California Academy of Sciences

San Francisco, California, USA · Golden Gate Park · Founded April 4, 1853

Founded: April 4, 1853 (as California Academy of Natural Sciences)

Type: Private nonprofit research institute, natural history museum, aquarium, and planetarium

Interim Executive Director: Amber Mace, PhD (since May 29, 2026; permanent search underway)

Chief Science Officer: Shannon Bennett, PhD (Harry W. and Diana V. Hind Dean of Science and Research Collections)

Collections: ~46 million scientific specimens

Building: 410,000 sq ft, designed by Renzo Piano; opened September 27, 2008; LEED Platinum

Accreditation: American Alliance of Museums (AAM) · Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC)

Annual budget: ~$109 million (FY2025); deficit of $7.3M in FY2025

Website: calacademy.org

Current status (August 2026): Executive Director Scott Sampson resigned effective May 29, 2026, following layoffs of approximately 100 staff over two years and a reported $7.3 million operating deficit in FY2025. Amber Mace, PhD, serves as Interim Executive Director while the Board of Trustees conducts an international search for a permanent successor.

Overview

The California Academy of Sciences is a natural history museum, research institution, aquarium, and planetarium in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Founded on April 4, 1853 — just three years after California joined the United States — by seven men who assembled in a candlelit room on Montgomery Street to propose a systematic survey of California's natural resources, it is the oldest scientific institution in the western United States. Its research collections hold approximately 46 million specimens; it houses around 60,000 live animals; and its public facility — a 410,000-square-foot building designed by architect Renzo Piano and opened on September 27, 2008 — combines an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum, and a four-story living rainforest under a single LEED Platinum-certified living roof.

The Academy's stated mission is to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. It is governed by a 41-member board of trustees and is accredited by both the American Alliance of Museums and the Association of Science and Technology Centers. In FY2025 it operated on a budget of approximately $109 million, reporting a deficit of $7.3 million — part of a sustained period of financial difficulty following pandemic-related attendance declines that has resulted in roughly 100 staff positions being eliminated since 2024.

Public Programs and Exhibits

The Academy's public facility integrates four distinct institutions under one roof. Steinhart Aquarium, originally established in 1923 with a bequest from banker Ignatz Steinhart, is home to more than 40,000 live animals including an albino alligator (Claude, who died January 2026 after 36 years at the Academy), sharks and stingrays, and a Philippine coral reef exhibit. Morrison Planetarium, the world's largest all-digital dome theater at 75 feet in diameter, presents immersive shows on astronomy and Earth science. Osher Rainforest is a four-story glass dome housing a living tropical rainforest ecosystem with free-flying butterflies, birds, and reptiles. The Living Roof — a signature feature of Piano's design — is planted with 1.7 million native California plants across 2.5 acres and is engineered to reduce heating and cooling loads, capture rainwater, and provide wildlife habitat. The Academy also hosts NightLife, a weekly adults-only evening program that has become one of San Francisco's most attended recurring events.

Science and Research Collections

The Academy's research collections — approximately 46 million specimens spanning entomology, herpetology, ornithology, ichthyology, invertebrate zoology, botany, geology, and paleontology — are among the largest in the world, with the entomology collection alone holding some 7.5 million mounted insects. Staff scientists conduct fieldwork across six continents and in deep ocean environments, with particular strengths in reef ecology, island biodiversity, and phylogenomics. The research library holds more than 230,000 volumes. In recent years the Academy has been a significant contributor to coral reef research and conservation, operating reef monitoring programs across the Indo-Pacific. Shannon Bennett, PhD, serves as Chief Science Officer and Harry W. and Diana V. Hind Dean of Science and Research Collections.

History

The Academy was founded on April 4, 1853, making it California's first scientific institution — established only three years after statehood, at the height of the Gold Rush. Its early decades were devoted to specimen collection and a growing public museum, which opened its first dedicated facility in 1874. The 1891 museum on Market Street, between 4th and 5th Streets, drew tens of thousands of visitors annually with exhibits including a woolly mammoth and taxidermied grizzly bears.

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire destroyed the Academy's building and all but a handful of its specimens. As a result of fortuitous timing, however, an Academy expedition was in the Galápagos Islands at the time, and the collections it returned with formed the nucleus of the institution's rebuilt holdings. The Academy moved to Golden Gate Park after the earthquake, opening in its park facility in 1916. Steinhart Aquarium was added in 1923; North American Hall, African Hall, and Simson African Hall followed in subsequent decades.

The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the Golden Gate Park facility severely, triggering a decades-long planning process for a modern replacement. Renzo Piano's design was selected; groundbreaking occurred in 2006; and the new facility opened to the public on September 27, 2008. The building received LEED Platinum certification and has been widely cited as a model for sustainable museum design.

Financial Challenges and Leadership Transition (2024–2026)

The Academy entered a period of financial difficulty following the COVID-19 pandemic, as attendance failed to recover to pre-pandemic levels — a pattern shared across the museum sector nationally. In FY2025, the Academy ran a deficit of $7.3 million on an approximately $109 million budget; further losses were projected for FY2026. In 2024, 38 employees accepted voluntary buyouts while additional staff resigned. In April 2026, 53 workers were laid off. Over two years, approximately 100 positions were eliminated.

Executive Director Scott Sampson, PhD — a paleontologist who joined the Academy in September 2019 having previously served as President and CEO of Science World British Columbia — announced his resignation on May 14, 2026. Sampson was also known to the public as "Dr. Scott the Paleontologist," host of the Emmy-nominated PBS KIDS series Dinosaur Train. His last day as executive director was May 29, 2026; he remained in an advisory capacity through June 30. The Board appointed Amber Mace, PhD — formerly Managing Director and Chief Strategy Officer, and prior to joining the Academy in 2023 the CEO of the California Council on Science and Technology — as Interim Executive Director while an international search for a permanent successor proceeds.

Location and Contact

Address: 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA 94118

Phone: (415) 379-8000

Website: calacademy.org