The mission of the Frost Entomological Museum is to preserve in perpetuity the collections of the Department of Entomology at Penn State and its partners, to facilitate research on arthropods and on collections practices, to disseminate research results broadly, to serve as a resource for science education and training, to foster a sense of curiosity about the natural world, and to instill responsibility in all people to make our world a better place.

A Brief History

Penn State's Frost Entomological Museum was founded in 1969 in honor of Dr. Stuart Frost, who began his career in Penn State's Entomology Department in 1922. He was responsible for the first insect reference collection at the university, and continued to add thousands of new insects to the collection well into his retirement. Dr. Stuart Frost's contributions and expertise of Pennsylvania's insect fauna were foundational to the collection, as well as its capacity to serve entomological research and education.

Since the museum's founding, the collection has continued to grow through collecting efforts, scientific vouchers, and donations. It now houses approximately one million specimens, most of which were collected from the eastern US. Since 2013, we have been digitizing the collection in order to expand the accessibility of the collection and make the associated data available for science.

Ethics

Frost Museum staff are committed to conducting research and growing our collections in a way that is sustainable, safe, legal, humane, and ethical. Read the Insect Collector's Code and this article on professionalism in entomology, written by our faculty and students, for a better sense of the principles that guide our activities.

Policies and procedures (SOPs) of the Frost Entomological Museum.

News from the Frost

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The Frost Entomological Museum

Address

160 Curtin Rd.
State College, PA 16802
Directions

Hours: Monday-Friday 10am-4pm