Olivia Russo
Staff Writer
Located at 2157 Second Street in La Verne, the Jaeger Museum is a resource that students can access for free.
For the past decade, the museum has held hundreds of artifacts that have been graciously donated from collectors and even saved from previous homework from students.
Upon walking in, the main room is filled with large cabinets, going from floor to ceiling carrying textiles, cultural wear from China and Mexico and baskets. In the back of this room, tucked away is one large cabinet filled with display collections of bugs collected dating back to 1931, all from previous University of La Verne students.
In two other side hallways, more cabinets lining the walls with taxidermied animals, various specimens in jars and a large collection of plant life from the past hundred years.
“There are collections that people have put together during their lifetimes,” said Al Clark, retired professor of humanities and volunteer at the Jaeger Museum. “When they get to the point of not going to be around a while… they look for a place to donate and fortunately we were the ones that received them.”
The museum is also home to many different gemstones donated from scientists, and a large Sequoia tree piece that dates back hundreds of years. It is also home to the second largest collection of fossils from the La Brea Tar Pits, and has even donated some fossils.
Just by booking an appointment, any student on campus could look at anything featured in the museum, and receive the history from Clark.
Biology professors Jennifer Clarke and Victor Carmona use the museum for both teaching and research, all while helping Clark to go through his collections.
“(Al Clark) makes it so easy for us to find what we need, get what we need, and bring it back,” Clarke, professor of biology said. “I couldn’t teach my class without this place, I really couldn’t. I could not do it. This is such a place for good material.”
Clarke, for a few times now, has been looking through the specimen found in jars and changing the liquid as well as using them in her classes for students to study. It helps her students to be able to study an animal and then go out into the field and recognize the same animal quickly.
On the other side, Carmona uses the space with a small group of students to aid them in thesis research and real-life experience.
“I am a field biologist, I work with collections all the time,” Carmona said. “I saw an opportunity for students to get introduced to research and get an experience you will never get in the classroom … because the amount of learning done here is exponential.”
Carmona and the students have been meeting for about four weeks to go through the bug collections and place them in different groups for their research. When they are finished, they will be able to analyze the bugs over time, as well as creating a separate collection that can be used for display.
In addition to the building, many places on campus feature pieces from the collections in display cases, like the saber tooth tiger in the Campus Center or cases in LaFetra Lecture Hall.
“This place matters more than we think, and there’s really not a lot of majors on campus here that couldn’t apply something to it,” Taylor Puno, recent graduate of the ULV, said.
To book an appointment to see the museum, email Al Clark at aclark@laverne.edu or message @ulvcollections on Instagram.
Olivia Russo can be reached at olivia.russo@laverne.edu.
Olivia Russo is a senior journalism major with a concentration in print/online journalism and a minor in criminology. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Campus Times for Spring 2026. She has previously served as the News Editor, LV Life Editor, a photographer and a staff writer for the Campus Times, as well as a staff writer and photographer for La Verne Magazine.
Anthony Eramya, a senior journalism major, is a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine. He has previously served as a staff writer for both publications.
