Workshop: FutureProofing Natural History Collections: Creating Sustainable Models for Research Resources; Fall, 2016, New Haven, CT

Ecological Society Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

Natural history museums are a treasured resource for public education and enjoyment. Less well-known to the general public, but critically for American science, they house millions of specimens and large quantities of data that are used by researchers to answer a range of questions relating to human health, agriculture, land management, conservation, and national security. Collectively, they form one of the largest scientific research facilities in the world, but the majority of the operating expenses of this national system are born by nonfederal organizations, both private and public, which in many cases struggle to meet these costs. If museum collections are to rise to the challenges facing society in the 21st Century, there is an urgent need to develop new economic models of operation. This workshop brings together a diverse, interdisciplinary group of natural history museum curators and collections staff, collections users (both current and potential), sustainability experts, management research specialists, and future studies experts to discuss the potential for developing (1) quantitative measures of collections value and (2) economic models for translating this value into support for collections, based on tangible benefits. The agenda will foster an entrepreneurial approach to sustainability, encouraging participants to develop a variety of new business models in the context of long-term trends shaping society in order to secure the future of natural history museums and collections. The results of this project, including a white paper, will be available at www.esa.org.