Press Releases

Albuquerque, NM – The New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science (NMMNHS) is honored to debut a new traveling exhibition that brings the legacy of media mogul and conservationist Ted Turner to life through wildland photography captured by his son, Rhett Turner. Conserving America’s Wildlands: The Vision of Ted Turner opens at the museum on Saturday, May 11. 

“Rhett Turner’s stunning photography captures some of America’s wildest places and the flora and fauna that inhabit them as they are meant to be perceived,” said NMMNHS Executive Director Dr. Anthony Fiorillo. “These striking photos will be paired with never-before-seen specimens from the museum’s Research Collections, reminding us that life on our planet is always worthy of conservation.” 

Known for his work building a film and television empire, Ted Turner is also a passionate advocate for land and wildlife conservation. Through Ted Turner Reserves, the Turner Foundation owns more than one million acres across New Mexico in some of our state’s most remote places. Rhett Turner has built upon his father’s legacy as an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and acclaimed photographer. 

Conserving America’s Wildlands showcases dramatic landscape panoramas and wildlife portraits taken by Rhett Turner on 23 Turner family properties throughout the United States. His photos capture a herd of bison on the move with calves in tow, and a mountain laurel plant as it springs into bloom. Dozens of high-resolution images capturing the diversity of landscapes that comprise our nation – mangrove swamps, grasslands, old-growth forests, and barrier islands – will be on view as part of the exhibition. 

These images will be accompanied by more than 35 objects from NMMNHS Research Collections – the largest of its kind in the Southwestern United States – and the University of New Mexico’s Museum of Southwestern Biology. These specimens range from the present day to more than 65 million years ago, including fossils from a Sierraceratops turneri discovered on a Turner property in New Mexico, a hadrosaurfemur, and skulls and horns from three different bison, one modern and two extinct. The exhibition also showcases a grizzly bear skull from the last known specimen in New Mexico, alongside a skull from the gray wolf that began reintroduction efforts in New Mexico. Taken together, these images and objects paint a vivid picture of the deep history found in our wild places and the value of conservation. 

Conserving America’s Wildlands will be on view in the museum’s first floor from Saturday, May 11 through Fall 2024. The exhibition is presented by Thornburg Investment Management and will be included in regular museum admission. 

About the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science is a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, under the leadership of the Board of Trustees of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. Programs and exhibits are generously supported by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History Foundation, through the generous support of donors. Established in 1986, the mission of the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science is to preserve and interpret the distinctive natural and scientific heritage of our state through extraordinary collections, research, exhibits, and programs designed to ignite a passion for lifelong learning. The NMMNHS offers exhibitions, programs, and workshops in Geoscience, including Paleontology and Mineralogy, Bioscience, and Space Science. It is the Southwest’s largest repository for fossils and includes a Planetarium and a large format 3D DynaTheater.