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CaliforniaStateUniversity,Fresno,DepartmentofBiologypresents:
“HiddeninPlainSight:TheNaturalHistoryCollectionsoftheFresno
StateBiologyDepartment”
Dr.KatherineWaselkovAssistantProfessorofBiology
CaliforniaStateUniversity-Fresno
Friday,October26,20183:00–4:00PM
Science2,room109Forfurtherinformation:www.csufresno.edu/biology
Abstract:HundredsofpeoplewalkthroughtheScience1buildingontheFresnoStatecampuseveryday.Studentsinthecommonareasstudynexttodioramasoflocalecosystemsfulloftaxidermiedanimalsandpreservedplants;lecturersteachinclassroomswheretheirstudentssharespacewithshelvesfulloffishinjarsandcabinetsfullofpinnedinsects.Yetevenmanyofthefacultyandstaffwhoworkinthebuildingareunawareofthesheernumber,age,andvalueofthenaturalhistorycollectionsintheBiologydepartment.Inthisseminar,Iwillgiveanoverviewofthedepartment’scollections,bysharingabitabouttheirhistoryandtheircurrentandpossibleusesinresearchandteaching,andIwillexplorethetopicofscientificspecimensandbiodiversitycollectionsingeneral.Inparticular,IwillfocusontheFresnoStateHerbarium,a40,000-specimencollectionofpresseddriedplantsdatingbacktothe1890s,whichprovidesarecordofhabitatchangeintheCentralValleyandtheSierraNevada.Naturalhistorycollectionsareincreasinglybeingrecognizedonaglobalscaleasrepositoriesofunique,irreplaceablephysicalobjectsthatcanbeputtopurposestheoriginalcollectorscouldneverhaveimagined.Pastandpresent-dayscientistscollectwholephysicalspecimensoforganismsforavarietyofreasons,andoftentheassociatedlabeldatarecordedatthetimeofcollectionisatleastasvaluableasthespecimenitself.Manyinitiativeshavebeguntodigitizecollections:tocaptureanimageofthespecimenandtranscribeitslabeldataintosearchableonlinedatabases.Thistransformationofphysicalarchivesintovirtualrecordspermitsscientistsallovertheworldtoeasilystudyindividualspecimens,andalsotoaggregatebiodiversitydatatotacklelarge-scaleecologicalandevolutionaryquestionsaboutthenumberofspeciesonearth,themechanismsofcommunityassembly,thelikelyimpactsofclimatechangeovertime,andcountlessotherresearchtopics.TheFresnoStateHerbariumrecentlyjoinedanNSF-fundeddigitizationinitiative,theCaliforniaPhenologyThematicCollectionsNetwork,whichisaimedatcapturingchangesinfloweringtimeoverthe20thcenturyinCaliforniaecosystems.Soon,thevalueofourbiodiversitycollectionswillnolongerbehidden.Bio:Dr.WaselkovisanAssistantProfessorofBiologyatCaliforniaStateUniversity-Fresno.Ifyouneedadisability-relatedaccommodationorwheelchairaccess,pleasecontactLindasueGarnerattheDepartmentofBiologyat278-2001ore-maillgarner@csufresno.edu(atleastoneweekpriortoevent).