The museum's research team was initially founded in the early 1980s, and was initially tasked with searching for specimens for the museum's exhibits and collections. After the demand for exhibit-quality specimens was met, the museum's researchers were reoriented towards documenting and interpreting the geology, and fossils of Midland Provincial Park, Dinosaur Provincial Park, and other areas in the province. The museum has maintained a permanent field station at Dinosaur Provincial Park since 1987. Other areas in Canada where the museum's research program has conducted fieldwork includes British Columbia, the Canadian Arctic, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.