This article explores the process behind exhibition development for the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils--Deep Time, starting with objectives for the hall and goals for visitor learning and engagement. It discusses formative evaluation results and describes the creative process the team used to center human-caused climate change in a hall most visitors might assume to be strictly about the past. The article also discusses the decision to present the exhibition's Age of Humans Gallery content using a tone called "urgent hope." This phrase is used to convey that while fossil evidence shows that human-caused change to the Earth is unprecedented and alarming, there is space for innovation, collaboration, and hope for a positive human legacy.
