Support for the Bird Collection at Delaware Museum of Natural History

Delaware Museum Of Nature And Science, Inc., Wilmington DE

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to the Delaware Museum of Natural History under the direction of Dr. Jean L. Woods and Gene K. Hess to address storage deficiencies in the bird specimen collections. Current threats to the collections include overcrowding, damage from insects, and exposure to non-archival materials. The bird collections at the Museum are the fifteenth largest in North America (119,000 specimens) and include significant numbers of specimens from the Philippines, Mexico and North America. The Museum also curates the second largest collection of bird eggs in North America. These collections represent an historical record of bird life from these locations, and are inherently irreplaceable. This grant will allow the Delaware Museum of Natural History to make major strides in safeguarding the collections. The grant will fund installation of a compact storage system and new museum-quality specimen cabinets to house the bird skin collection. The compact storage system will accommodate the collections by using approximately 25% less space than currently used. This will ease overcrowding in the collections and allow sufficient space for expansion well into the future. It also will provide additional workspace for Staff and visitors. The new specimen cabinets should prevent further insect damage to the specimens and meet all current standards for use of archival quality materials in the storage of natural history collections. These improvements will ensure that the Museum will be able to continue its mission "to excite and inform people about the natural world." Scientists from all over the world use specimens from the collections in their research. Dozens of scientific papers and reports have been published based on this research. The Museum's collections also greatly benefit the local community. Specimens from the bird collections are used in long-term and temporary exhibits in the Museum's galleries. Specimens are also used in outreach programs, many of which target underserved communities. Specimens are loaned to local universities for use in their classes and students can earn college credit by completing projects in the collections. Artists and photographers also use the collections. In summary, the improvements resulting from this grant will benefit all of the people who currently use the collections and ensure that the collections will be safeguarded to inform and inspire future generations.