[Nhcoll-l] Looking for examples of orphaned/rescued collections for BioScience article

[Elizabeth Wommack]

Hi Tiffany,

The UWYMV took on a really unusual orphaned collection, the Tyndale
teaching collection. It was lost in the storage cupboards of our local
highschool, and luckily someone got it to us before they took down the
building.
Tyndale had a really unique method of preparing his teaching specimens, and
we use them for outreach, tours, and different college classes today.

I'm attaching a pdf of the local article that was published when the
collection first arrived.

We've taken on several other small collections as well, and would be happy
to discuss them too if you or Michelle are interested.

cheers,
Beth

On Thu, Apr 14, 2022 at 12:49 PM Adrain, Tiffany S <tiffany-adrain at uiowa.edu>
wrote:

> ◆ This message was sent from a non-UWYO address. Please exercise caution
> when clicking links or opening attachments from external sources.
>
> Hi everyone,
> I was contacted by Michelle Donahue (journalist and writer) regarding a
> feature for BioScience on orphaned natural history collections (see email
> below). Please contact Michelle (michelle.z.donahue at gmail.com) or respond
> on NHCOLL if
>
>    - you have an example of an orphaned collection to share, or
>    - you have revitalized an endangered collection, or
>    - you are involved with a university natural history curation club.
>
> I'm sure there are plenty of great examples to share.
>
> Thanks,
> Tiffany
>
>
> Tiffany Adrain (pronouns: she/her/hers)
> Collections Manager, Paleontology Repository
> Instructor, Museum Studies Certificate Program
> Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences
> University of Iowa
> 115 Trowbridge Hall
> Iowa City, Iowa, 52242
>
> phone: 319 335 1822
> fax: 319 335 1821
> email: tiffany-adrain at uiowa.edu
> website: <http://www.uiowa.edu/~geology/paleo>https://clas.uiowa.edu/ees/
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* Michelle Z. Donahue <michelle.z.donahue at gmail.com>
> *Sent:* Wednesday, April 13, 2022 4:25 PM
> *To:* Adrain, Tiffany S <tiffany-adrain at uiowa.edu>
> *Subject:* [External] interview request - fate of natural history
> collections - for BioScience
>
> Ms. Adrain:
>
> I’m a contributing writer for the features section of the journal
> BioScience, and for an upcoming issue I’m preparing a story on the fate of
> natural history collections when their curator retires or passes away, or a
> collection otherwise becomes disused, abandoned or orphaned. I spent some
> time on the SPNHC page and browsed the Threatened and Orphaned Collections
> wiki, and wonder if you might have time and interest in speaking for the
> article.
>
> First and foremost, I’m interested in highlighting the donation or
> discovery of valuable natural history collections that otherwise may have
> been lost or forgotten. So if you know of any of these - I’m looking for
> examples. These could be private, at museums, universities, or other
> organizations (parks’ visitors centers come to mind.)
>
> But I’d also like to get your thoughts on the section of the wiki
> concerning “warning signs of endangered collections” - and if you know of
> any people or places who have taken some of these principles to heart and
> revived the condition and use of a collection (see this amazing work out of
> Portugal <https://zookeys.pensoft.net/article/64607/>).
>
> Other questions I’m pondering: How do organizations learn of collections
> that might be available for donation? How does the inclusion of such
> collections to museum or university collections advance biodiversity
> research or opportunities for expansion of digitization efforts? I also
> learned about the existence of university natural history curation clubs
> <https://crackingthecollections.wordpress.com/2016/02/16/nhc3-creating-a-network-of-natural-history-collections-clubs/>
> which is a cool angle I want to include in the story - seems a clever way
> of accomplishing the goal of building interest in curation and collections
> care in the next generation, but also reviving the use of collections that
> might otherwise just sit on a shelf.
>
> I’m out next week, but looking to schedule interviews for this story
> during the week of April 25 and May 2. My deadline is May 13. Please let me
> know if you have time and interest in chatting - thanks in advance for the
> consideration of the request.
>
> Best,
> Michelle
>
>
> *Michelle Z. Donahue *Freelance Journalist and Writer
> www.MichelleZDonahue.com
> (571) 217-9554
>
>

-- 
Elizabeth Wommack, PhD
Curator and Collections Manager of Vertebrates
University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates
Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY 82071
ewommack@ <ewommack at berkeley.edu>uwyo.edu
pronouns: she, her, herself
www.uwymv. <http://www.uwymv.edu/>org
UWYMV Collection Use Policy
<http://www.uwymv.org/index.php/download_file/view/43/143/>
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