The Collections Communications Working Group was formed to continue to develop and, as appropriate, work to implement the recommendations outlined in the report from the fall 2015 Collections Communication Workshop.

Read the report from the 2015 workshop.

Members

• Sarah Boyer, Macalester College
• Ellen Censky, Milwaukee Public Museum
• Rebecca Dolan, Director, Friesner Herbarium, Butler University
• Sarah George, Executive Director, Natural History Museum of Utah
• David Giblin, University of Washington
• Emily Graslie, Field Museum of Natural History
• Robert Gropp, American Institute of Biological Sciences
• Erica Krimmel, The Chicago Academy of Sciences and Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
• Leonard “Kris” Kishtalka, Kansas University Biodiversity Institute
• Marcia Revelez, Angelo State Natural History Collections
• Kelly Richers, Wasco Union Elementary School District
• Beverly Sensbach, Associate Director, Florida Museum of Natural History
• Randal Singer, University of Florida

Outreach Materials

The BCoN Collections Communications Working Group identified a need to compile existing outreach documents that the biodiversity collections and science communities may use to educate decision-makers and the general public about the nature of biodiversity collections-based science, including the benefits derived from digitizing specimens and their associated data. Below is a list of such documents compiled by the Working Group.

If you or your organization would like to use these materials to support any of your efforts, please do so. All that is asked is that you properly credit the source organization, and send us a note to let us know how you are using the document.

• “Biological Specimens Go Online: The New Digital Frontier of Collections.” Natural Science Collections Alliance.
• “Museum Specimens in the Service of Science: USGS and Smithsonian Partner to Advance Science”
• “Celebrating the Knowledge and the Mystery of Fossils” Natural Science Collections Alliance.
• “Bees Are Not Optional: To Know How Bees Fare, You Must Know Who They Are” Natural Science Collections Alliance.
• “Little Frog Faces Big Challenges: Herpetology Collection is Repository for Data on Rare Frog” Natural Science Collections Alliance.
• “Informing Wildlife Management: Genetics Research Uses Natural History Collections” Natural Science Collections Alliance.
• “How Thoreau, Walden, and Herbarium Specimens Informed Research” Natural Science Collections Alliance.
• “Museum Collections Document a Century of Change” Natural Science Collections Alliance.
• Natural Science Collections Alliance fact sheets on the value of collections in education, research, and understanding biodiversity.
• Resources for K-12 Educators. iDigBio.
• Resources for Undergraduate Students and Educators. iDigBio.
• 143 Stories that Collection Museums Hold. Inquiring Minds.

Education

• Advancing Integration of Museums into Undergraduate Education
  Source of educational modules, presentations and publications related to educating biology undergraduates using museum specimens and data. Resources tab has an extensive list of education and outreach links.
• Smithsonian Education
  Museum based lessons plans searchable by State Standards
• iDigBio
  Ongoing initiatives involving education And outreach from the digitization HUB, iDigBio
• Vision and Change
  Document outlining recommendations for biology undergraduate education in the 21st century
• Partnership for Undergraduate Life Sciences Education, PULSE
  Effort from the American Institute of Biological Sciences to implement the recommendations of Vision and Change
• Cook et al. 2014. Natural History Collections as Emerging Resources for Innovative Education, Bioscience
• Ho and Cook. 2013. Co-Evolving Pedagogies, ARID
• Powers et al. 2014. Revolutionizing the Use of Natural History Collections in Education, Science Education Review

Small Collections

• Small Collection Network
  Source of recorded webinars, resource links and upcoming projects related to recruiting, retaining and sustaining small collection involvement in the national digitization initiative.
• North American Network of Small Herbaria
  A Symbiota portal generated specifically for mobilizing small herbarium data.
• Snow. 2005 Successfully Curating Smaller Herbaria and Natural History Collections in Academic Settings, BioScience