CSBR: Natural History: Curation and Digitization of Newly Acquired Modern and Fossil Invertebrate and Protist Research Collections at the SDSM&T Museum of Geology

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An award was made to the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Museum of Geology to curate and digitize three recently acquired collections of modern and Neogene-age (last 23 million years) invertebrates and protists. The targeted collections represent ancient and recent shallow-marine environments and are a foundation for conservation paleobiology and contemporary ecological research. Materials include 1989-2011 field collections of PI Anderson, dissertation collections of co-PI Belanger, and an orphaned collection from the former University of South Dakota-Springfield. Products of this project will include well-curated collections; digitized and georeferenced records including ancillary data, and illustrated faunal lists.Outreach and educational activities of this project include the training of graduate and undergraduate students in modern curatorial techniques. College students will also be involved in designing exhibits for use in outreach to middle and high school students. Furthermore, the targeted specimens will be used in course development for the training of the next generation of museum curators, including students from state and tribal colleges. Participating students will be encouraged to become intellectually invested through the development of research projects using the collections. More information can be found at: http://www.sdsmt.edu/MuseumCollections.