[Nhcoll-l] childhood collecting and taxonomy

[Susan Gallagher]

Dr. Early,

This is an interesting topic! Please share any replies or info received 
off-list.

Not a taxonomist here, but a naturalist and environmental educator. 
Anecdotally--my interest in the natural world was instilled by a father 
with a collecting spirit. He inspired and encouraged my childhood 
collections of every kind of natural history item you can imagine.

As an adult now working with kids, it irks me to no end when I have to 
tell them they're technically not allowed to take home a feather, or 
even a leaf or rock found in a state park. It does give a good 
opportunity to talk about "leave no trace" ethics and all that, but I 
remember how precious a small piece of quartz or a dead dragonfly was to 
me when I was young, and how those things instilled such curiosity.

Having something to touch, even if I can't or don't collect it, still 
feels very important to me. So, somewhat tangential to your question, 
attached is a paper I found that suggests "biofacts", aka touchable 
things, can be an important tool for educators in encouraging a 
conservation mindset--one reason why I'm a big fan of the standard 
nature center "touch table".

Susan

-- 
***********************************************
Susan Gallagher, Chief Naturalist
Carbon County Environmental Education Center
151 East White Bear Drive
Summit Hill, PA  18250

sugal at ptd.net
www.carboneec.org


On 10/25/2023 12:38 PM, Catherine Early (she/her) wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I've heard at least one taxonomist say that privately collecting 
> organisms as a child was an important entree to becoming a taxonomist 
> as an adult, and that hyper-restrictive collecting laws may stymy 
> development of future taxonomists. As an example of a 
> hyper-restrictive collecting law, in the state of Minnesota, 
> individuals over the age of 16 cannot collect shells of freshwater 
> mussels that are already dead unless they possess a fishing license. 
> This is a long shot, but is there any museum education literature to 
> support this connection between collecting as a child and becoming a 
> taxonomist as an adult? Thanks!
>
> Best,
> Catherine
>
>
> 	
>
> Catherine M. Early, PhD
>
> /she/her/hers/
>
> Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology
>
> cearly at smm.org
>
> https://catherineearly.wixsite.com/home
>
> 	
>
>
> 	
>
>
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