This small museum dates back to 1973 when UMKC professor and dean Eldon J. Parizek worked with Richard Sutton, a leader in the field of dermatology and adjunct professor of geosciences, to offer exhibits drawn largely from Sutton's personal collection of specimens. Highlights of the collection include numerous crinoids, a large fulgurite that was formed by a lightning strike, and items from Sutton's personal collection which includes cephalopods and rocks containing trapped liquid from tens of thousands of years ago. Thanks to professor emeritus Richard Gentile and his students at UMKC over the past four decades, the museum collection has grown to include numerous specimens from vertebrate fossils collected during dozens of research trips throughout the United States.

The museum began with the personal collection of Dr. Richard Lightburn Sutton Jr. in 1973, and has grown to include new specimens thanks to the cadre of museum curators that followed over the next half-century. In addition to Dr. Gentile, the museum is curated by Dr. James Murowchick and Dr. Raymond Coveney.

Geosciences Museum, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Missouri- Kansas City. Accessed December 4th 2021. https://cas.umkc.edu/areas-of-study/earth-and-environmental-sciences/geosciences-museum.html.