Jean and Ric Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University

Glassboro, NJ

with Ennead Architects

2019 ongoing

Role: Project Designer for Ennead

Under Construction

Inspired by the core themes of preservation, exploration, and education, the Jean and Ric Edelman Fossil Park and Museum of Rowan University is a one-of-a-kind active fossil dig site that offers visitors the unique opportunity for hands-on discovery at a remarkable site of scientific wonder.

The museum is situated within an active dinosaur fossil dig site in Southern New Jersey which contains thousands of fossils and provides a view into life in the Cretaceous Period 66 million years ago. Once a shallow ocean environment, then used for mining for over a century, the site is now a 4-acre quarry, encompassed by a 65-acre property, where “citizen scientists” can dig for fossils, alongside leading paleontologists at Rowan University.

At 44,000 square feet, the museum acts as a learning and research center as well as an exhibit experience, with laboratory space and programs geared to both paleontologists and “citizen scientists”. The museum will feature three immersive galleries with fossils from the late Cretaceous period, full-scale reconstructions of extinct creatures, hands-on learning experiences, live animal attractions, virtual reality, connections to the natural world, and community gathering spaces.