Ribbon cutting opens Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University

Some 66 million years ago, a giant asteroid rocketed through space and slammed into Earth, wiping out the dinosaurs and virtually all other life. 

Now, the story of the dinosaurs’ life and death and what it means for the future are on display at Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park & Museum of Rowan University (EFM). 

On Thursday, March 20, Rowan held a ribbon cutting for the museum named by Smithsonian Magazine one of its top 10 most anticipated in the world. The $75 million project In southern New Jersey takes visitors from the late Cretaceous period – the heyday of the dinosaurs – to the wonders and challenges of today. 

WATCH: EFM origin story; ribbon-cutting ceremony (highlights, entire program). See more photos.

The ceremony for EFM, which will open to the public March 29, drew a standing-room-only audience to   celebrate with speakers, including the Edelmans and Gov. Phil Murphy. 

The museum was made possible in large part through a $25 million gift from alumni Jean ’81 & Ric ‘80 Edelman. EFM delves into Earth’s history and looks forward, with lessons and suggestions for ways visitors can advocate for the environment and push back on climate change. 

Rowan purchased the site, a longtime marl quarry, in 2015 from the Inversand Company, and in 2016 the Edelmans made their extraordinary gift. 

Also funded by the University, and supported by Mantua Township, Gloucester County and the State of New Jersey, EFM is the product of a vision shared by the Edelmans, Founding Executive Director Kenneth Lacovara, and Rowan President Ali A. Houshmand. 

“Our motto is ‘discover the past, protect the future,’” said Lacovara, a Rowan alumnus, as he looked up from the lectern to address the Edelmans. "The good you have done here is incalculable.” 

Greeted with cheers as she and Ric entered the museum, Jean Edelman commented on the “miles of smiles” before her and the generations who will benefit from the couple’s investment. 

“For all the memories we’re going to create, it just fills our hearts,” she said. 

Ric Edelman credited Lacovara’s and Houshmand’s vision in seeing the project through. “We provided some of the money, but you all are responsible for this,” he said. 

Ancient quarry teeming with fossils 

Located at 66 Million Mosasaur Way in Mantua, the museum rises above the former marl quarry at the center of EFM grounds. There, researchers and visitors have unearthed more than 100,000 fossils from some 100 different species, from large aquatic reptiles like sea turtles and mosasaurs – which grew as big as a school bus – to dime-sized invertebrates and prehistoric sharks’ teeth. 

Just minutes from Philadelphia, EFM invites guests to dive deep into Earth’s history, providing an extraordinary opportunity to hunt for fossils at the only place in the world to view a preserved fossil ecosystem from the moment of the asteroid’s impact. 

“Rowan is a Jersey gem, let there be no doubt,” Murphy said. “This ceremony represents Rowan’s enduring commitment to educating the people of New Jersey.” 

Houshmand noted that EFM is just the latest – but perhaps the most stunning – addition to the University over the last decade, a period in which Rowan doubled enrollment to more than 23,000 students and completed more than $1.3 billion in university-related projects.

“What we’ve accomplished here will have tremendous impact,” he said. “Soon enough, school buses full of children will experience this amazing facility.” 

Lacovara, a world-renowned paleontologist who in 2005 discovered one of the largest dinosaurs ever, argued in his 2017 book “Why Dinosaurs Matter” that by studying the ancient past, humankind can best prepare for the future. 

“Global warming, sea level rise, the catastrophic degradation of our environment, and the heartbreaking and costly biodiversity crisis all loom large on our horizon,” Lacovara noted. 

Secrets of the Earth in plain sight 

The new museum features immersive, world-class galleries that bring the age of the dinosaurs to life with stunning reconstructions of giant species and their environments. Visitors will explore Discovery Forest, engage with live animals, and interact with exhibits. EFM also offers a free-roaming virtual reality experience, museum store, café, theater, nature trails, and paleontology-themed playground. A fossil dig experience is available from May to October. 

Perhaps most significantly, Lacovara said previously, Rowan researchers there study the exposed Cretaceous-Paleogene Boundary (K/Pg), a subterranean line that chemically represents the calamitous asteroid strike. 

“I’ve researched the world to find a site that would provide proof of the mass die-off only to find it in my backyard, behind a Lowe’s Home Improvement store in Mantua Township,” he said. 

Following the ribbon cutting, Lacovara said EFM will be transformational, for the region, the University and the museum’s visitors.

“The moment I’m most looking forward to is when we welcome families and kids and see their reactions,” he said. “That’s what we built this for.”