Research Infrastructure: Moving and Improving the Florida Museum of Natural History Fish Collection

佛罗里达自然历史博物馆保存的鱼类标本是美国第二大和增长最快的鱼类标本之一，它为国内和国际研究人员以及当地学者、学生、自然资源管理者和政府机构提供了鱼类多样性和分布的重要信息来源。佛罗里达大学校园内的一座新建筑将为收集和相关的科学家和学生提供最先进的存储和研究设施。该奖项将支持馆藏转移到新设施，并将提供机会对馆藏管理进行若干改进，以更好地为研究和教育界服务。改进措施包括将大量标本重新排序为更节省空间的容器大小排列，而不是按类型分组标本，并对标本容器进行条形码，以便更容易定位单个标本。一项大规模的成像计划将进行，以改善对这些藏品的在线访问。加强收集数据和对世界上最重要的鱼类之一进行更具成本效益的物理重组将成为未来收集管理的模式。该项目还将通过增加K-12教师的专业发展机会来改善博物馆的公共界面。教师将通过汤普森地球系统研究所（TESI）的旗舰项目“佛罗里达每所学校的科学家”（SEFS）与项目科学家配对，一系列关于科学传播最佳实践的专业发展机会将支持教师与科学家合作，并为科学家亲自或虚拟课堂访问学生做好准备。新的设施和改进的管理将保证保存和增加对科学具有特殊价值的标本的可及性。此外，对有问题的分类和其他数据进行更无故障的替换将使研究人员、工作人员和其他用户更容易地访问标本和信息。生态学和进化生物学依赖于自然历史收藏来提供资源，以回答根本性的重要问题，通过该项目，更准确和更新的基于标本的在线数据将与基因组和表型数据联系起来，映射以显示随时间的分布和变化，并有助于与环境变化相关的分析。项目完成后，该集合将只与数据聚合器共享当前的鱼类名称，从而大大提高了数据的实用性。无论是工作人员还是访问研究人员，定位单个标本批次都将得到简化。这个项目将确保标本和数据的完整性，更好地为科学界和公众服务，并通过它的成功，为改进其他大型和重要的藏品提供一个榜样。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。

The collection of preserved fish specimens at the Florida Museum of Natural History is the second largest and one of the fastest growing in the U.S. It serves as a vital source of information on the diversity and distributions of fishes for national and international researchers, as well as local scholars, students, natural resource managers, and government agencies. A new building on the University of Florida campus built to house the collection and associated scientists and students will provide state-of-the-art storage and research facilities. This award will support the movement of the collection to the new facilities and will provide the opportunity to make several improvements to collection management that will better serve the research and education communities. Enhancements include reordering the massive collection into a more space-efficient container-size arrangement, rather than grouping specimens by type, and barcoding specimen containers so individual specimens are easier to locate. A large-scale imaging program will be conducted for improved online access to the collection. The enhancements to collection data and a more cost-efficient physical reorganization of one of the world's most important collections of fishes will serve as a model for future collection management. The project also will improve the public interface of the Museum through increased opportunities for professional development of K-12 teachers. Teachers will be paired with project scientists through the Thompson Earth Systems Institute’s (TESI) flagship program, a Scientist in Every Florida School (SEFS), and a series of professional development opportunities on best practices in science communication will support teachers as they collaborate with scientists and prepare scientists for in-person or virtual classroom visits with students. The new facilities and improved management will guarantee preservation and increased accessibility of specimens of exceptional value to science. Additionally, a more trouble-free replacement of problematic taxonomic and other data will allow researchers, staff, and other users to access specimens and information more easily. Ecology and evolutionary biology rely on natural history collections to provide resources for answers to questions of fundamental importance, and through this project more accurate and updated online specimen-based data will be linked to genomic and phenomic data, mapped to show distributions and changes over time, and contribute to analyses related to environmental change. Upon completion of the project, the collection will share only current names for fishes with data aggregators, greatly improving the utility of the data. Locating individual specimen lots will be simplified, whether the work is done by staff or a visiting researcher. This project will assure the integrity of specimens and data, better serve the scientific community and public, and through its success, serve as a model for improvement of other large and important collections.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.