 He subsequently attended Uppsala University, graduating in 1843.He took an early interest in natural history and collected many specimens, particularly from the Baltic islands, sending them to Hermann Schlegel of Leiden; Wilhelm Peters of Berlin, Carl Jakob Sundevall of the Swedish Museum of Natural History, Stockholm, and John Cassin of Boston were among his other correspondents.Kumlien emigrated to the United States in 1843, accompanied by his fiancée, Margaretta Christina Wallberg, and her sister.