"Help keep the Paleontological Research Institution (PRI) strong"

[mkir...@gmail.com]

(Reposted to the DMG with permission from Dr. Lockwood.)

Lockwood, Rowan via PaleoNet 

Carlton E. Brett at the University of Cincinnati asked me to forward this message along to Paleonet---

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Dear Colleagues: 

I write to you with a special request to help one of our premier research and educational institutions: Paleontological Research Institution (PRI).  

Science in the U.S. is under the gun, with federal funding to all types of research heavily cut, many labs and research programs are in peril. It is a time when we must act together in a unified way to help paleontology thrive. One thing we can and must do is to make sure that our fundamental institutions survive. 

PRI is among the most crucial and active institutions for paleontology in the world. The institution publishes the oldest paleontological journal in the western hemisphere, Bulletins of American Paleontology (BAP), founded in 1895. PRI has programs in research, collections, and education and serves as an educational resource for hundreds of students every year from universities and schools in central New York. In addition, PRI hosts one of the largest invertebrate fossil collections in the US, with an estimated 7 million specimens (larger, even, than, e.g., Harvard, Yale, or the American Museum of Natural History). And, yes, PRI distributes Paleo Pals plushies!

PRI’s outstanding Museum of the Earth, opened in 2003, features the largest natural history exhibits of any museum between NYC and Buffalo and is visited by 20,000-30,000 each year. Just as impressive is PRI’s public outreach; their extensive online content is viewed by >1.2 million unique visitors annually.  

I have been very involved in multiple facets of PRI’s programs throughout my career. Many of my past graduate students have worked with PRI over the years. To say that I greatly respect and value the institution and all that it does and stands for is an understatement. PRI is a unique treasure.  

Moreover, my own extensive stratigraphic collections of Ordovician to Devonian fossils and those of my colleague, Gordon Baird, totaling over 10,000 specimens, are housed at PRI and, form the core of a prospective new center for Paleozoic research adding to PRI’s long-standing strengths in Cenozoic mollusks.  Curation of this collection has been funded by NSF, and we have worked extensively toward this goal through the past four years. Now with the collections nearly fully curated, with compact shelving purchased and renovations on a large hall of Paleozoic collections partially completed, almost everything has ground to a halt. 

In 2023 the major donor to the institution who had long funded PRI’s programs and development and promised funding through the next two decades suddenly defaulted when his own business collapsed. This benefactor supported PRI in ramping up its programs including the development of the Museum of the Earth. Unfortunately, though mostly paid off, there was still a $3 million mortgage remaining on the museum over and above operating expenses. Moreover, governmental funding from NSF, which supported a great deal of PRI’s research, public outreach, and collections improvement is now threatened. 

The good news is that in recent months, with considerable support from the local Ithaca community and the many friends of PRI, the institution was able to muster more than $2 million in promised support (in one case a matching fund) of the needed $3 million. Remarkably, despite the ongoing difficulties, PRI has been able to continue its educational and research programs, developed a totally new and spectacular exhibit on modern and fossil mollusks, and sent out weekly announcements of activities for the public. The urgent news is that PRI must now raise that last $1.2 million before year’s end. 

We must be united if our field is to survive, and, so, I am issuing a challenge.  I will donate $5,000 from my personal limited funds with a pledge to double that to $10,000 if we can, as a community, raise $500,000.  I am also reaching out to a network of amateur and avocational paleontologists. 

 Of course, none of us can do this alone and I realize that this is a lot to ask. Yet, everything helps, and even small amounts add up.  

Finally, please pass this on to others in your networks who might also be willing and able to help. If you donate any amount, your name will be added to an “honor rolle” of donors.  More importantly, at the end of the day, you’ll be able to say that you made a real difference in helping to preserve a paleontological and general scientific treasure. Please consider as large a donation as you can reasonably make and do tell your colleagues about this.

To contribute to the fund to save PRI, please go to www.priweb.org/give.

If you’d like to learn more about PRI and the current situation, visit www.priweb.org/savethemuseum.If you have any questions or would like to speak to someone at PRI please reach out to Amanda Schmitt Piha, Associate Director for Philanthropy and Communications, at schmi...@priweb.org.

Thank you very much for your attention, encouragement, and support. Together we can and must make this happen!! 

Best regards, 

Carl 

 

Carlton E. Brett 
University Distinguished Research Professor  
Department of Geosciences 
University of Cincinnati

[Nick Gardner]

PRI is a fantastic operation. Their collections are phenomenal, their museum (Museum of the Earth) is wonderful (just there again this weekend), and their outreach efforts both locally and globally (via the web) are priceless.

If you have a spare buck or two, please consider helping meet Dr. Brett's challenges.

[Russell Engelman]

The loss of PRI would also be a disaster for Paleozoic and eastern North American paleontology as a whole. There aren't many museums devoted to Paleozoic fossils in the first place, and PRI is one of the few that prioritizes them over the more flashy dinosaurs and Cenozoic megafauna. PRI's collections are a critical resource for those working on Paleozoic invertebrates as well as those working on broader patterns of evolution and climate change across the Phanerozoic, simply because it is such a large reference collection. Indeed, PRI has actually absorbed quite a few local collections from small colleges in the Appalachian area as these institutions decide their collections are no longer worth maintaining. The loss of these collections would be devastating to science, especially as there are few institutions that could take in an orphaned collection of PRI's size and more than likely the collection would have to be split up.

[mkir...@gmail.com]

Posted today on the PRI website:  

An update on PRI’s current position and financial challenges
August 15, 2025 | Also posted to Mortgage Campaign Landing Page

As we closed out our fiscal year in June, we’re proud to share that we have raised $1 million toward retiring the mortgage on the Museum of the Earth, with another $1 million pledged as a matching challenge. Every dollar given between now and the end of the year will be matched 1:1—bringing us closer to our $3.1 million goal to secure the Museum’s future in Ithaca, NY.

We also raised more than $600,000 in unrestricted funds that go toward general operating expenses, making it possible for us to continue to serve our large and varied audiences with collections, science, and education..

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I know that some of the contributions came from the DMG.  ($1,059,619.10 raised of $3M goal)

The full announcement is at:

https://www.priweb.org/press-releases/an-update-on-pris-restructuring-and-financial-challenges-5sj2r