Enhancement of the Natural History Collections at the University of North Carolina Wilmington

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This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This funding will support improvements in the infrastructure and accessibility of the extensive natural history collections at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) in conjunction with their movement into a newly renovated storage facility on campus. A new computer program developed through NSF funding called Specify will be used to create a computerized database of specimens and specimen images that will not only assist in undergraduate and graduate teaching and research programs, but will also provide broad online access to the collections to the greater scientific community. This access will not only increase scientific awareness of the UNCW collections, but online imagery will limit damage to specimens by reducing the need for external loans, shipping, and handling. The management plan will be structured in a way so that natural history collections of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and plants, totaling over 70,000 specimens, will be transitioned to electronic format while serving as an applied learning opportunity for undergraduate students. An Assistant Curator will be hired for two years to help oversee this project with the faculty curators at UNCW and to develop protocols for databasing and geo-referencing the collections now and in the future. The broader impacts of this proposal will include benefits to the general public, K-12 education, and the scientific community. Online access to the collections will provide public information on the taxonomy, ecology, evolution, and conservation of plant and animal species primarily associated with habitats in North Carolina and the Southeast. This information is especially useful for the many endemic species associated with Southeastern habitats that reside in the UNCW collections (plants and vertebrates). This program will provide valuable information to K-12 teachers, students and the broader community, allowing maximum public outreach and development of natural history interests in the younger generation. The overall goal is to increase classroom visitation and awareness of the rich natural history in North Carolina. Faculty curators will visit at least three public schools per year that are comprised primarily of under-represented groups to present research and information on natural history in the Carolinas. An interactive web site will also be developed for use by these and other classrooms to help stimulate interest in the natural sciences. Moreover, scientific experts at local, national, and global levels, as well as State and Federal agencies, will have access to these collections resulting in enhanced communications and collaborations with faculty curators. UNCW students also will benefit, especially undergraduates, with courses directed towards applied learning and taxonomic knowledge. Students will gain additional experience by assisting with cataloguing and databasing the collections as part of this program. Students successfully trained in this manner will be hired part-time to continue assisting with the goals set forth in this proposal thereby gaining additional applied learning experiences. Three Master's students will also be included in this process during summer months. The entire project will impact at least eight undergraduate and three graduate students per year, plus dozens to hundreds of local school children, particularly in under-represented groups.