Silence on the Parkway: Why Saving the Academy of Natural Sciences Is a Fight for Science Itself. Show your support today.
A 200-year-old institution is closing its doors this month — here's what's at stake, and how to help.
Follow the Save The Academy campaign →
On September 1, 2026, Drexel University announced that the museum of the Academy of Natural Sciences — the oldest natural history museum in the Americas — will permanently close on September 30, just shy of its 200th anniversary. University leadership cited lasting shifts in visitor behavior since the COVID-19 pandemic and steadily rising operating costs. Roughly 27 of 80 employees are expected to be affected.
| Date | Event | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | Operating hours reduced; staff layoffs | Advisory |
| Feb 2026 | Children's science camp cancelled | Advisory |
| Sep 1, 2026 | Permanent closure announced | Critical |
| Sep 30, 2026 | Museum closes to the public | Critical |
Video by Milo Rossi on YouTube provides a comprehensive audiovisual deep-dive into this petition. Please take a look. https://youtu.be/nxyfBfCrbDw?is=WLCMrQPQRwnggBLJ
At Astrophyzix, everything we build starts from one belief: science stops mattering the moment it stops being shared. A discovery locked behind a paywall, a specimen collection nobody can see, a museum nobody can walk into — these are breaks in the chain that turns curiosity into understanding. Astrophyzix is proud to support public science by supporting this petition alongside other science communicators and the general public. Here is why it's important and how you can help by getting involved.
✅ Builds Trust
When people can see the evidence for themselves — a fossil, a dataset, a live orbital plot — science stops being handed down from authority and becomes something anyone can verify.
✅ Multiplies Discovery
The next great naturalist or astronomer is just as likely to be sparked by a school field trip as by a journal paper. Close the door, and that spark goes with it.
✅ Protects the Record
Collections like the Academy's are irreplaceable primary data, some specimens centuries old. Once dispersed or mismanaged, they cannot be rebuilt.
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Follow the campaign
Save The Academy on Instagram, plus Max and Matt at GeoSplore (@geosplore, @notoriousnaturalistmax, YouTube @GeoSplore).
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Sign the petition
Save The Academy and the Action Network petition — update links with current campaign URLs.
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Email Drexel's president
Write to [email protected], CC [email protected] and [email protected]. Be professional and respectful.
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Submit a comment to the Mayor's office
Express concern over the impact to Philadelphia's cultural heritage and community.
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Contact City Council or your state rep
Council members fighting to save the Academy, or your state representative.
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Call Drexel's president's office
+1-215-895-2100, if you're comfortable — professional and respectful, always.
To whom it may concern,
I am writing to express my opposition to the closure of the oldest natural history museum in the Americas, The Academy of Natural Sciences. The museum and its collections represent an irreplaceable part of our history, as a nation and as a continent, and the decision to close it is misguided and against the will of the people who the museum exists to serve.
This decision was made without consulting the people or attempting to find a reasonable path forward to keep The Academy open. Beyond the obvious damage to the priceless artifacts within The Academy, this decision is also guaranteed to become an enormous stain on the reputation of Drexel that the people on whom your institution relies will not soon forget.
I stand with the thousands of others who advise you to overturn the decision to close The Academy at the end of the month, provide more transparency about your motivation for closing it, and work with the people, community, institutions, and city of Philadelphia to find a path forward to keep The Academy open for generations of curious minds to come.
Do the right thing,
Science belongs to everyone, or it belongs to no one. The Academy of Natural Sciences has spent 200 years proving that — let's not let it end on a press release.