Digitization PEN: Integration of data from the San Diego Natural History Museum with the Lepidoptera of North America Network

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An award is made to the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM) to join with the Lepidoptera of North America Network Thematic Collection Network (LepNet TCN) as a Partner to Existing Network (PEN). The main goal of this project is to integrate information from butterfly and moth specimens at the SDNHM with LepNet to facilitate the use of museum specimens for research and education. Publicly accessible data resources like LepNet are increasingly being used to study the impact of environmental change on the natural world and to develop conservation priorities. The information associated with the SDNHM specimens fills major data gaps from southern California and the Baja California Peninsula. In addition, the project will add species currently not represented in LepNet and a quarter of the data predates the 1920s, a period currently underrepresented in the portal. Along with these scientific outcomes, the project will engage dozens of high-school interns and volunteers and provide science-related work experience for at least six undergraduate students. The researchers will also be producing public-friendly social media and blog content that highlights the aesthetics, diversity, and biology of butterflies and moths. This NSF-ADBC funded project will transcribe label data for over 150,000 Lepidoptera specimen records from the SDNHM and incorporate it in into the LepNet data resource. All specimens will be barcoded, databased, and georeferenced, and at least 4000 exemplars will be imaged and available online. The project will increase the current number of accessible specimen records for southern California and the peninsula of Baja California by 684% and 241% respectively. The SDNHM has maintained over 140 years of research on this region, which will provide a substantial increase in the temporal diversity currently documented in LepNet, enhancing the portal's utility for change over time research. The participating undergraduate students, high school interns, and volunteers will be trained and mentored in museum curation, imaging, databasing protocols, and collections-based research. Digitized data will be shared with iDigBio (idigbio.org) where it can be accessed for research, education, and public use.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.