CSBR: Natural History: Securing Alcohol Types and Donated Alcohol Specimens at the INHS Insect Collection

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

An award is made to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to support the insect collections at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS). The project will secure type specimens at INHS, the standard bearers for species, and address further needs for accessioning and digitizing nearly 60,000 vials of donated specimens. Type specimens are expected to be available to scientists in perpetuity, because if they are damaged, identity of species could be lost. Most ethanol preserved insect types at INHS are nearing 100 years old and to mitigate further degradation of these specimens, they will be placed in refrigerated storage with new vials. The specimens will also be further documented through imaging. These specimens provide knowledge of past distributions of species, enhancing our ability to predict both past and future distributions environments change. Expectations for data gathering, description of new species, data analysis, and data sharing are rapidly changing. This award will provide support for training the next generation of biodiversity scientists and informaticians in specimen curation and management from field data collection to analysis of data in the laboratory. This work will ensure a future of qualified, well trained biologists. The INHS Insect Collection (INHS-IC), one of the oldest entomological collections in North America, houses approximately 7.3 million insect specimens. Over 5,000 primary and secondary wet types exist at the INHS-IC. The older type specimens are in danger of being damaged by desiccation and degradation due to leaching of biological molecules. These specimens will be secured by upgrading vials, imaging labels and specimens, and storing the types in refrigerated space. A training component will be implemented during which a Master's student will use these collections to examine repeated distribution patterns of aquatic insects (chorotypes) in eastern North America, and summer interns will be trained in specimen curation and digitization, learn to code basic bioinformatics scripts, and present an exit seminar on a research topic. A large number of University of Illinois undergraduates will be provided with opportunities to learn museum practice through specimen identification, curation, and digitization of specimens during the project. All label data will be captured using TaxonWorks, a new platform for managing a wide range of biodiversity data tasks, and shared via a local web portal, iDigBio, and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.