Western Science Center (Hemet, California)

[Loon]

This has been a place I've been meaning to visit for a while; I finally went this last Thursday.

Sorry I didn't take a ton of pictures. It's not a huge museum, and despite getting there when they opened and thinking I'd be the only one there, I was quickly joined by a very large and noisy field trip of elementary schoolers.

First off, they had this nice display with information on earth history, with some nice tidbits about California during the times represented (it was underwater for a while).


There was a temporary exhibit on Haplocanthosaurus, a small Titanosaur featuring some wonderful art by local paleoartist Brian Engh (some of his available in the gift shop).



https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49562701196_bea9baf6b8_b.jpg[/img]



There was also a section on the ancient peoples who lived in the area. A lot of neat tools and rock carvings that my idiot self didn't take pictures of. There was this neat display that would illuminate revealing artifacts.





Another temporary exhibit, this time about prehistoric marine life.


There was a life-sized model of Orthoceras, which was pretty cool. Usually, only dinosaurs seem to get this kind of treatment.




I had never seen a fossil of Archelon before, so I didn't know how big it was. I was not prepared.


Some Moasasaur fossils, including the flippers and tail of




An ammonite, forgot the species.


More marine reptiles.





It was around this point where the field trip started catching up to me, so sorry if there aren't a lot of photos from this point on.

The remaining bit of the exhibit featured prehistoric marine mammals. I was kinda hoping for a surprise basilosaur, but, no luck. Still, there were some pretty interesting fossils.




Next up is the main hall, which features the Mastodons. To the left, there was a circular theatre, which had a couple of movies, which one of the workers kindly played for me back-to-back.


This one's called "Max".



I forget this one's name. Little Stevie, I think?





There were also some Ground Sloth fossils.


Right next to the exhibit's exit, there was a small, circular display featuring the life and work of Harley Garbani, a local paleontologist, who did a lot of work for the LA Natural History Museum.




And that's all the pictures I took, unfortunately. Next time I go, I'll have to get some better pictures, as well as some pictures of the truly beautiful exterior.

[mgaguilar]

Looks great for the location! For a place near my old hometown, I'm surprised there were any exhibits there at all.

[brontosauruschuck]

The most amazing thing about this is the idea that there's anything of note to do in Hemet. Are you absolutely sure that was the town you were in? Were you maybe in Temecula or Idyllwild or somewhere?

[Loon]

The most amazing thing about this is the idea that there's anything of note to do in Hemet. Are you absolutely sure that was the town you were in? Were you maybe in Temecula or Idyllwild or somewhere?

Nope, it was Hemet. Had never been there before, but I thought it was a pretty little place. Also, there was some weird ranch populated entirely by fiberglass animals and gnomes; but, it was closed, unfortunately.

[brontosauruschuck]

The most amazing thing about this is the idea that there's anything of note to do in Hemet. Are you absolutely sure that was the town you were in? Were you maybe in Temecula or Idyllwild or somewhere?

Nope, it was Hemet. Had never been there before, but I thought it was a pretty little place. Also, there was some weird ranch populated entirely by fiberglass animals and gnomes; but, it was closed, unfortunately.

It's been over a decade since I've been to Hemet. At that time the coolest thing they had was a Thai restaurant (which is pretty cool, but not super unique). If they've turned that town into a pretty little place then I'll never say anything is impossible again.

[Halichoeres]

Wow, I had no idea this existed! If I'm ever in the Inland Empire again, I'll make sure to stop by.

[Shonisaurus]

Nice pictures and much better is the Western Science Center (Hemet, California). I am aware that California has a paleontological wealth of all geological and paleontological eras like the rest of the United States. That site with such beautiful fossil remains is worth seeing.

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

I just got to visit this place myself! I wrote about it at Dino Dad Reviews, but I'll share my experience here too.
https://dinodadreviews.com/2021/10/07/western-science-center/
I happened to take a trip to California right when they had their grand reopening after having closed for COVID. The temporary Haplocanthosaurus of course was not there anymore, though I'm surprised they took away the marine fossils as well. It looks like that's the space that they are now using for their "Paleontology vs Archaeology" exhibit, which to be fair is an excellent replacement. This is a PSA that is much needed for the... lesser educated around us.




The current temporary exhibit focuses on Win McLaughlin's (@paleowin on Twitter) work in Kyrgyzstan, which appears to have been a major route of faunal interchange between Asia and Africa during the Cenozoic.



Of course the real new hotness at the Western Science Center is the new section on the Menefee Formation of New Mexico, in partnership with the Zuni Dinosaur Institute. They have crocodilian fossils, fragments of Menefeeceratops and Ornatops, and the big star of the show, Dynamoterror, accompanied by a lifelike bust by the ever-talented paleoartist Brian Engh.



I even got to meet some of paleontological celebrities while I was there! Leya Collins, who goes by @paleoprepprincess on Instagram, recognized me while she was going about her work, and took the time to hang out with me and my boys, and helped them do a fossil molding activity. She then introduced me to Brittany Stoneburg, who has made an even wider name for herself as one of the members of "Cosplay for Science", and hosts "Fossil Friday Chats" on YouTube with fellow scientist-cosplayer Gabe Santos of the Alf Museum.



All in all, I definitely recommend this place. It was smaller than I expected, but nevertheless manages to make itself feel like a much larger museum. Check out my full review for more!
https://dinodadreviews.com/2021/10/07/western-science-center/

[Stuckasaurus (Dino Dad Reviews)]

As I mentioned above, Brittany Stoneburg of the Western Science Museum is a member of "Cosplay For Science" along with Gabe Santos, who now works at the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology. They started doing "Fossil Friday Chats" together a while back on the Alf Museum's YouTube page. I feel like this kinda makes the two museums "partners" in a sense, so I recommend checking out that place as well.

https://dinodadreviews.com/2021/11/01/raymond-m-alf-museum-of-paleontology/