CSBR: RAPID: NATURAL HISTORY: Securing the safety of critical Great Lakes alcohol preserved specimens

中密歇根大学（CMU）获得了一项奖励，以支持文化和自然历史博物馆（MCNH），该博物馆收藏了存放在酒精中的鱼类、爬行动物和两栖动物标本，这对校园构成了重大而紧迫的安全风险。这些藏品目前被安置在一个以前的教室里，这个教室的建筑没有可燃物质，也没有灭火系统和行业标准的可燃储物柜。这些标本在五大湖生态区内及其周边地区具有重要的研究意义，特别是在了解和减轻环境威胁方面。这一至关重要的生态系统包含了美国90%的淡水，对该地区的经济、健康和福祉有着巨大而直接的影响，因此有必要对其进行保护。这些藏品的研究和教学价值促使MCNH在校园内确定了专门的灭火空间，在那里他们可以放置适当的易燃安全柜，以减轻火灾或爆炸风险，同时保持最高的专业博物馆标准。该合同将允许MCNH购买设备，并雇用人员在一年的时间内打包、移动、重新安置在橱柜中，并重新清点藏品。MCNH是一个实验室博物馆，支持密歇根州最古老的实用博物馆培训计划。该项目还将支持CMU博物馆研究项目的学生获得解决安全隐患问题的实际经验，并了解存放在酒精中的自然历史藏品的安全处理方法。该奖项将允许中密歇根大学（CMU）的文化和自然历史博物馆（MCNH）通过消除对校园的可燃性威胁，同时保持安全，保存关键的乙醇保存标本。这些藏品记录了劳伦森大湖的鱼类学和爬虫学历史（包括本地物种和入侵物种），并由当前的研究人员使用和开发，包括那些与CMU大湖研究所（IGLR）合作的研究人员。该项目的完成还将使MCNH能够恢复接受鱼类、爬行动物和两栖动物标本捐赠，目前由于安全问题而受到阻碍。该项目将允许MCNH通过iDigBio （idigbio.org）和全球生物多样性信息设施（GBIF）门户网站保持在线存在，从而进一步增加对MCNH馆藏的访问，以供研究使用。MCNH最终将把这些藏品安置在一个连续的空间里，但是由于目前这种努力的成本过高，这个项目解决了一个紧迫的问题，将藏品分散在易燃的存储柜中，分散到一系列的控制区域，同时仍然允许在公认的博物馆标准内对标本进行安全和物理控制。该项目将为CMU博物馆研究项目的学生提供宝贵的经验，并使这些标本更容易用于未来的研究、教学、教育计划和展览。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。

An award is made to Central Michigan University (CMU) to support the Museum of Cultural and Natural History (MCNH), which holds a research collection of fish, reptile, and amphibian specimens stored in alcohol, posing a significant and urgent safety risk for the campus. These collections are currently housed in a former classroom in a building not rated to hold flammable substances and lacks a fire suppression system and industry standard flammable storage cabinets. These specimens are of research significance conducted in and around the Great Lakes Ecoregion, particularly in support of understanding and mitigating environmental threats. This vital ecosystem, which contains ninety percent of the fresh water in the United States, has large and direct economic, health, and well-being impacts on the region, necessitating its protection. The research and teaching value of the collection has led MCNH to identify dedicated space on campus with fire suppression where they can place proper flammable safety cabinets that will mitigate fire or explosion risks while maintaining the highest professional museum standards. This award will allow MCNH to acquire equipment and hire personnel to pack, move, rehouse in cabinets, and re-inventory the collection during the course of one year. MCNH is a laboratory museum supporting Michigan's oldest practical museum training program. This project will also support CMU's Museum Studies Program students to gain real-life experience in resolving safety hazard issues and to understand safe handling practices for natural history collections stored in alcohol. This award will allow The Museum of Cultural and Natural History (MCNH) at Central Michigan University (CMU) to save critical ethanol-preserved specimens by eliminating a flammability threat to campus while maintaining safety and security. These collections document the ichthyological and herpetological history of the Laurentian Great Lakes (both native and invasive species) and are used and developed by current researchers, including those working with CMU's Institute for Great Lakes Research (IGLR). Completion of this project will also enable MCNH to resume accepting fish, reptile, and amphibian specimen donations, which is currently impeded due to safety concerns. The project will further increase access to these collections for research by allowing MCNH to maintain an online presence through the iDigBio (idigbio.org) and Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) web portals, increasing access to MCNH collections. The MCNH will eventually house these collections in one contiguous space, however due to the currently prohibitive cost of such an endeavor, this project addresses an immediate concern by dispersing the collections in flammable storage cabinets to a series of control areas while still allowing security and physical control of the specimens within accepted museum standards. This project will prove invaluable experience for CMU's Museum Studies Program students, as well as making these specimens more accessible for future research, teaching, educational programming, and exhibits.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.