[Nhcoll-l] Sand collection database?

[Liath Appleton]

Hi Heather, we store all our rocks and minerals data in Specify, along with
our invertebrate paleontology and paleobotany specimens. Our fossil data is
sent to GBIF, and our other geology data is sent to SESAR
https://www.geosamples.org/
All of our specimens can also be searched together via our Specify web
portal. It's not a perfectly streamlined workflow, and many of our geology
samples (including sand) are not yet databased, but it does work well
enough for us to keep moving forward. ---Liath

Liath Appleton
Collections Manager
Non-Vertebrate Paleontology Lab
University of Texas at Austin
Bldg PRC122 - campus mail code R8500
10100 Burnet Road
Austin, TX 78758

SPNHC Connection Editor (newsletter at spnhc.org)
SPNHC Web Manager (webmaster at spnhc.org)
www.spnhc.org


On Wed, Nov 5, 2025 at 1:34 PM James and Judy Bryant <jbandjb at live.com>
wrote:

> Heather/All:
>
> Are there perhaps publications linked to this collection? Is there a name
> of a primary researcher connected to the samples?
> Such collections often have enormous research and interpretation
> potential, yet it's hard to protect them from de-accession or discard.
> I faced a predicament regarding a collection made from many places,
> including the dry valleys of Antarctica. As I recall out of 50 or so
> samples, in years prior most were discarded so that the jars could be
> reused. The only survivor was a jar of multicolored sand from the Valley of
> 10 Thousand Smokes! When researches wanting samples that might be
> comparable to Martian soils contacted me, all I had for them was a sad
> story.
>
> James Bryant
> SOJOURN Science - Nature - Education
> Santa Fe, NM
> https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-bryant-0598a940/
>
> On Nov 5, 2025, at 11:10 AM, Utrup, Jessica <jessica.bazeley at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> GRSciColl might be a good spot to get this started (
> https://scientific-collections.gbif.org/). You can enter general
> information about the collection and contact information. It’s a low lift
> to make the collection discoverable.
> ~Jessica
>
> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> *On Behalf Of *
> Callomon,Paul
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 5, 2025 12:55 PM
> *To:* Heather Ouellette <houellette at fau.edu>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> *Subject:* Re: [Nhcoll-l] Sand collection database?
>
> I’d be interested to see what folks say, as we have just such a collection
> here at the Academy too. Apparently sand collecting was a thing among the
> jet set once.
> One use some of the samples have been put to was in a study of rheology
> (resistance) related to the hairs and spines on terrestrial crustacean
> legs. Sand of various grain sizes was used to see whether having such
> things on their appendages enabled crabs to run faster uphill. I never saw
> the results, though…
>
> *Paul Callomon*
> *Collection Manager, Malacology and General Invertebrates*
> ------------------------------
> *Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia*
> *callomon at ansp.org <callomon at ansp.org> Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170*
> *President of the American Malacological Society for 2027*
>
>
> *From:* Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> *On Behalf Of *Heather
> Ouellette
> *Sent:* Wednesday, November 5, 2025 12:39 PM
> *To:* Natural History Collections Listserv <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
> *Subject:* [Nhcoll-l] Sand collection database?
>
>
> *External.*
> Hello all,
> Recently I found that there is a collection of sand samples at Harbor
> Branch. There are almost 1,000 samples, from beaches on all 7 continents.
> All were collected from the 1960s through mid 1990s, by multiple
> individuals, and collated by Orville Brim. Most of them have detailed
> information about the collecting localities.
>
> This is a unique collection, but I’m not sure how to share this collection
> and its data with the scientific community. Are there online geology
> databases like Symbiota/GBIF? Would this data be of use or interest to
> anyone?
>
> Heather Ouellette
> Research Collections Manager
> FAU Harbor Branch
>
>
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