www.spnhc.org President Richard Rabeler President-Elect Jean-Marc Gagnon Past President Tim White Treasurer Barbara Brown Society for the Preservation March 2009 Secretary Volume 23, Number 1 Judith Price of Natural History Collections Managing Editor Jean F. DeMouthe Editor Scientific Collections: Mission-Critical Andrew C. Bentley Infrastructure for Federal Service Agencies Executive Summary from the report of the Interagency Working Group on Scientific Collections (IWGSC) Beginning in 2005, the White House Office of and human resources. Scientific collections, Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and as discussed in this report, consist of physi- Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cal objects that are preserved, cataloged, and called on Federal agencies to focus attention managed by Federal agencies and other or- on integrated support and planning for their ganizations for research and other purposes. care and use of Federally held scientific col- Scientific collections do not include art or his- lections. Based in part on these recommen- torical objects, collectibles, or the books and dations, an Interagency Working Group on documents that are stored in libraries and ar- INSIDE... Scientific Collections (IWGSC) was created, chives. The specimens in scientific collections co-chaired by representatives of the were acquired as objects for scientific study, Scientific Collections .. 1 Smithsonian Institution (SI) and the U.S. not for their aesthetic or market value as col- Presidential Report ..... 3 Department of Agriculture (USDA) to exam- lectibles. In general, the contents of these sci- Committee Reports..... 4 ine the current state of Federal scientific col- entific collections are documented and publi- Sessional Committee lections and to make recommendations for cized with the goal of making the specimens reports ..................... 6 their management and use. This report is a available to other members of the research Membership Profile ..... 11 first step in ensuring that this vital research community for study. SPNHC 2009 .............. 13 infrastructure is preserved and strengthened IATA dangerous goods for the benefit of both our country and the glo- Scientific collections are preserved because regulations .............. 17 bal scientific research enterprise. This report they document the results of research, and Pubs of interest .......... 18 describes the nature and state of these col- allow earlier findings to be confirmed and ex- Calendar.................... 22 lections and the issues they face as part of tended. Scientific collections are often re-ana- the nation’s research infrastructure. It also lyzed using new instruments and techniques, ......... and much more! makes recommendations about improving the providing new data and insights from old speci- care and management of these assets. mens. Collections provide irreplaceable evi- dence of long-term historical trends, allowing Object-based scientific collections (hereafter researchers to make predictions into the fu- referred to as “scientific collections”) are valu- ture. Scientific specimens can also have un- able components of the Federal government’s anticipated relevance to research being con- and the Nation’s research infrastructure, ISSN 1071-2887 alongside buildings, scientific instruments, Continued on page 2 2 SPNHC Newsletter Continued from page 1: .......Scientific Collections... material for theses and dissertations. In this way, Federal scientific collections are having an important ducted in fields other than the one for which they were col- impact on professional training of future researchers. lected. Scientific collections have also inspired and informed educators in their development of curriculum and in- Permanent scientific collections serve a number of general structional materials for students at all levels. Mu- functions: seum exhibits draw on scientific collections for public education, and radio and television coverage of impor- 1. As “vouchers” from earlier observations or findings. A tant research findings are frequently based on scien- voucher specimen is one on which critical analyses tific collections. and observations have been performed, and it is likely 7. Some agencies proactively collect samples for future that future researchers will want to either repeat these analysis or experimental use in line with their mis- analyses to corroborate published findings or to apply sions. These are important for documenting diversity new analytical techniques. and variability in nature. Such samples are also criti- 2. As standards. Some specimens become permanent cal resources for epidemiology and research in clini- references that must be retained for future compari- cal medicine. son. For example, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the Department of Commerce Scientific collections provide an excellent return on the tax- retains the standard reference specimens for weights payers’ investments. Federal agencies consider the following and measures. USDA, SI, the National Institutes of in making decisions about the numbers and sizes of the col- Health (NIH), and other agencies retain biological sci- lections they maintain: entific collections that serve as reference standards for identifying species that are critical to protecting • Immediate access to collections: Urgent problems can 3. America’s food sources. As one example, NIH sup- call for immediate access to scientific data. Main- ports laboratories that preserve microorganisms for taining scientific collections can provide users with study from standard “type cultures” and with known immediate access to critical specimens. genetic signatures. “Type specimens” of a species of • plant, animal, microbe, mineral or rock type are the Replacement costs: The passage of time, technical reference examples of the species that are formally challenges, or prohibitive costs make it all but impos- described and attached to its name. sible to replace the contents of a collection when it is 4. As sources of specimens for biological research, con- needed at a later date. Some locales may be physi- servation, and food security. Some Federal and Fed- cally inaccessible for a variety of reasons. erally-supported scientific collections comprise living • Irreplaceable object: Many specimens collected de- organisms. These scientific collections include type cades ago can no longer be recollected because the culture scientific collections, seed banks and plant locality has either disappeared or a species has gone germplasm repositories, genetic stock centers, zoos, extinct. captive breeding programs, and other biological re- • Critical Redundancy: Research organizations keep source centers. collections in different places and maintain large col- 5. As repositories for rare objects. Federal scientific lections of similar specimens for several reasons such collections also include specimens that record unique as in the event of natural disaster. events in history and/or unique opportunities to col- • Research is a distributed enterprise: Federal research lect specimens. These specimens cannot be replaced serves a wide range of constituencies and issues. To and if they are not properly cared for important re- serve their mission efficiently, researchers and the search opportunities will be lost forever. Such rare collections they use need to be located in many dif- objects include such things as moonrocks and speci- ferent places. mens of flora and fauna collected by the Lewis and • Variation in nature: Studying the variability within and Clark expedition. among biological populations and geological speci- 6. Sources of ideas and study specimens for education mens often reveals the processes that underlie their and training. Scientific collections are routinely used nature; this study of variation is a basic component of by undergraduate and graduate students as research the scientific method. Large sample sizes are often This space could be yours....... needed in order to make statistically significant inter- pretations. SPNHC Newsletter is looking for articles, news items, • Safety in numbers: Scientific collections of living speci- etc., for the next edition. Articles of 1000 words or mens reduce the risk of catastrophic loss by guaran- less considered. Contact Andy Bentley teeing that a pool of genetic variability is available to ([email protected]) for information. The deadline protect and ensure diversity, and to ensure the for submissions for the next issue is August 1, 2009. Continued on page 7 March 2009 3 Presidential Report Rich Rabeler Senior Collections Manager and The Society for the Preservation of Assistant Research Scientist Natural History Collections was University of Michigan Herbarium, formed in 1985 and is recognized as a 3600 Varsity Drive, Ann Arbor, MI non-profit organization [501(c)(3)] in the 48108-2228 USA United States. SPNHC members re- ceive Collection Forum, a biannual jour- nal of reviewed technical information, Richard K. Rabeler was born in Oneonta, New York. His interest in natural history collections began in 1971 at Hartwick College, where he designed an Independent Student Program in Botany and two issues of the SPNHC News- and worked in the Hoysradt Herbarium for most of his undergraduate years. After he graduated letter each year. The Society for the from Hartwick, he entered graduate school at Michigan State University, where he completed his Preservation of Natural History Collec- M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in plant systematics. Along