CSBR: Natural History: Conservation and Curation of the Milton Sanderson Dominican Amber Collection at the Illinois Natural History Survey

多米尼加琥珀以保存完好的化石而闻名，这些化石包括古老的动物、植物、真菌，甚至细菌，可以追溯到大约1600万到1800万年前的中新世。迄今为止，在这块非凡的琥珀中发现了1000多种生物。对多米尼加琥珀的科学研究始于美国国家科学基金会资助的伊利诺斯州自然历史调查局（INHS）昆虫学家米尔顿·桑德森（Milton Sanderson）的一次探险，他于1959年访问了该岛，研究甲虫。在当地导游的帮助下，他开始寻找丰富的琥珀矿床，并收集了一个大样本，带回了INHS。第二年，他发表了一篇简短的论文，报告了他的发现，从而启动了对这个古老生态系统的科学研究。因此，桑德森的藏品在科学上和历史上都非常重要，但仍未被研究，仍未被分类，也未在最初收集这些藏品的五加仑桶中进行处理。多年不合格的储存对琥珀造成了损害，它经历了严重的氧化，现在非常脆弱。该项目将最终筛选包含物，使用最先进的树脂嵌入技术进行保存，进行策划和数字化。这将解锁大量关于古代生物多样性、生态和气候的重要数据，这些数据目前在馆藏中被隐藏和无法获取。除了首次向科学界和公众提供这些数据外，它还将为研究生和本科生开始他们的科学事业提供宝贵的经验。伊利诺斯大学的伊利诺斯州自然历史调查局（INHS）是米尔顿·桑德森多米尼加琥珀收藏（MSDAC）的所在地。除了作为多米尼加琥珀的第一个实质性收藏具有重要的历史意义外，MSDAC在科学上也具有重大意义。它包括一个大的（约70公斤）琥珀的散装样本，几乎完全未加工；也就是说，它仍然住在收集它的5加仑桶里，还没有被筛选成化石。除了它的规模之外，藏品的未经筛选的性质意味着它不会受到收藏家的偏见，也不会丢弃任何内含物，而这通常发生在商业收藏中，并出售给博物馆或私人收藏家。因此，MSDAC提供了一个独特的机会来研究一个公正的收集，承诺提供一个更完整的关于早中新世多米尼加琥珀林的古生物多样性和古生态的图片。不幸的是，数十年不合格的储存导致了严重的氧化损伤，使收集处于重大风险之中。该项目将重点关注MSDAC的稳定、保护、管理和数字化。最先进的真空树脂包埋技术，将标本包埋在高质量的合成树脂中，用于稳定氧化琥珀。对稳定的标本进行修整和抛光，可以识别夹杂物，并便于在在线数据库中对标本进行显微摄影。本科生和研究生将参与这一过程的每一步，从而帮助培养下一代科学家。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Dominican amber is famous for the beautifully preserved fossils it contains - ancient animals, plants, fungi, and even bacteria, dating back to the Miocene epoch approximately 16-18 million years ago. To date, over 1,000 species have been discovered in this remarkable amber. Scientific study of Dominican amber began with an NSF-funded expedition by Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) entomologist Milton Sanderson, who visited the island in 1959 to study beetles. Having learned of rich amber deposits he set out to find them with the help of local guides and collected a large sample that he brought back to the INHS. The following year he published a short paper reporting his discovery, thereby kickstarting scientific study of this ancient ecosystem. Sanderson's collection is therefore, tremendously important both scientifically and historically, yet remains unstudied, still unsorted and unprocessed in the original five-gallon buckets in which it was collected. Years of substandard storage has taken its toll on the amber, which has undergone significant oxidation and is now incredibly fragile. This project will allow the collection to finally be screened for inclusions, conserved using state-of-the-art resin embedding techniques, curated, and digitized. This will unlock a wealth of important data concerning ancient biodiversity, ecology, and climate that is currently hidden and inaccessible within the collection. In addition to making this data available to the scientific community and the public for the first time, it will also provide valuable experience to graduate and undergraduate students beginning their careers in science.The Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) at the University of Illinois is home to the Milton Sanderson Dominican Amber Collection (MSDAC). In addition to its historical importance as the first substantial collection of Dominican amber, the MSDAC is hugely significant scientifically. It comprises a large (ca. 70 kg) bulk sample of amber that remains almost entirely unprocessed; i.e., it still resides in the five-gallon buckets in which it was collected and has yet to be screened for fossils. Aside from its size, the unscreened nature of the collection means that it has not been subject to collector bias and no inclusions have been discarded, as typically happens in collections made commercially and sold to museums or private collectors. As a result, the MSDAC presents a unique opportunity to study an unbiased collection that promises to deliver a more complete picture of the paleobiodiversity and paleoecology of the Early Miocene Dominican amber forest. Unfortunately, decades of substandard storage have resulted in substantial oxidation damage putting the collection at significant risk. This project will focus on the stabilization, conservation, curation and digitization of the MSDAC. A state-of-the-art vacuum resin embedding technique, in which specimens are embedded in a high-quality synthetic resin, will be used to stabilize the oxidized amber. Trimming and polishing of stabilized specimens will allow identification of inclusions and facilitate photomicrography of specimens for inclusion in an online database. Undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in every step of the process, thereby helping to train the next generation of scientists.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.