The Western Foundation of Vertebrate Zoology (WFVZ) is an amazing natural history museum in Camarillo. With a mission “[t]o contribute to the conservation of the world’s wild bird species through sharing our collections with researchers, educators, students, and the public, and through bird education programs, research projects, and publications,” the WFVZ was founded in 1956 by Ed Harrison, a businessman and natural history collector, as a repository for egg and nest collections that could be used in bird conservation and public education. The WFVZ now holds the largest of such collections in any North American museum. Using specimens from our collection of nearly 1,000,000 birds' eggs, 20,000 nests, and 60,000 birds collected from 1800 to the present, we bring “Science To Life” by inspiring students to think creatively and analytically. The Foundation’s materials play key roles in understanding diverse topics such as avian systematics and evolution; the effects of environmental contamination; and changes in bird numbers, distributions, and habitat use.