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Title: From museum cases to the classroom: Emerging opportunities for specimen-based education

Author
item COOK, J - University Of New Mexico
item LACEY, E - University Of California
item ICKERT-BOND, S - University Of Alaska
item Hoberg, Eric
item BELL, K - University Of New Mexico
item GREIMAN, S - University Of New Mexico
item MCLEAN, B - University Of New Mexico
item EDWARDS, S - Harvard University

Submitted to: Archives of Zoological Museum of Moscow State University
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/20/2016
Publication Date: 2/1/2016
Citation: Cook, J.A., Lacey, E.A., Ickert-Bond, S., Hoberg, E.P., Bell, K.C., Greiman, S., Mclean, B.S., Edwards, S. 2016. From museum cases to the classroom: Emerging opportunities for specimen-based education. Archives of Zoological Museum of Lomonosov Moscow State University. 54:787-799.

Interpretive Summary: Natural history collections are one of the most powerful resources available for documenting the effects of changing environmental conditions on global biodiversity. Worldwide, more than 1.5 billion specimens are contained in natural history museums. These materials, collected over vast temporal and spatial scales, represent an irreplaceable record of floral and faunal diversity, a substantial proportion of which no longer exists and thus cannot be resampled. Accordingly, the information contained in natural history collections is an invaluable source of information regarding spatial and temporal patterns of organismal diversity. To harness the full power of natural history collections, it is critical that museum scientists engage teachers and students to understand the value of these resources for addressing scientific questions and societal issues. In addition to improving understanding of the natural world, such efforts are essential to producing scientists, educators, and citizens capable of addressing the many challenges facing humans now and in the future. We outline and discuss the development of an array of data resources that emerge from specimen collections and identify relevant pathways for information to be broadly utilized by educators, students and scientists.

Technical Abstract: Natural history collections are one of the most powerful resources available for documenting the effects of changing environmental conditions on global biodiversity. Worldwide, more than 1.5 billion specimens are contained in natural history museums. These materials, collected over vast temporal and spatial scales, represent an irreplaceable record of floral and faunal diversity, a substantial proportion of which no longer exists and thus cannot be resampled. Accordingly, the information contained in natural history collections is an invaluable source of information regarding spatial and temporal patterns of organismal diversity. To harness the full power of natural history collections, it is critical that museum scientists engage teachers and students to understand the value of these resources for addressing scientific questions and societal issues. In addition to improving understanding of the natural world, such efforts are essential to producing scientists, educators, and citizens capable of addressing the many challenges facing humans now and in the future. Specimen collections provide a rich resource in the form of field-collected (original) data, but the specimens themselves further serve as the basis for generating new (derivative) data in critical sample-based studies. Original data (e.g., species identity, date of collection, georeferenced collection locality, standard specimen measurements) can immediately inform biodiversity assessments and models used to project and mitigate the response of organisms to future conditions. Derivative data, such as gene sequences, stable isotope ratios, high-dimensional morphometric data and parasite-host associations, are now routinely acquired from specimens in subsequent research projects and available for analysis as long as specimens and materials are preserved. Because many museums are now tracking and linking the web-accessible datasets that host derivative data, a powerful, highly integrative and now freely available resource on biodiversity and related environmental conditions is emerging for investigators and educators alike. The question is: How can we mobilize this rich and ever-expanding data source to address pressing societal issues?