David B. Jones Foundation Helps Launch the Idaho Museum of Natural History’s Mobile Museum

Thanks to the funding from David B. Jones Foundation, a non-profit that supports research in paleontology and educational programs for young and amateur fossil hunters, the IMNH is proud to announce the launch of our Museum Everywhere Program and its flagship, the Mobile Museum. 

This ambitious initiative will bring authentic connections with Idaho’s prehistoric past directly to communities across the state through a mobile, interactive experience with touchable fossil displays, allowing visitors to engage with our shared natural history in an educational and memorable way.

As an extension to the Pocatello museum location, this van will be equipped with an exhibit for visitors to walk through and interact with original and exact replicas of objects directly from our collection. Starting this summer the exhibit will feature Idaho’s dinosaurs and be able to conduct parking lot, auditorium and classroom visits. 

“We are exceptionally excited to begin this program,” said Robert Gay, IMNH Education Manager. “We’ve got an amazingly talented educator who will be delivering programs across the state with this van, and the exhibit we’ve designed for the Mobile Museum is going to allow everyone in the state to be able to get hands-on with Idaho’s dinosaur fossils! Idaho scientists have just begun to scratch the surface of the Age of Dinosaurs here in the Gem State, and this program will both educate and inspire Idahoans in our cool, unique and scientifically important dinosaur record!”

This grant-funded project is working to reach every library district in the state, on a rotating three-year basis at no cost to the communities served. Costs are only applicable to visits to schools, universities, departments or other institutions, outside of the library schedule. Reach out to the IMNH for quotes based on travel mileage. 

In addition to the Mobile Museum, the Museum Everywhere program includes a nine-month educator, Pam Pascali, who will travel statewide providing dynamic educational programming to schools, libraries, and community centers. Pascali joins the IMNH from the Bannock County Historical Museum where she provides educational programming to the Bannock County community. In addition, the Idaho Legislature has allocated funding for fiscal year 2026 to ensure the sustainability of this effort, which allows the IMNH to begin programming in Boundary County starting the week of August 12.

Through this partnership with David B. Jones Foundation, IMNH is fulfilling its vision of making Idaho’s natural history accessible to all parts of Idaho.