MRI: Acquisition of a Computer-Enhanced Specimen Analysis Station for Multidisciplinary Museum Research

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ABSTRACT A grant has been awarded to The Cleveland Museum of Natural History (CMNH)under the direction of Drs. Keiper, Hannibal, Latimer and Matson to obtain the components for a computer-enhanced specimen analysis station. This will entail integrating two microscopes (one compound microscope and one dissectionmicroscope), macrophotography equipment, a three-dimensional digitizer, a high resolution VCR, and a sound lab with two networked computers. These instruments will allow museum personnel, and their college and high school students, graduate students, colleagues, and visiting scientists, to accurately identify, study, and catalog research specimens housed at CMNH. New equipment will allow for more efficient computer cataloging, more accurate analysis of specimens (including, but limited to, animal, plant, fossil, mineralogical, archaeological, and anthropological materials), and open up new avenues of research for CMNH that will be enhanced with modern computer software capabilities. This equipment will improve the research capabilities of The Cleveland Museum of Natural History. It will facilitate analyses and new scientific discoveries by museum staff, students, and associates from multiple disciplines. Analysis of paleontological and anthropological materials will reveal new insights into the evolutionary history of a variety of organisms. The equipment will promote discoveries of new information on biological organisms necessary for conservation efforts, including survey work, animal ecology, and descriptions of new species and life stages. Because the public will be able to view ongoing work and observe computer-enhanced specimen analysis though a monitor, this project will promote public awareness of scientific research in museums.