New Insect Cabinetry for the Division of Entomology, University of Kansas Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center

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A grant has been awarded to the University of Kansas under the direction of Dr. James S Ashe for partial support of enhancing the facilities and storage environment of the research collection of insects at the University of Kansas. With the help of this award, the Division of Entomology of the KU Natural History Museum and Biodiversity Research Center will replace substandard cabinetry and drawers with modern, space-efficient cabinets and new drawers. Currently more than half the collection is stored in older green cabinets, designed in the 1940's, that do not have effective seals for excluding museum pests, and many are extensively rusted, and they do not use space efficiently. Further, approximately 20% of the insect drawers in these older cabinets are themselves very old, of poor design, and warped and cracked so that they do not seal properly, making the specimens in them vulnerable to pest infestation and damage. The paleoentomology collection, is also in inadequate housing. The Division recently adopted the Donald and Madge Baker collection but it lacks adequate housing.During this project we will 1) replace substandard green cabinets with 69 new cabinets; 2) replace substandard drawers with new, modern drawers with adequate seals; 3) recurate the 4,500 specimen paleoentomology collection into new housing; and 4) re-house the Baker collection. Upon completion, all pinned specimens, and the important paleoentomology collection, in the collection of the Division of Entomology will be housed in excellent, space-efficient, research accessible, modern insect cabinets with full rubber-gasket seals that prevent entry of pests, and in modern appropriately sealed glass-topped drawers. This project is focused on enhancement of facilities; the results will be a much-improved storage environment that will bring the collection to a modern, uniform standard of storage. Re-housing these World-class collections at this time is critical to maintaining and enhancing their research integrity, and in providing state-of-the-art, long-term conservation and protection from pests, dust, humidity and light. The re-housing will also result in substantial space savings for future collection growth. The broader significance and long-term merits of this project will be realized in vastly-improved, long-term, stability and accessibility for research and education to the broadest possible user community including scientists throughout the world, students, public policy makers and the interested public, and in training of graduate and undergraduate students in aspects of collection management and collection usage.