Research Infrastructure: Increasing scientific capacity and educational and outreach impact of the Cornell University Insect Collection

康奈尔大学昆虫收藏馆（CUIC）成立于1871年，是美国最古老的昆虫收藏馆之一。CUIC拥有超过700万个标本，代表了来自地球上几乎每个国家的20多万种昆虫，约占所有已描述昆虫物种的20%。在这个项目的过程中，CUIC的研究人员将把固定的昆虫箱移到轨道上的压实机系统上，增加持续增长的能力，并通过对几个目标区域的精心管理和数字化来扩大收集的科学影响。压实机将允许生物收集能力的物理扩展，同时增加新的橱柜和抽屉将确保有价值的科学材料的完整性。通过相关的数字化活动，研究人员和公众将更容易获得CUIC的馆藏。除了这些收集管理活动外，pi还将采取三管齐下的方法来培养下一代昆虫学家和教育公众。首先，将建立一个本科生队列培训项目，以确保下一代昆虫学家在以收集为基础的管理和研究方面技能娴熟。其次，为了教育和向公众提供机会，pi将与当地自然历史博物馆合作，开展公众可以参与的活动，以了解昆虫的多样性和重要性，包括创建在线昆虫实地指南。最后，pi将与博物馆教育工作人员合作，为中学教育工作者制定符合下一代科学标准的课程计划，以便在他们的课堂上使用，从而在未来许多年里对学生和教育工作者产生持久的连锁反应。生物馆藏是许多学科研究的基础。有些科学问题只能通过使用这些藏品来研究时间的变化或已经灭绝的物种的各个方面来解决。由于这些原因，任何活跃的研究收集都不会停止增长。增加压缩器将为CUIC继续增长提供急需的空间。为确保馆藏具有最高的科学质量，将更换所有非密封的橱柜和抽屉，并对馆藏中急需重新安置、整理和更新分类的两个重点区域进行评估和改进。这些重点领域包括蜻蜓（蜻蜓和豆娘）和巢（胆和膜翅目）收藏，因为它们目前都保存在低于标准的管理条件下。在此过程中，将添加人类和机器可读的条形码，并建立相关的标签数据和分类信息数据库。这些重点馆藏的信息将通过包括idigbio.org在内的免费在线数据库与公众和研究界广泛共享。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行了评估，认为值得支持。

The Cornell University Insect Collection (CUIC), founded in 1871, is one of the oldest entomological collections in the United States. The CUIC, with over 7 million specimens, represents over 200,000 species or roughly 20% of all described species of insects from almost every country on the planet. Over the course of this project, researchers at CUIC will move the fixed insect cabinets to a compactor system on rails, increasing capacity for continued growth, and expand the scientific impact of the collection through the careful curation and digitization of several targeted areas. The compactors will allow for the physical expansion of biological collection capacity, while the addition of new cabinets and drawers will ensure the integrity of valuable scientific material. Through associated digitization activities, the CUIC holdings will be made more accessible to researchers and the public alike. In addition to these collection management activities, the PIs will take a three-pronged approach to prepare the next generation of entomologists and educate the public. First, an undergraduate cohort training program will be created to ensure that the next generation of entomologists are skilled in collections-based curation and research. Second, to educate and provide exposure to the public, the PIs will partner with the local natural history museum to create activities that the public can engage with to learn about the diversity and importance of insects, including the creation of an online insect field guide. Finally, PIs will partner with museum education staff to create lesson plans that align with the Next-Generation Science Standards for secondary educators for use in their classrooms, leading to a long-lasting ripple effect both for the students and educators over many years to come. Biological collections are the foundation for research in many disciplines. Some scientific questions can only be addressed by using these collections to examine change through time or aspects of already extinct species. For these reasons, no active research collection will ever stop growing. Adding compactors will provide much needed space for the CUIC to continue to grow. To ensure the collection is in the highest scientific quality, all non-sealing cabinets and drawers will be replaced, and two focal areas of the collection in significant need of rehousing, curating, and updating of taxonomy will be assessed and improved. These focal areas include the Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and nest (gall and Hymenoptera) collections, as both are currently stored in subpar curation conditions. During this process, human and machine-readable barcodes will be added, and associated label data and taxonomic information will be databased. The information for these focal collections will be shared widely with the public and research community through online, freely available databases, including iDigBio.org.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.