SPNHC+TDWG 2018 has ended

Create Your Own Event

SPNHC+TDWG 2018

2:00pm NZST

Opening-up Crépin’s Rose Herbarium by New Technologies: a Pilot Project

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
The collections of Meise Botanic Garden comprise extensive and varied documentation on the genus Rosa. The library collection contains valuable and often rare 19th century publications about the genus Rosa, frequently with annotations by François Crépin. In addition to this, the archives hold the unpublished manuscripts and thou ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25792

Moderators

Tom Myers

Speakers

Patricia Mergen

Botanic Garden Meise | Royal Museum for Central Africa

Monday August 27, 2018 2:00pm - 2:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 1

Organization SPNHC

2:20pm NZST

Shining a New Light on Elmer Ottis Wooton’s Legacy Herbarium and Historical Archive: an Exercise to Increase Student Participation while Promoting Public Engagement

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Elmer Ottis Wooton (1865–1945) was one of the most important early botanists to work in the Southwestern United States, contributing a great deal of natural history knowledge and botanical research on the flora of New Mexico that shaped many naturalists and scientists for generations. The extensive Wooton legacy includes herbari ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25783

Moderators

Tom Myers

Speakers

Sara Fuentes-Soriano

New Mexico State University, Department of Animal & Range Sciences

Monday August 27, 2018 2:20pm - 2:40pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 1

Organization SPNHC

2:40pm NZST

A Workflow for the Semantic Annotation of Field Books and Specimen Labels

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Geographical and taxonomical referencing of specimens and documented species observations from within and across natural history collections is vital for ongoing species research. However, much of the historical data such as field books, diaries and specimens, are challenging to work with. They are computationally inaccessable, ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25839

Moderators

Tom Myers

Speakers

Lise Stork

Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science

Monday August 27, 2018 2:40pm - 3:00pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 1

Organization SPNHC

3:00pm NZST

Authenticity in an Uncertain World: Ensuring Accuracy in both the Explicit and Implicit Messages of Exhibits

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Do you know what a kiwi looks like - all the way down to the orientation of the nostrils? While small details won’t make or break the aesthetics of an exhibit, they can have important impacts on visitor learning and future behavior. Museums are a traditional bastion of authenticity. From the objects we exhibit to the information ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25785

Moderators

Tom Myers

Speakers

Steven M. Sullivan

Hefner Museum of Natural History, Miami University

Monday August 27, 2018 3:00pm - 3:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 1

Organization SPNHC

4:00pm NZST

Data Enrichment Facilitated by Existing Inter-Disciplinary Expertise at Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Tamaki Paenga Hira - Auckland War Memorial Museum cares for documentary heritage, human history and natural sciences collections. Diversity in our collections has facilitated significant collaboration across collection professionals, scientists and cultural knowledge holders. Human history objects from our Pacific nations are pr ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25937

Moderators

Sophie Fern

Speakers

Severine Hannam

Auckland War Memorial Museum

Elle Keen

Auckland War Memorial Museum

Monday August 27, 2018 4:00pm - 4:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 2

Organization SPNHC

4:20pm NZST

Looking Back for the Future: Utilizing Sawfish Saws from Natural History Collections to Conserve the Critically Endangered Largetooth Sawfish (Pristis pristis)

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
The Critically Endangered (International Union for Conservation of Nature) largetooth sawfish, Pristis pristis, was historically distributed in the tropical Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Today, ‘viable’ populations are largely limited to northern Australia. Populations that have suffered from drastic declines in abundance ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25806

Moderators

Sophie Fern

Speakers

Annmarie Fearing

University of Southern Mississippi

Monday August 27, 2018 4:20pm - 4:40pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 2

Organization SPNHC

4:40pm NZST

The Arachnology Collection at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
The Arachnology collection at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) was founded 20 years ago. We describe its inception and early growth from 0 to over 62,000 lots; DMNS volunteers and the key role they play as citizen scientists in the Colorado Spider Survey and collections work such as identification and databasing. We ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25810

Moderators

Sophie Fern

Speakers

Jeff Stephenson

Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Monday August 27, 2018 4:40pm - 5:00pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 2

Organization SPNHC

11:00am NZST

Overcoming the Tyranny of Distance: Revealing Type Collections Down-Under.

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Auckland Museum’s Natural Science collections contain several thousands of biological primary types, some dating back to well over a 100 years. Biological type specimens are important for the recognition of new species, because they are the specimens on which species names and descriptions are based, and so they are the standard ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26280

Moderators

Anusha Beer

Speakers

Wilma Blom

Auckland War Memorial Museum Tamaki Paenga Hira

Tuesday August 28, 2018 11:00am - 11:20am NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 3

Organization SPNHC

11:20am NZST

Integration and Curation of At-Risk Collections into the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Collections

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) at the University of California, San Diego maintains one of the largest combined oceanographic collections in the world comprising four collections: Geological (sediment cores and dredged rocks), Pelagic Invertebrates, Benthic Invertebrates and Marine Vertebrates. After surviving thr ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26259

Moderators

Anusha Beer

Speakers

Benjamin Frable

Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego

Tuesday August 28, 2018 11:20am - 11:40am NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 3

Organization SPNHC

11:40am NZST

A Case Study for Connecting Collections and Ecological Research

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Integration of ecological research and specimen collection has recently been a topic of focus in the literature (i.e. Morrison et al. 2017) and within organizing groups such as Integrated Digitized Biocollections (iDigBio). Pairing these two fields only stands to benefit biodiversity science, as one’s weakness is the other’s str ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26008

Moderators

Anusha Beer

Speakers

Richard Levy

Denver Botanic Gardens

Tuesday August 28, 2018 11:40am - 12:00pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 3

Organization SPNHC

12:00pm NZST

Labels, Ledgers, Scribbles and Scraps: Uncertain Historical Data

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Varying quality of legacy data is found on specimen labels, in accounts ledgers, and in registers dating from the origins of the Otago Museum in 1868. A recently re-discovered ledger book that lists the Museum’s first acquisitions brings its own frustrations and more questions are raised than can be answered by the knowledge it ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25784

Moderators

Anusha Beer

Speakers

Rosi Crane

Otago Museum

Tuesday August 28, 2018 12:00pm - 12:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 3

Organization SPNHC

2:00pm NZST

Building Next-Generation Collections: Natural History Specimens, Just One Click Away!

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Digitisation has made significant advances in many natural history collections since the 1980s. The Vertebrate Zoology Collections team of the Canadian Museum of Nature (CMNVZC; ca. 1,250,000 catalogued specimens) has the ambition to go fully digital with our physical objects and associated data. Organising CMNVZC data electroni ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26145

Moderators

Anna Wood

Speakers

Kamal Khidas

Canadian Museum of Nature, Vertebrate Zoology Collections

Tuesday August 28, 2018 2:00pm - 2:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 4

Organization SPNHC

2:20pm NZST

Mapping Marine Biodiversity: Using Open Source GIS Tools to Visualise and Extract Collection Data

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) in Wellington manages one of New Zealand’s Nationally Significant Taxonomic Collections and Databases. The NIWA Invertebrate Collection (NIC) maintains data for over 125,000 (and growing) marine invertebrate specimens from over 46,000 localities in New Zealand, the ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25787

Moderators

Anna Wood

Speakers

Sadie Mills

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA)

Tuesday August 28, 2018 2:20pm - 2:40pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 4

Organization SPNHC

2:40pm NZST

Plants and People: How Plant Collections can Connect Artefacts and Culture

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
The identification of plant materials used to make artefacts is often problematic due to the changes made to them during processing into textiles, such as retting, dying and stripping. However, the ability to identify these plant materials can provide essential provenance information, as well as information about the lifeways an ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.28278

Moderators

Anna Wood

Speakers

Catherine A Smith

University of Otago

Tuesday August 28, 2018 2:40pm - 3:00pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 4

Organization SPNHC

3:00pm NZST

The Preservation of Two Leopard Seals (Hydruga leptonyx), Ten Years Apart

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Discussing the process from death to display for two significant Rāpoka, leopard seals, (Hydrurga leptonyx) undertaken as preservation projects by the Otago Museum. The first of these is a large female which died within the takiwa (district) of Kāti Huirapa Rūnaka ki Puketeraki in 2008. This seal was significant in the sense tha ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26682

Moderators

Anna Wood

Speakers

Emma Burns

Otago Museum

Tuesday August 28, 2018 3:00pm - 3:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 4

Organization SPNHC

4:00pm NZST

The Importance of Museum Biomaterial Resources and Specimen Records for the Advancement of Zoological Research in Southern Africa

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
The Durban Natural Science Museum (DNSM) Mammal Department was established in 1989. The Mammal Department is one of three zoological divisions and is the youngest and the most active collection within the institution. It is considered as one the fastest growing mammal collections in southern Africa and is comprised of 17,200 spe ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26350

Moderators

Priscilla Wehi

Speakers

Zamawelase Mwelase

Durban Natural Science Museum

Tuesday August 28, 2018 4:00pm - 4:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 5

Organization SPNHC

4:40pm NZST

A New Method to Access Isotopic Signatures on Preserved Fish Specimens

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Isotopic ecology has been widely used to understand spatial connectivity and trophic interactions in marine systems, but comparisons over long time periods are rare. Preserved specimens from museum collections are a potentially valuable source of tissue for isotope analyses, but isotopic signatures are known to be affected by fi ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26597

Moderators

Priscilla Wehi

Speakers

Steve Wing

Marine Science department – University of Otago

Tuesday August 28, 2018 4:40pm - 5:00pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 5

Organization SPNHC

5:00pm NZST

Global Genomic Resources for Biodiversity Research

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Genomic science is revolutionizing and accelerating biodiversity research. For collections-based institutions to continue to lead and support biodiversity research, they must adapt to this new reality. Simultaneously, “big data” is accumulating so rapidly that we have unprecedented capacity to plan strategically to use genomics ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.28440

Moderators

Priscilla Wehi

Speakers

Jonathan Coddington

National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution

Tuesday August 28, 2018 5:00pm - 5:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 5

Organization SPNHC

1:00pm NZST

A Royal Pain, But Worth It: New Storage for Old Collections

Abstract
Three years ago, the Section of Anthropology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to rehouse its 1.5-million-specimen archaeological collection. The entire Anthropology collection was affected by the movement of the archaeology materia ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.27553

Speakers

Deborah Harding

Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Thursday August 30, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm NZST
The Link

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use Posters

Organization SPNHC

1:00pm NZST

Digitizing EPICC Data: Trials and Tribulations in Translating 100 Year Old Data

Abstract
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) Department of Paleobiology recently completed the first segment of a mass digitization project in support of the Eastern Pacific Invertebrate Communities of the Cenozoic (EPICC) thematic collections network. In collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution Digitization P ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26222

Speakers

Holly Little

Smithsonian NMNH

Thursday August 30, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm NZST
The Link

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use Posters

Organization SPNHC

1:00pm NZST

Museum, Library and Archives Partnership: Leveraging Digitized Data from Historical Sources

Abstract
The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University (MCZ), founded in 1859, has approximately 20 million extant and fossil invertebrate and vertebrate specimens. These historical collections continue to be a focus of research and teaching for the MCZ, Harvard and outside researchers. The Ernst Mayr Library/Archives (EMLA) of ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25920

Speakers

Linda S. Ford

Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University

Constance Rinaldo

Librarian of the Ernst Mayr Library & MCZ Archives, Harvard University

Thursday August 30, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm NZST
The Link

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use Posters

Organization SPNHC

1:00pm NZST

New Systematics & Collections coordinatoring group for New Zealand

Abstract
New Zealand’s National Systematics and Taxonomic Collections Working Group (WG) represents the agencies who hold taxonomic biological collections of organisms across New Zealand, at least 22 agencies and Mãtauranga Maori representatives. ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.29124

Speakers

Dean Peterson

Thursday August 30, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm NZST
The Link

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use Posters

Organization SPNHC

1:00pm NZST

Osteo Preparation Lab: Preserving the Smithsonian Tradition of Collections Access and Collections-based Research

Abstract
The National Museum of Natural History is committed to long-term stewardship of collections and to supporting their use by scientists and the general public. Smithsonian’s Osteo Preparation Lab (OPL), in particular, maintains a long-standing tradition of collections access and collections-based research. This tradition of prepar ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26528

Speakers

Daniella Haigler

Smithsonian Institution

I am currently a museum technician for the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History and primarily work at the Museum Support Center. My expertise lies in physical anthropology and biological sciences, with a focus in osteo preparation. For the last year I have also been the... Read More →

Thursday August 30, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm NZST
The Link

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use Posters

Organization SPNHC

1:00pm NZST

The Treasure of George Vernon Hudson

Abstract
George V. Hudson, born 1867 in London, developed a strong interest in nature when he was nine years old and began collecting insects. At the age of 13 he wrote and illustrated his first manuscript on insects. In 1881 Hudson moved to New Zealand, where he worked as a clerk in the post office in Wellington until his retirement in ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.27006

Speakers

Julia Kasper

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Thursday August 30, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm NZST
The Link

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use Posters

Organization SPNHC

1:00pm NZST

Think of Me When I Am Gone: Assessing Faculty Archives at the Yale Peabody Museum

Abstract
For universities with museums and galleries, the inevitability of faculty retirements, departures, and passings is a challenge for collection managers. The preservation and retrieval of archival field records and research is critical to the documentation of museum collections. Unfortunately, there are no expectations for faculty ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26571

Speakers

Maureen DaRos White

Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History

Thursday August 30, 2018 1:00pm - 1:45pm NZST
The Link

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use Posters

Organization SPNHC

4:00pm NZST

The Ethics and Untoward Challenges of Exhibition Loans: An Alabama Extraterrestrial in Paris and the Return? of a Native American Relic

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Every collection, no matter its size, contains some item of antiquity that is highly valued. Loaning these items for exhibition often raises questions of ethics and the dilemma of putting a valuable artifact at risk. Sharing these prized possessions for the enjoyment of a wider audience, exposes them to a variety of potential th ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25924

Moderators

Catherine A Smith

University of Otago

Speakers

Mary Beth Prondzinski

University of Alabama Natural History Museum

Thursday August 30, 2018 4:00pm - 4:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 6

Organization SPNHC

4:20pm NZST

Collaborative Kaitiakitanga - New Joint Pathways in Guardianship

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi Engari, he toa takitini - Success is not the work of one, but the strength of many. This metaphor encapsulates the collaborative sharing of knowledge, collections and aspirations held by communities and Museums to create new, mutually beneficial research pathway and community outcomes for all. Ng ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26954

Moderators

Catherine A Smith

University of Otago

Speakers

Vasiti Palavi

Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum

Nicola Railton

Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland Museum

Sheridan Waitai

Ngāti Kurī Trust Board

Thursday August 30, 2018 4:20pm - 4:40pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 6

Organization SPNHC

4:40pm NZST

The Field Guide to the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape app: A Partnership Between the Gunditjmara Community and Museums Victoria

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
In March 2011 Museums Victoria participated in the Australian Biological Resources Study’s Bush Blitz in Kurtonitj, Lake Condah and Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Areas in western Victoria. These areas form part of the Budj Bim Cultural Heritage Landscape recently nominated for World Heritage Status. The Bush Blitz found 854 sp ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26891

Moderators

Catherine A Smith

University of Otago

Speakers

Ursula Smith

Museums Victoria

Thursday August 30, 2018 4:40pm - 5:00pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 6

Organization SPNHC

5:00pm NZST

Kōhatu Mauri: An Exercise in Practice across Cultures

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
The 2017 redevelopment of Otago Museum’s Discovery World into Tūhura, a bi-cultural science centre that reflected an indigenous Kāi Tahu understanding of the universe alongside a western scientific paradigm, was a bold move into new territory for museum staff, who had to become familiar with not only new forms of knowledge, but ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.26015

Moderators

Catherine A Smith

University of Otago

Speakers

Rachel Wesley

Otago Museum

Thursday August 30, 2018 5:00pm - 5:20pm NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 6

Organization SPNHC

9:00am NZST

Collections Support Services (CSS) - 25 Years of Improving Access and Care to our Nation’s Collections

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Originally formed in the early 1980s as the Move Crew to move museum collections to the newly opened state of the art Smithsonian Institution’s Museum Support Center, Collections Support Services has evolved into a team of highly skilled museum professionals recognized as trusted experts, innovators, project managers, and proble ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25889

Moderators

Emma Burns

Otago Museum

Speakers

Christine G Chagnon

Smithsonian Institution

Leslie Schuhmann

Smithsonian Institution

Friday August 31, 2018 9:00am - 9:20am NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 7

Organization SPNHC

9:20am NZST

All Our Eggs In One Basket: Challenges of High Resolution X-Ray Micro-Computed Tomography of Great Auk Pinguinus impennis Eggshell

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
High resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography gives the ability to research objects in unprecedented detail in 3D without damaging them but applying these new techniques to specimens can be complex. In 2017 the Natural History Museum (NHM), London embarked on a ground-breaking project with University of Sheffield to compare ex ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25794

Moderators

Emma Burns

Otago Museum

Speakers

Douglas G. D. Russell

Senior Curator, Natural History Museum

Friday August 31, 2018 9:20am - 9:40am NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 7

Organization SPNHC

9:40am NZST

Making an Unstable World more Accessible: Using Universal Design to make Collections and Exhibits Memorable for People of all Abilities

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
Make your collections memorable and accessible to audiences of all abilities by incorporating the principles of universal design (UD) in your museum exhibits. Universal design provides equitable access to resources, much the way that curb cuts improve access to roads and sidewalks. Museums spend considerable effort protecting sp ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25666

Moderators

Emma Burns

Otago Museum

Speakers

Steven M. Sullivan

Hefner Museum of Natural History, Miami University

Friday August 31, 2018 9:40am - 10:00am NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 7

Organization SPNHC

10:00am NZST

Inter-Institutional Collections Storehouse

Limited Capacity seats available

Abstract
A never ending and universal challenge in the management of biodiversity collections is to find a balance between on the one hand creating optimal conditions for conservation and maximizing accessibility and on the other, achieving this with limited resources, i.e. funding, time and space. If for instance available resources do ... https://doi.org/10.3897/biss.2.25677

Moderators

Emma Burns

Otago Museum

Speakers

Max Caspers

Insect collection manager, Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Friday August 31, 2018 10:00am - 10:20am NZST
Burns 7

Collections Access and Use, Collections Access and Use 7

Organization SPNHC