current displays justice. What I am certain has not changed, though, is that the RAM is an underappreciated gem. I especially recommend the displays in the basement (assuming the floor plan hasn't changed too much), which feature Barstow fossils and a world-class collection of fossil trackways.
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