Improving the Storage Conditions and Beginning Digitization of the Paleozoic Stratigraphic Fossil Collections at the Paleontological Research Institution

改善古生物研究所古生代地层化石藏品的储存条件并开始数字化

• 批准号: 2127427
• 负责人: Gregory Dietl
• 金额: $ 37.73万
• 依托单位: Paleontological Research Institute
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-09-15 至 2024-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2127427&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; Storage; Conditions; Beginning; Digitization

This project will upgrade the physical storage and begin the long-term process of digitizing the Paleozoic stratigraphic fossil collections at the Paleontological Research Institution, which are currently in danger of physical deterioriation and data loss due to inadequate storage and lack of digitization. The Carl Brett and Gordon Baird Devonian collection will be upgraded to the highest curatorial standards and its associated data digitized and made more widely known and available online to the research community and general public. This collection documents the unique invertebrate fossil record of the Devonian, ~418 to 358 million years ago, of the northeastern United States, particularly New York, which is widely regarded as one of the most stratigraphically complete in the world. The project will greatly increase the accessibility and discoverability of these collections for studying a variety of important paleobiological topics, including: 1) community-level stasis and change, 2) niche evolution in response to major sea-level/ climatic change and invasion of new species, 3) morphological stasis, and 4) environmental change and evolution/ extinction of marine biotas. The project has two broader impact components: 1) construction of an online field guide to common New York fossils, and 2) development of a series of educational videos. These complementary resources will highlight both the geologic context and diversity of invertebrate fossils in the Brett and Baird Devonian collection.To ensure that the considerable research and educational value of the Brett and Baird Devonian collection is realized, this project will 1) upgrade the physical storage of the ~4,000 invertebrate fossil assemblage samples in the collection by moving them to a newly renovated climate-controlled facility, and 2) encourage use of the collection by digitizing and sharing records publicly online via data aggregators, such as the System for Earth Sample Registration and iDigBio. The project will also provide value-added geo-referenced data to the estimated 2,500 localities in the collection. Beyond improving the storage conditions and accessibility of the collection, this project will build on the Paleontological Research Institution’s strong history in developing free, online educational resources about paleontology and the fossil record. Specific outreach activities include creating a collection of five short (3-5 minute) videos with closed captioning for the public that will highlight the Brett and Baird Devonian collection. This series will be called “From the Field to the Cloud” and will detail the journey of an individual fossil as it travels through the steps from first discovery, to curation, to its final online representation in a publicly accessible online database. A new Devonian Atlas of Ancient Life will also be developed featuring at least 200 commonly encountered species from the Devonian fossil record of New York to help everyone from avocational collectors to museum professionals identify and learn more about fossils from the state.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.

该项目将升级物理存储，并开始古生物研究所古生代地层化石收藏的长期数字化进程，目前由于存储不足和缺乏数字化，古生代地层化石收藏面临物理退化和数据丢失的危险。卡尔·布雷特和戈登·贝尔德的泥盆纪藏品将升级到最高策展标准，其相关数据将数字化，并在网上更广泛地为研究界和公众所知和获取。这个收藏记录了美国东北部泥盆纪独特的无脊椎动物化石记录，距今约4.18亿至3.58亿年，特别是纽约，那里被广泛认为是世界上地层最完整的地区之一。该项目将大大增加这些收藏品的可及性和可发现性，用于研究各种重要的古生物学主题，包括：1)群落一级的停滞和变化，2)生态位随主要海平面/气候变化和新物种入侵而演变，3)形态停滞，以及4)环境变化和海洋生物的进化/灭绝。该项目有两个更广泛的影响部分：1)构建纽约常见化石的在线实地指南，2)开发一系列教育视频。这些互补资源将突出布雷特和贝尔德泥盆纪收藏的地质背景和无脊椎动物化石的多样性。为了确保布雷特和贝尔德泥盆纪收藏的可观研究和教育价值得到实现，该项目将1)升级收藏中约4,000个无脊椎动物化石组合样本的物理存储，将它们移到新装修的气候控制设施中，以及2)通过数据聚合器(如地球样本注册系统和iDigBio)在线公开数字化和共享记录，鼓励使用收藏。该项目还将向集合中估计的2500个地点提供增值的地理参考数据。除了改善藏品的储存条件和可获得性外，该项目还将建立在古生物研究所在开发关于古生物学和化石记录的免费在线教育资源方面的强大历史基础上。具体的外展活动包括为公众制作五个带有隐藏字幕的短片(3-5分钟)，突出布雷特和贝尔德泥盆纪的收藏。这个系列将被称为“从野外到云端”，将详细介绍单个化石从第一次发现，到收藏，再到最终在线呈现在一个可公开访问的在线数据库中的过程。新的泥盆纪古代生命地图集也将被开发出来，其中包括至少200个来自纽约泥盆纪化石记录的常见物种，以帮助从业余收藏家到博物馆专业人士的每个人识别和了解更多关于该州的化石。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。