University of Alaska Museum of the North's mammal collection is still growing
Published Sunday, April 20, 2008
Jars of Cambodian bats, the tusk of a narwhal and the pelt of an Amur tiger are just three of the multitude of mammal specimens at the University of Alaska Museum of the North.
The museum added specimens 100,000 and 100,001 by cataloging skeleton, skin and tissue from an Alaskan marmot and a pygmy sperm whale Saturday.
The marmot was collected by Aren Gunderson, a curatorial assistant who turned down a a spot on the TV reality show “Survivor” to continue his studies of the creature.
The pygmy sperm whale sample was collected in Yakutat, which was a unique find because the whale species was not found in waters north of Washington state before 2003, said Link Olson, curator of mammals at the museum.
The museum has the 10th largest mammal collection in the United States and has more Alaska mammal specimens than all other U.S. museums combined. The collection contains 377 species.
The collection serves as a resource for researchers studying evolution, genetics and response to climate change. With some species’ specimens spanning multiple years, researchers can compare changes in the species during a span of time. Since 1993, 33,599 specimens have been loaned to 250 researchers.
The collection receives more than half of its specimens from trips and contracts intended to bring specimens back and though collaborations with other agencies, such as the Department of Fish and Game. The collection has also benefited from the 3,300-plus collectors who have contributed to the collection.
“The donors are one main reason we are able to reach this milestone so quickly,” Olson said.
He also said the museum doesn’t have a set criteria for accepting specimens. Each specimen is judged individually on need and condition.
Although it was hard for him to pick a favorite specimen, Olson said he is partial to the tree shrew specimens collected in Cambodia.
“I call it our $10,000 specimen,” Olson said.
The mammal department was first created in the 1950s and hired its first mammal-specific curator, Joe Cook, in 1989. Another milestone for the department was the creation of its online database using a National Science Foundation grant in 2000. Olson said since the Web site — http://arctos.database.museum — was established there has been an increase of interest from researchers who want to use specimens for their research. The Internet has made the information accessible and has cut down on communication time, he said.
More than half of the 100,001-piece collection is composed of small mammals such as shrews, voles and deer mice. The collection’s oldest specimen is a European shrew collected in Germany in 1904. The oldest Alaskan specimens are a caribou collected in the Kantishna district in 1905 and a polar bear collected in Wainwright in 1906.
The collection might get a little more exotic in the near future. The museum is working on securing specimens from an elephant and spotted linsang, a rare predator from the forests near the Himalayas that has the body of a cat and a face that resembles that of a lemur. Olson said there are only eight spotted linsangs in scientific collections in the world.
At the event, Brina Kessel documented the milestone 100,000th specimen. Kessel is a professor emeritus and a bird and mammal collector who started at the museum in 1951. She said she is surprised to see the growth of the collection and said the support from the university is responsible for its rapid growth.
“You get a toe-hold, an interest and you can see what happened here,” Kessel said of the vast collection.
Community Discussion
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Need to put Olson in a jar and add it to the collection ..... what a horrible waste of money but then it is all a part of the greater University of Alaska Empire.
I doubt they will ever get into the education business ... very low rated academic institution.
Apparently you do not understand the functions of a museum.
James-
You never answered my question the other day. Since you've made the statement again, I'll ask again: Why do you say that the University is not in the education business?
You're right, James! What do we possibly have to learn from the past ;-) I wish people would stop going to museums and start going to say, football games - they'd learn a lot more! Heehehe.
I tend to agree with James in a way-----
How many of these species are actually used by students in study?
The University should be in the business of educating our students, not necessarily collecting every mammal around.
I think it's cool we have a collection that big - but how many of the 33,559 species loaned out went to encouraging or enlightening OUR students.
Are we in the education business, the research business or both? It is nice we have quality researchers, but the predominant focus should be on education I think.
How many of the 100,000 mammals are even available for public viewing at the 'museum'. Not too many I think.
I collect coins...maybe the museum could help me out with my collection also...
akguy --
UAF brings in LOTS of research dollars every year. You know all those buildings up on the hill? Those are RESEARCH institutes. They do research!
All those buildings down the hill? Those are the ones that do the education (primarily).
In modern day, all universities of worth are engaged in scientific research as well as education. If UAF didn't have the research groups, it could never be considered as a leading entity as a whole (and wouldn't be able to attract top notch students).
If you were looking for a school to attend and you were interested in studying mammals, don't you think you might want to attend a place that has over 100,000 species archived?
"The museum has the 10th largest mammal collection in the United States and has more Alaska mammal specimens than all other U.S. museums combined."
Sounds like someone is building distinction, and doing a good job at it!
James say -- "very low rated academic institution."
Perhaps you should go read the article about UAF math/science students taking top honors in international competitions (in todays news) before you make unfounded statements like that.
If you're studying arctic sciences or some field of science dealing with Arctic research, UAF is one of the best places around. With increasing attention focused on the Arctic -- for both climate change and energy development -- UAF is going to become increasingly important.
Newsreader
Try as I may I cannot find a numerical ranking for UAF to back up your fact that it attracts top notch students because of its research funding and programs...and I did try....
I did, however, find the following information from Peterson's (www.petersons.com)
Average high school GPA: 3.21
Test Scores:
SAT critical reading scores over 600 19%
SAT math scores over 600 22%
SAT writing scores over 600 13%
ACT scores over 24 34%
SAT critical reading scores over 700 4%
SAT math scores over 700 3%
SAT writing scores over 700 1%
ACT scores over 30 3%
Now compare these "top" students to those who attend my old University, which is consistently ranked in the top 10 by NUMBER in the region (by US News and World Report)and has just about ZERO research dollars...
Freshman
Average high school GPA: 3.6
Test Scores:
SAT critical reading scores over 600 32%
SAT math scores over 600 45%
ACT scores over 24 67%
SAT critical reading scores over 700 5%
SAT math scores over 700 7%
ACT scores over 30 10%
Funny - my college attracted me because of its good degree program...RESEARCH had nothing to do with my decision.
You mention how the kids actually won top honors in a competition - I think that is truly wonderful and I congratulate them...but that is a small portion of the students...
Doing a search of the UAF website I find something of interest...something I have yet to see an article on in the paper...
(from 2006)
'Presently at UAF nearly 73 percent of first-time, full-time freshmen admitted to baccalaureate programs are retained to the second year, and just 26 percent graduate within 6 years. The statistics for the 30 percent of students with an entering high school GPA below 3.0 and composite ACT scores less than or equal to 18 (or SAT less than or equal to 870) are more troubling: only 50 percent are retained to the second year and only 6 percent graduate within six years. UAF freshman retention and six-year graduation rates are lower than those of many of its peers. Nine comparable Western institutions have a median freshman retention rate of 75 percent and an average six-year graduation rate of 48 percent'
http://www.uaf.edu/cornerstone/years/200...
26% graduate within 6 years!!! - very sad...but I guess you will say everyone else is going for their Doctorate.
granted...they did raise there standards a small bit after that report...
please put the drum down and encourage the University to spend the money and effort on teachers...not researchers and a bunch of mammal remains
hmmm....
I sound a bit brash in my last comment and I apologize - -
I do not want UAF to do away with Research at the U. I think its grand that we have this ability in Fairbanks and the more it can pay for itself, the better.
I really just wish they would get their act together and do a little better with the students. Do we REALLY need 100,000 mammal carcasses (and the space it takes to store them)?
Newsreader - I do respect your comments - I just feel differently on this issue - I would love to read any articles you can find that dispute mine and are not just small groups of students doing well....
Just a few examples of UAM student research:
http://www.uaf.edu/museum/mammal/Link_Ol...
http://users.iab.uaf.edu/~aren_gunderson...
http://www.uaf.edu/news/a_news/200605111...
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/AS...
Most collections have mentored local high school students for the Alaska Statewide Science Symposium. The collections employ undergraduates to give them real world experience and aids them in getting funding for undergraduate projects. The collections have graduate students and post-docs that work on specimens in the collection.
And why do they have so many specimens and why does anyone care? Following are just a few of the many questions that the UAM Mammals Collection has helped answer.
How do environmental changes affect genetic variation? Where have species gone locally extinct? How do species respond to climate change? What constitutes a geographic boundary in a marine environment? Have marine mammals changed their diets over historic time periods? How do size and shape vary within a species in different environments? How do small organisms adapt to low oxygen levels? What are the genetic consequences of being small, isolated population? How many times has social behavior evolved?
Instead of throwing away specimens, they are kept for repeatability of studies and to be available to answer future questions whether they arise next week or hundred years from now.
And if you want to see the collections, the museum holds regular open houses.
Several people seem to have some serious misconceptions regarding the funding that has made this research possible. Rather than competing with public funding for education, the researchers at the museum bring in tremendous amounts of funding for research and education from outside sources. The collections and research at the museum are almost entirely funded by competitive government grants and private donors. The mammal collection alone hires and pays eight undergraduates, giving them both research experience and a regular paycheck. Funds for the acquisition of these specimens came in the form of separate grants procured by researchers and graduate students, with specific research purposes and broader impacts outlined therein (especially undergraduate and high school education). Specimens are collected to address specific research questions, donated through partnerships with agencies and private individuals, and opportunistically sampled when dead organisms are found (e.g., marine mammal strandings). Specimens loaned out not only benefit the researchers receiving them, but the undergraduates who get paid to process the loan, and the graduate students here who receive reciprocal loans from other institutions.
From a broader science perspective, the archival of these specimens allows for greater transparency and repeatability of science. You don't have to rely on someone saying that they saw a pigmy sperm whale (a new species for this state) on a beach near Yakutat. You can go to an accredited institution and see the specimen yourself. Its physical presence in an accredited collection allows other researchers, scientists, and members of the public to verify the species identification and, should they choose to, use other methods of analysis to determine its origin.
Those 100,000 specimens provide priceless information regarding variation within species across environments and through time. There are numerous cases where museum specimens have provided critical information regarding the changing conditions of our environments. Everyone knows that DDT is bad stuff, but did you know that the research that indicated that DDT relied on museum specimens collected before and after the time when it was widely used? We know that certain species are going locally extinct in the Southwest United States because we've got museum specimens from areas that those species are no longer found in. Marine mammal tissues are being used to determine changes in the ocean conditions in the Bering Sea and in our fisheries over the last 50 to 100 years.
And, finally, the museum provides important public education services. They have freely and happily offered assistance on matters from the fossil mammoth tooth found by a Fairbanks youngster to the migrating ropes of worm-like larvae noted last summer, and those are just the occurrences that made the News Miner!
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