Completing the Rehousing of the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates Bird and Mammal Collections

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A grant has been awarded to Cornell University under the direction of Dr. Kimberly Bostwick to provide curatorial improvements and move specimens in the Museum of Vertebrates into new cabinetry provided by the university. Some 60,000 specimens of bird study skins, mammal study skins, skeletal material, and other special collections come from 170 countries, with unique collections from the Great Plains of the United States made in the 1950s. These materials are used by national and international scientists for research, reference, and education. Currently, the collections housed in inadequate storage conditions, in old cases that do not seal properly, in overcrowded conditions. These conditions threaten the scientific value of the collections. The university has purchased 64 archival cabinets to relieve this problem. The grant will provide funds for curatorial supplies such as cabinet liner material, as well as student and part time labor to physically transfer the specimens. In addition to safeguarding the collection, the project will expose students to research in vertebrate biology and museum curation.