Carnegie Museum of Natural History

One of the Four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

Featured Exhibitions

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Uprooted: Plants Out of Place

Now Open | Hall of Botany and Third Floor Overlook

Even in urban environments, we see and rely on plants daily. Many of these plants are native to where we live, but many are introduced from other parts of the world. In the groundbreaking exhibition Uprooted: Plants Out of Place, visitors explore more than 4,800 square feet of Carnegie Museum of Natural History to learn how plants ride along as passengers, not drivers, from one region to another, and the consequences when an introduced plant becomes a harmful invasive species in its new environment. Uprooted showcases the museum’s historic herbarium collection, home to the largest collection of Western Pennsylvanian plants in the world, providing a magnified view of the interactions invasive plants have with their neighboring plant and animal communities, as well as of the environmental problems they present. The exhibition also shares stories of holistic invasive species management from community organizations around Pittsburgh.

In the Hall of Botany, visitors discover the stories of invasive plant species including stiltgrass, garlic mustard, and multiflora rose, and how scientists track them. This exhibition showcases dioramas on permanent display through a new lens. What’s more, the exhibition offers a rare look at specimens from the historic Carnegie Museum of Natural History Herbarium, as well as plant illustrations from community partner Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. A plant smell station and touchable plant models engage the senses to enrich the overall visitor experience.

On the Third Floor Overlook, photos of itadori (knotweed) by celebrated Japanese photographer Koichi Watanabe, commissioned specifically for Uprooted, draw visitors in to learn more about the critical issue of land stewardship and how human actions impact plants in our ecosystems. In this striking space, visitors learn about native plants that support diverse habitats and careful language use on the subject of native and non-native plants.

Stories and Resources

Before or after your visit to the museum, dive into introduced species Science Stories written by museum researchers and educators.

two people outdoors looking at plants
Museum researchers studying the effects of invasive species.
Garlic mustard, introduced as a kitchen herb.
multiflora rose
Multiflora rose, intentionally planted and now common in forests.
knotweed specimens
Herbarium specimens track centuries of environmental change.
Koichi Watanabe photographing itadori (knotweed).

Callery pear, a common ornamental illegal to sell in Pennsylvania.

*Thank you to our community partners!*

Allegheny GoatScape
Dr. Craig Barrett, West Virginia University
Dr. Jocelyn E. Behm, Temple University
Dr. Rachel Reeb
Dr. Raja Adal, University of Pittsburgh
Erin Mallea
Garfield Community Farm
Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation
Koichi Watanabe
Lauren Kosslow, West Virginia University
Meining Wang
Peyton Phillips, Temple University
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
Sean Stewart and the Lab at Silver Eye 

This work was made possible through support from the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

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We Are Nature: Future Thinking

By: Pat McShea

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Although activities in the Future Thinking Lab section of We Are Nature seldom focus on the past, historic examples of the process are important. Some 50 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, travelers on the Pennsylvania Turnpike pass steel and concrete proof of regional future thinking dating back to at least the 1960s.

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Photo credit: Gibson-Thomas Engineering

At mile mark 100.5, where the busy east/west route crosses over the crest of the mountain fold known variously as Laurel Hill, Laurel Mountain, and Laurel Ridge, the highway passes under the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail.

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Photo: Gibson-Thomas Engineering

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This 70-mile long footpath winds along the ridge crest between water gaps carved by the Conemaugh River on the north, and the Youghiogheny River on the south. The turnpike crossing is located between mile posts 36 and 37, as measured from the trail’s southern terminus in Ohiopyle.

Credit for this recreational resource, which was officially dedicated in 1976, rests largely with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and Pennsylvania’s Bureau of State Parks. The WPC, an 86-year-old Pittsburgh-based conservation organization, began acquiring key tracts on the ridge in the 1960’s for state parks, game lands, and forests. The Bureau of State Parks, which constructed the trail across the resulting patchwork of public and private land, has maintained the path under the auspices of Laurel Ridge State Park.

The trail is but one “product” from decades of future thinking, future planning, and future actions by many organizations and individuals. Far-sighted land conservation efforts on Laurel Hill, which include the establishment and operation of the Museum’s Powdermill Nature Reserve, also protect water supplies and biodiversity, and create recreational opportunities ranging from bicycling to downhill skiing.

Patrick McShea works in the Education and Visitor Experience department of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences and knowledge gained from working at the museum.