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<p>Dr. Early,</p>
<p>This is an interesting topic! Please share any replies or info
received off-list.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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".<br>
</p>
<p>Susan</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
***********************************************
Susan Gallagher, Chief Naturalist
Carbon County Environmental Education Center
151 East White Bear Drive
Summit Hill, PA 18250
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:sugal@ptd.net">sugal@ptd.net</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.carboneec.org">www.carboneec.org</a></pre>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 10/25/2023 12:38 PM, Catherine Early
(she/her) wrote:<br>
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<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet
ms,sans-serif">Hi all,</div>
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<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet
ms,sans-serif">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!</div>
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<div><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif">Best,</font></div>
<div><font face="trebuchet ms, sans-serif">Catherine</font></div>
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