BIOEE 2001

Bringing Specimens to Life: Using Natural Hist Collections to Engage Communities in Science Outreach

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2019-2020.

This course has three broad themes centered on natural history collections: 1) understanding the values and perceived controversies of scientific collections, 2) learning diverse methods of specimen collection and preparation, and 3) making specimens accessible to the public through outreach with community partners. Students will be introduced to all four vertebrate collections housed at the CUMV and discuss the ethical dilemmas inextricably connecting to scientific collecting. Students will participate in a 1-week collecting trip over spring break, where they learn diverse techniques of specimen collecting and preparation. Finally, students will work with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and/or the Cayuga Nature Center in creative ways that ultimately inform the public about the value of natural history collections.

When Offered Spring.

Permission Note Enrollment limited to: 12 students.

Course Attribute (CU-CEL)

Comments Students will have the opportunity to travel over spring break, so please keep this week open. Transportation to the Lab of Ornithology is necessary (there is a shuttle that runs about 4 times a day from campus to the Lab of Ornithology. Additionally, there are transportation options with TCAT buses).

• Assess the impact of scientific collecting to populations in relation to other sources of mortality.
• Articulate differences between historical and modern collecting practices and the information gained from historical and modern specimens.
• Evaluate both pro- and anti-collecting perspectives.
• Students will gain familiarity with using mist-nets.
• Set Sherman traps.
• Students will gain familiarity for using seines and dipnets.
• Bait and set minnow traps.
• Students will be familiar with preparation techniques for three different specimen types: fluids, skins, skeletons, and additional preparations as needed, e.g. tissues for DNA.
• Illustrate case studies where collections have been used in conservation, research, and education to the general public.
• Explain the value of scientific collecting in conscientious, respectful ways to those that may not understand the role specimens play in understanding the world around us.

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