Two of its earliest members include Thomas Say, regarded as the father of American entomology, and Titian Peale, a leading natural history illustrator and the chief naturalist on the United States Exploring Expedition (1834–1842).

Curator and Entomology Department Chair, Jon Gelhaus is a leading expert on crane flies and manages the Mongolian Aquatic Insect Survey.

Curator Gary Rosenberg, an expert on Jamaican land snails, is a leader in digitised museum collections and research data.

Later notable Academy ornithologists include James Bond, Frank Gill, Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee, Pete Myers, Fred Sheldon, and Witmer Stone.

Vertebrate paleontology in the United States originated in Philadelphia through the efforts of naturalists and scientists associated with the American Philosophical Society (APS) during the first decade of the 19th century and at The Academy of Natural Sciences thereafter.

He is a co-discoverer of the transitional "fishapod" Tiktaalik roseae from the Canadian Arctic and the discoverer of two tetrapods, Hynerpeton and Densignathus from the Catskill Formation in Pennsylvania.

Its attachment to the Academy led it to become the first to employ interdisciplinary teams of scientists to study freshwater systems and the first to regard biodiversity as a central criterion of water quality.

Once the sampling is completed, scientist will be able to investigate historical trends in marsh development, carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling, water pollution, salinity variations, and climatic change by analysing the core's sediments, chemistry, and diatom assemblages.

Studies frequently deal with the carbon and nutrient cycling as well as those of trace elements (e.g., lead, copper, mercury, and zinc) and organic contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).

The section regularly provides water, sediment and tissue analyses for government, intergovernmental agencies, and private companies from around the country.

Recent and ongoing work include, glass eel (the larvae of freshwater or American eels) recruitment in the Delaware River basin, the ecology and genetics of bridal shiner (a fish that's endangered in Pennsylvania), and the impacts of flow management (dam releases) in the Upper Delaware River to native and introduced fish populations.

Their varied life spans, ranging from weeks to years, are long enough to reveal intermittent and continuous pollutants, yet short enough respond to worsening or improving water quality.

The Macroinvertebrate Section at the Patrick Center has extensive experience in bioassessment, biomonitoring, and inventorying of freshwater habitats throughout the United States.

The Phycology Section of the Patrick Center provides algal analyses for governmental and other agencies interested in both assessing water quality and long-term environmental trends.

In 1995, a multidisciplinary team of scientists from the Academy, as well as from other American institutions, Mongolia, Russia, and Japan started a multi-year study of the lake's biodiversity, limnology, and watershed.

[29] Although this research was scientifically rewarding, it was apparent that issues concerning environmental protection and sustainable economic development needed addressing.

The survey has yielded numerous new species and hundreds of geographic records for known aquatic insects, provided an extensive dataset for ongoing environmental monitoring, and has helped develop research and technical infrastructures in Mongolia.

The occasional series Notulae Naturae began in 1939 as a means to quickly publish short items, usually not longer than 16 pages on subject areas such as zoology, botany, ecology, geology and paleontology.

These three-dimensional displays were the virtual reality of their time, providing generations of museum visitors with their only opportunity to experience distant places and exotic wildlife.

[43] By presenting the wilderness to the public, dioramas nurtured an appreciation of our natural heritage, which, coincided with the growth of the Conservation Movement in the United States.

Some of these, such as the caribou, lion, and plains zebra are familiar and relatively common, but others, such as the desert bighorn, kiang, Kodiak bear, panda, and passenger pigeon, are threatened, endangered, or extinct.

The first of these, the Hadrosaurus mount created by noted natural history artist Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, made its debut at the Academy in 1868.

Hadrosaurus mounts also found their way into other public venues, including Princeton University, the Royal Scottish Museum, the Smithsonian, and the 1876 American Centennial Exposition.

This unconventional exhibition for a museum of science that featured contemporary sculpture, which focused upon the subjects of intense scientific inquiry, began a trend among its peer institutions, who then began to invite Gary and several other artists who specialized in scientific topics and subjects to museums that always had shied away from anything identified as "contemporary art" as exhibitions.

Recent changing exhibits include "Skin: Living Armor, Evolving Identity", "Illuminating Birds", "Extreme Deep: Mission to the Abyss", and "Crocs: Ancient Predators in a Modern World".

Optional directed programs include Discovery Lessons for younger age groups (pre-K and higher) and Science Explorers for older children (grades 7 through 9).

Since its founding in 1982, WINS has been providing female public school students with hands-on science classes, scientific literacy and skill-building activities, and opportunities for personal growth in a uniquely nurturing setting.

Established in 1980, the Gold Medal for Distinction in Natural History Art is awarded to people whose artistic endeavors and life's work have contributed to our understanding and appreciation of living things.

& Anna H. Gallagher Fellowship[52] provides a unique opportunity for original, multi-year, postdoctoral or sabbatical research on the systematics of microscopic invertebrates, especially Rotifera.

The Eckelberry Endowment[54] helps support the efforts of wildlife painters, sculptors, printmakers, and other artists to better acquaint themselves with the natural world through both museum and field research.