One of the largest natural history museums in the world, the California Academy of Sciences is located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. The Academy recently moved into a completely renovated, eco-friendly building in 2008. The new building features a green roof that is over 2.5 acres in size as well as numerous "green" building materials. This new building houses three general areas: the Steinhart Aquarium, the Morrison Planetarium, and the Kimball Natural History Museum.

In addition to functioning as a museum and promoting public education, the Academy also conducts a large amount of original research in many fields relating to natural history and science.