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).