Exhibit at the Erie Maritime Museum - May 2024 through April 2025

The Treasures of NOAA’s Ark exhibit currently on display at the Maritime Museum’s West Wing Gallery

NOAA’s roots date back to 1807 when Thomas Jefferson established the nation's first scientific agency, the Survey of the Coast.

Today, NOAA enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep the public informed of the changing environment around them.

Explore the Treasures now through the end of April 2025, the Erie Maritime Museum will be home to the "Treasures of NOAA's Ark" traveling exhibit which showcases heritage artifacts detailing the story of how people and technology shaped NOAA and its predecessor agencies over more than 200 years. NOAA’s responsibilities include preserving, protecting, and promoting its own heritage while at the same time sharing this history with the public.

Visitors to the Treasures of NOAA's Ark exhibit will:

  • Explore NOAA’s history and how we are all connected to the environment and ecosystem.

  • See instruments used to chart the undersea landscape and keep navigation channels clear of hazards.

  • Learn about the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps, one of the seven uniformed services of the United States.

  • Pay tribute to our wartime heroes with Weathermen at War, a recognition of four weather observers lost while onboard a Coast Guard vessel sunk by a German U-boat during World War II.

  • Experience how art and science come together with a display of cartoonist Jim Toomey’s cartoon strip, “Sherman’s Lagoon.”