Calling all Science Museum of Minnesota staff and volunteers: do you have a photo of the museum you really love? In honor of the Museum’s 100th anniversary, Science Buzz is holding a behind-the-scenes photo contest. We’re looking for all the really juicy stuff that our visitors don’t get a chance to see, like the towboat being hoisted into place, or fossil crocodiles under plastic before being put on exhibit, or the light filtering into the atrium just so…you get the idea.
Submit your photo before January 1, 2008. All images will appear here, under this post, where people all over the world will be able to see them. Buzz staffers (and maybe Ethan Lebovics, who had the idea for this contest—are you reading, Ethan?) will pick the winning photo on the basis of relevance, artistry, and all-around coolness, and the winning photographer will win an as-yet-undetermined prize. And bragging rights.
Here’s how to enter (it’s probably good to open another window, and follow the steps there so you can still read the instructions without flipping back and forth):
You're done! Good luck to everyone that enters. Can't wait to see the photos.
I'm not eligible for the contest, but I figured I should post something to get things rolling, and I've always been partial to this grainy, shrouded image of Allosaurus...
Allosaurus in progress: This Allosaurus, one of the Museum's Jurassic dinosaurs, was installed in the new Museum building in late 1999. Construction continued around them right up until the new building opened. (Photo by Liza Pryor)
"Where is the two headed turtle"? In the Collections Gallery, Emily, the two headed turtle is our most sought after exhibit. 
Two headed turtle: photo by Kate Hintz When a newly hatched two headed turtle was found by a turtle researcher in Burnsville, Kate Hintz was asked if the Science Museum of Minnesota would like to raise it. Unfortunately it stopped eating and died after about two months. It is preserved and can now be seen along with Emily, the Science Museum of Minnesota's notorious two headed turtle.
I'm not eligible, but I love attention...
Don the Gorilla
Dan Dahm, a Project Production Manager in the shop, asked me to post these images for him.
He wrote,
"[This] isn't really a behind the scenes image, quite the opposite, but I don't think many of our visitors see the museum from this direction. These were taken in the summer of 2006, just as I started to work on the Water project. They make nice desktop images if nothing else."
So modest!
View from River Park 1
Courtesy Dan Dahm, SMM
View from River Park 2
Courtesy Dan Dahm, SMM
Allosaurus Attack
Courtesy Mark RyanI, too, or three, am not eligible for this (or am I?) but I wanted to post a few photos anyway. This one's also not so much behind the scenes but it was taken after the museum had closed. I removed all the distracting background in Photoshop. The color of the skeletons came out this way because of the lighting (the allosaur's bones are very black) and how it was shot, but I liked how it contrasts the added green background.
This is a miniature body cast that I made for a volunteer Pompeii exhibit station. I tried to make it in as similar as possible to how the original ones from Pompeii were cast. Visit http://web.mac.com/merial/iWeb/Main/minibodycast.html to see how this miniature body cast was made. You can see this mini cast at the volunteer station near the Roman arch model at the Pompeii exhibit.
minicast
Courtesy Mark Monahan-Rial
Lake Jane Freshwater Jellyfish/ Hydra: A couple of summers back, a volunteer brought in some freshwater jellyfish that he'd collected from Lake Jane, near Lake Elmo, MN. We watched and observed these hydra over a week--oh so fascinating and beautiful.
Courtesy Kate Hintz
One of the focal points of the Science Musuem is its location on the Mississippi River, and I love watching its moods and activity change with the seasons. This sunrise photograph captured the beauty and elegance of the Mississippi River Valley on an early fall morning. 
Sunrise from SMM
Courtesy Kate Hintz
Lake Harriet Dino
Courtesy Mark RyanThis photo is so far behind the scenes - it's in Minneapolis.
That is behind the scenes!
Cool shots so far.
Here is one from the Wolf Center's traveling exhibit that was at the museum last year.
Do bears do the same thing when not in the woods as they do in the woods? Evidently they do. Nice diaper.
Sorry about that bad link I posted above...
Here's our bear friend in diapers:
Electrified Allosaurus: This spectacular behind-the-scenes shot captures the exact moment when someone was dusting the Allosaurus display base and accidentally generated a static spark. I just happened to be taking a photo at the same time. I'm pretty sure this really happened.
Courtesy Mark Ryan
Excellent. I had sort of assumed that this was an image of the exact moment the museum pulled the allosaurus through the portal that brought it forward in time to the present day. Now that I think of it, however, that portal had more of a bluish tint.
Science Buzz is supported by the National Science Foundation.
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