Opening treasure troves at museums

Digital access for researchers, public

PICTURE a natural history museum. What comes to mind? Childhood memories of dinosaur skeletons and dioramas? Or maybe you still visit to see planetarium shows or an IMAX feature? But behind these public-facing exhibits lie a priceless treasure trove that most visitors never see: a museum’s collections.

Far from being forgotten, dusty tombs as is sometimes the perception, these collections host the very cutting edge of research on life on this planet. The sheer scale of some of the largest collections can be staggering. The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, for instance, houses over 150 million specimens. Even a smaller academic institution, like the Research Museums Center of the University of Michigan, houses a labyrinth of specimen vaults, preserving millions of skeletons, fossils, dried-plant material and jarred organisms.

Most importantly, poring over this wealth of knowledge at any given time are active researchers, working to unravel the intricacies of Earth’s biodiversity. At the University of Michigan, where I received my PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology, I worked nestled among these skeletons, fossils and other natural treasures.

These specimens were crucial to my research as primary records for the natural history of the world.

Yet despite the incalculable value of these collections, I often wondered about how to make them more accessible. A project to digitally scan hundreds of bat skulls was one way to bring specimens that would look at home in an antique Victorian collection straight to the forefront of 21st century museum practices.

By researching variation among and within collection specimens, biologists have uncovered many ecological and evolutionary mysteries of the natural world. A recent study on bird specimens traced the increasing concentration of atmospheric black carbon and its role in climate change over more than a century. Scientists can collect ancient DNA from specimens and gather information about historical population levels and healthy genetic diversity for organisms that are now threatened and endangered.

My own research on global bat diversity used hundreds of museum specimens to conclude that tropical bats coexist more readily than many biologists expect. This finding fits with an overall pattern across much of the tree of life where tropical species outnumber their temperate cousins. It may also help explain why in many parts of Central and South America, bats are among the most abundant and diverse mammals.

Museums can throw their doors open to a digital future, inviting anyone into the endless wonders of the natural world.