[Nhcoll-l] FW: Global Survey on Cryo-Collections and Wildlife Biobanking – Request for SPNHC Dissemination

[Watkins-Colwell, Gregory]

I received this e-mail regarding a survey of cryo-collections and biobanks.  Please feel free to share this wherever appropriate.

Greg


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Gregory J. Watkins-Colwell
Sr. Collection Manager, Herpetology and Ichthyology
Division of Vertebrate Zoology
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7789-9806
YALE PEABODY MUSEUM
Main Office: 203-432-3791;  West Campus: 203-737-7568; Fax 203-432-9277

Package shipping address:
Greg Watkins-Colwell
Division of Vertebrate Zoology
YALE PEABODY MUSEUM
170–210 Whitney Avenue
New Haven, CT 06511 USA
203-432-3791
******************

From: Natalie Calatayud <ncalatayud at museum.vic.gov.au>
Sent: Friday, March 6, 2026 12:30 AM
To: president at spnhc.org
Cc: russoim at cardiff.ac.uk
Subject: Global Survey on Cryo-Collections and Wildlife Biobanking – Request for SPNHC Dissemination

Dear President and Committee members,
I am writing on behalf of Dr Isa-Rita Russo and myself to request SPNHC’s assistance in circulating a global wildlife biobanking survey to your membership. Dr Isa-Rita Russo is based in the School of Biosciences at Cardiff University, and I am based at the Museums Victoria Research Institute and the Ian Potter Australian Wildlife Biobank at Melbourne Museum. Our work centres on wildlife biobanking and cryopreservation, with a focus on strengthening coordinated biological collections to support taxonomy, conservation breeding, genomics, and long-term genetic resource management.
This project developed following the recent publication of the IUCN SSC biobanking guideline documents. Within that process, I moderated the gap analysis section, and along with a number of co-authors, including Isa-Rita, contributed as a co-author to that component. Through that focused exercise, it became clear that while strategic guidance exists, there remains limited consolidated empirical data on current global practice, infrastructure capacity, governance frameworks, and implementation constraints, particularly across museum and natural history collections that maintain frozen tissue and cryopreserved resources.
In response, we convened a multi-institutional group of collaborators to undertake a structured global survey titled “Global Wildlife Biobanking Gap Analysis: Practices, Capacity, Risks and Opportunities.” The aim is to generate an evidence-based overview of wildlife biobanking and cryo-collection activity across regions, taxa, and institution types, and to identify practical capacity gaps and priority needs that may inform future coordination, standards development, and resource planning.
The author team includes Gina Della Togna (Amphibian Survival Alliance), Christina Hvilsom (EAZA), Andrew Mooney (Dublin Zoo), Cecilia Langhorne (RZSS WildGenes Biobank), Candace Williams (Oxford Nanopore Technologies), Claire Williams (University of Texas at Austin / Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute), Rose Upton (University of Newcastle), Joanna Sumner (Museums Victoria Research Institute), and Jennifer Hetz-Rodriguez (Australian Wildlife Biobank), in addition to the two of us. The study has received favourable ethical approval from the Cardiff University School of Biosciences Research Ethics Committee.
Given the leadership of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections in advancing preservation standards and stewardship of natural history collections globally, we would be very grateful if you would consider sharing the survey invitation through appropriate SPNHC communication channels. We would also warmly welcome participation from members managing frozen tissue collections, cryopreserved resources, or associated genomic repositories.
Participation is voluntary, the survey takes approximately 20–60 minutes depending on level of involvement, responses are anonymised and reported only in aggregated form, and the survey will remain open until 30 June 2026.
We are also encouraging organisations to disseminate the survey through their social media platforms, excluding X. If helpful, we would be very happy to provide suggested wording suitable for platforms such as LinkedIn or Instagram, although please feel free to adapt this to suit SPNHC communication formats.

Survey link: Global Wildlife Biobanking Gap Analysis Survey<https://form.typeform.com/to/xmo3OoLa>

For ease of circulation, a short invitation text suitable for forwarding is provided below:

Invitation: Global Wildlife Biobanking Gap Analysis Survey
We invite professionals working in wildlife conservation, biobanking, cryobiology, genomics, zoological and museum collections, and related fields to participate in a global survey on wildlife biobanking practices, capacity, gaps, and priorities. This collaborative, multi-institutional project was developed following the recent IUCN SSC biobanking guideline publication to provide a coordinated global evidence base on current biobanking practice and capacity. The study has received favourable ethical approval from the Cardiff University School of Biosciences Research Ethics Committee. The survey takes approximately 20–60 minutes depending on experience, and responses are anonymised and reported in aggregated form.
Survey link: Global Wildlife Biobanking Gap Analysis Survey<https://form.typeform.com/to/xmo3OoLa>

We are, of course, happy to adapt the wording to align with SPNHC communication formats if helpful.
With thanks for your consideration,
Natalie Calatayud, PhD
Museums Victoria Research Institute
Ian Potter Australian Wildlife Biobank

On behalf of
Isa-Rita Russo, PhD
School of Biosciences
Cardiff University


Museums Victoria acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung and Boon Wurrung Bunurong peoples of the eastern Kulin Nations where we work, and First Peoples across Victoria and Australia.

Our organisation, in partnership with the First Peoples of Victoria, is working to place First Peoples living cultures and histories at the core of our practice.
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