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集是美国第二大和增长最快的博物馆之一，它是国家和国际研究人员以及当地学者，学生，自然资源管理人员和政府机构关于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藏品和相关的科学家和学生提供最先进的储存和研究设施。该奖项将支持收集到新设施的运动，并将提供机会，使收集管理，将更好地服务于研究和教育界的几个改进。增强功能包括将大量标本重新排序为更节省空间的容器大小排列，而不是按类型对标本进行分组，并对标本容器进行条形码化，以便更容易找到单个标本。将开展一个大规模的成像方案，以改善在线获取收藏品的情况。对世界上最重要的鱼类种群之一的收集数据的改进和更具成本效益的实物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教师专业发展的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）的旗舰计划与项目科学家配对，每个佛罗里达学校（SEFS）的科学家，以及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，并为科学家与学生的面对面或虚拟课堂访问做好准备。新的设施和更好的管理将保证保存和增加对科学具有特殊价值的标本的获取。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集来提供资源，以回答具有根本重要性的问题，通过这个项目，更准确和更新的在线基于生物信息学的数据将与基因组和表型数据相关联，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。该项目完成后，收集的数据将只与数据聚合器共享鱼类的当前名称，从而大大提高数据的效用。无论是由工作人员还是访问研究人员完成，定位单个样本批次的工作都将得到简化。该项目将确保标本和数据的完整性，更好地服务于科学界和公众，并通过其成功，作为一个模型，以改善其他大型和重要的收藏。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得支持的评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准。

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.