The Regenstein Pacific Conservation Laboratory, a 1,600 square-foot conservation and collections management facility, opened in the Museum’s Traveling the Pacific exhibition on August 31, 2002.

Located on the Museum's Upper floor, the Regenstein Laboratory conserves objects from our Pacific collections, as well as others from elsewhere in the world that are also in need of conservation work. The lab also acts as a center for imaging including photography and segmenting CT scans of mummies, laser scanning, photogrammetry, and 3D printing. The laboratory has an active internship program for people interested in these topics.

With more than 1.5 million objects in the Museum’s anthropology collections, this laboratory showcases the our commitment to protect all our collections for future generations.

Next time you are visiting the Museum, be sure to take a peek at what's happening in this laboratory. Just look for the big clear-glass wall at the back of the exhibit gallery.

Or as someone at the Museum is sure to tell you: Start at the palm tree, go past the volcano, cross the coral atoll, sneak along one side of the genuine Micronesian canoe, and there you are.

Inside this special climate-controlled facility, conservators and collections managers work diligently and with great care to improve the health and well-being of countless objects from our anthropology collection.