Modernization of the Oregon State Arthropod Collection

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

The Oregon State Arthropod Collection (OSAC) at Oregon State University is the largest insect collection in the Pacific Northwest (PNW), and houses about three million specimens. These specimens serve as the basis for insect diversity research in the PNW and additionally provide valuable information and reference material for regional stakeholders in forestry, agriculture, and conservation. This project installs a compactor system and new cabinets for the OSAC, taking advantage of a full building remodel, and completing OSAC’s transition into a modern, secure repository that will enable fifty years of research, growth, and active engagement with diverse communities. This project will also rehouse and improve several portions of the collection, thereby removing substantial infrastructural constraints impeding curation and research. Students, including those in groups underrepresented in STEM, will participate in this reinvigoration of the OSAC through these curatorial projects and through assisting in the creation of public displays about the collection and its specimens. The project will install nineteen movable carriages, allowing OSAC to be housed in our newly renovated repository room. Curatorial projects will focus on ground beetles, brush-footed butterflies, true bugs, and true flies, and will result in their being rehoused in new cabinets, drawers, and unit trays. The entire collection will be deep-frozen as part of the project, and a new specimen-handling workflow developed, eradicating pest challenges that have historically plagued the collection. A series of community museum events, student curatorial projects, and an undergraduate course, will engage students and the public with the collection in an innovative story-telling approach whereby participants are encouraged to explore and be inspired by the multifaceted information associated with museum specimens. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.