Linking and Leveraging Biological Collections: Zoos and Natural History Museums
General Information
When: May 3-5, 2021
Where: Zoom
Organizers: Sinlan Poo (Research Scientist, Memphis Zoo); Steven Whitfield (Conservation and Research Specialist, Zoo Miami); Gregory Watkins-Colwell (Sr. Collections Manager, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History); Alex Shepack (Post-Doc, Notre Dame University); Jillian Goodwin (iDigBio Conference Manager)
Event page: https://www.memphiszoo.org/research-workshop
This is an invited workshop but workshop recordings and presentations will be posted following the event for reference.
Overview
Zoos and aquariums hold a wealth of biological resources in their live collections that is unique to these institutions and cannot be simulated with traditional natural history collections in museums. As modern zoos transition from exhibits to conservation organizations, zoos are starting to focus on ways to enhance their contribution to the advancement of biological sciences. In recent years, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) has placed increasing emphasis on the need for zoos to invest in scientific advancement through basic and applied research.
Given the similarities between zoos and museums as collection-based zoological institutions, there is an opportunity for the two types of institutions to work together more closely, both so that zoos can learn from the experience of this transition from museums, and so that museums can increase their collections by receiving biological samples from zoos (e.g. blood samples, genetic samples, digital images, and whole specimens). Despite the obvious value of zoo collections, they remain an untapped resource for the larger scientific community. Through a three-day workshop, researchers from zoos, museums, and academic institutions will gather to discuss concrete steps that zoos can take to make collection information available to researchers and standard collaborations between zoos and museums, so that biological samples and information can be shared with the larger scientific community.
Kumospace
We will use a website platform called Kumospace for coffee breaks and the meet & greet. Kumospace is similar to Zoom, but more casual and fun (there’s a rooftop pool).
Pre-workshop Meet & Greet
We are planning a brief Meet & Greet the Thursday (4/22) before the workshop using Kumospace. This is completely optional and at your convenience. We wanted to provide a chance for everyone to introduce themselves and chat a bit prior to the workshop. This will also give participants a chance to get familiar with this software before the workshop begins.
Date: Thursday, 4/22
Time: 4pm to 5pm EDT (GMT-4)
Location: a link to our kumospace room will be provided the week of 4/22. In the meantime please check out kumospace.com and take a look around to become a little familiar with it.
Google Docs
Virtual backgrounds
Recordings
- Day 1 AM
- Day 1 PM
- Day 1 Zoo Tour
- Day 1 Zoo Tour Q&A
- Day 2 AM
- Day 2 PM
- Day 2 Zoo Tour & Q&A
- Day 3 AM
- Day 3 PM & Zoo Tour
Agenda
DRAFT AGENDA
Monday | May 3rd | Speaker | Title |
Eastern Time (GMT -4) |
|||
10:30 | Presentation check | Run-through and tech check for speakers | |
11:00 - 11:30 | Opening | ||
11:00 | Introductions | Organizers | Opening, Introductions |
11:10 | Overview | Steven Whitfield (Zoo Miami) & Sinlan Poo (Memphis Zoo) | "A biologist walks into a Zoo…Untapped potential of living collections in Zoos for biology research" |
11:30 - 12:30 | Scientific Value of Live Animal Collections | ||
11:30 | Talk 1 | Alex Shepack (University of Notre Dame) | The Great Divide?: Zoo-Mu participant insights |
11:50 | Talk 2 | Rebecca Snyder (Oklahoma City Zoo) | Science in the Zoo: Accessing the Bodies, Behavior and Minds of Living Collections |
12:10 | Talk 3 | Juan Diego Daza (Sam Houston State University) | Zoos and pets are a good teaching and research resource for anatomical studies, a personal experience. |
12:30 | Break-out Discussions | 30 minutes | Pie in the Sky - What's the ultimate vision for a collaboration? What is the potential (ignoring all roadblocks) |
1:00 | Break/Kumospace | 30 minutes | |
1:30 - 3:20 | Digital Collections Data and Data Management/Sharing | ||
1:30 | Talk 4 | Dalia Conde (Species 360) | The power of standardization and data sharing across a global community of zoos and aquariums. Future directions of Zoo and Aquariums data integrations with other information systems. |
1:50 | Talk 5 | Rob Guralnick (iDigBio) | Mechanisms for extending core vocabularies - from Darwin Core extensions to ontologies for observations and measurements. |
2:10 | Break/Kumospace | 30 minutes | |
2:40 | Talk 7 | Reed Beaman (NSF) | Update on NSF funding for Biological Collections in the US |
3:00 | Talk 8 | Joe Mendelson (Zoo Atlanta) | Are zoo specimens valuable as museum specimens? |
3:20 | Break/Kumospace | 30 minutes | |
3:50 | Break-out Discussions | 30 minutes | Where are roadblocks? What are the inherent limits of zoo animals as data sources? What obstacles are likely to be cultural (different values and interests between zoos and musuems)? |
4:20 | Memphis Zoo Behind the Scenes Video | Sinlan Poo (Memphis Zoo) | Research Department: Research, Sample Storage, & Data Management |
4:40 | Wrap-up | Organizers | |
4:50 | End | ||
5:00 | Presentation check | Run-through and tech check for speakers | |
Tuesday | May 4th | Speaker | Title |
Eastern Time (GMT-4) | |||
10:30 | Presentation check | Run-through and tech check for speakers | |
11:00 | Announcements | Organizers | |
11:10 - 11:50 | Overview for iDigBio and history of museum collections | ||
11:10 | Talk 1 | Gil Nelson (iDigBio) | iDigBio, Digital Extended Specimens, and Zoos |
11:30 | Talk 2 | Greg Watkins-Colwell (Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History) | Managing a collection of ones and zeros: a brief history of museum databases and aggregators |
11:50 - 12:10 | Biological samples and information routinely taken and stored at zoos | ||
11:50 | Talk 3 | Sandy Wilson (Sedgwick County Zoo) | "1. Archiving biological samples at the Sedgwick County Zoo 2. Maximizing research potential and minimizing biological waste – Sedgwick County Zoo’s collaboration with museums and universities |
12:10 | Talk 4 | Jennifer D’Agostino (Oklahoma City Zoo) | The Facts in the Freezer: Creating a Biological Bank at the Oklahoma City Zoo |
12:30 | Break-out Discussions | 30 minutes | How can we have zoos and museums share samples and data more effectively? |
1:00 | Break/Kumospace | 30 minutes | |
1:30 - 2:30 | Existing collaborations and transfers between zoos and museums | ||
1:30 | Talk 5 | Jennifer D’Agostino (Oklahoma City Zoo) | Mission Possible: Continuing the Conservation Story through Museum and University Partnerships |
1:50 | Talk 6 | Stephane Poulin (Arizona Sonora Desert Museum) | Life After Death: Leveraging Regional Educational Collections |
2:10 | Talk 7 | Patricia Brennan (Mount Holyoke University) | It is frustrating being an user: high investment with low yield |
2:30 | Talk 8 | Adam Ferguson (Field Museum) & Debbie Johnson (Brookfield Zoo) | To Keep or not to keep: Impacts of permitting agencies on zoo-museum collaborations |
2:50 | Break-out Discussions | 30 minutes | How can we have zoos share sample and data more effectively with researchers at academic institutions? |
3:20 | Break/Kumospace | 30 minutes | |
3:50 | Memphis Zoo Behind the Scenes Video | Courtney Janney (Memphis Zoo) & Dan Dembiec (Memphis Zoo) | Animal Programs and Curators: Live Collections Data, Population Management, and Cross-institutional Data Transfer |
4:30 | Wrap-up | Organizers | |
4:40 | End | ||
5:00 | Presentation check | Run-through and tech check for speakers | |
Wednesday | May 5th | Speaker | Title |
Eastern Time (GMT-4) | |||
10:30 | Presentation check | Run-through and tech check for speakers | |
11:00 | Announcements | Organizers | |
11:10 - 12:30 | Adapting methods of sharing digitized collections information | ||
11:10 | Talk 1 | Michelle Koo | The Arctos Ecosystem: Linking preserved and living collections in the extended specimen network |
11:30 | Talk 2 | Gary P. Aronsen, Megan Kirkham, Ryan McRae, and Katherine Walls | (Re)Connecting history: provenance, health and diversity in the ape (Family Hominidae) collection of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History. |
11:50 | Talk 3 | Matthew Borths & Amanda Greene (Duke Lemur Center) | Dreams and Challenges of Integrating Live Colony and Natural History Records at the Duke Lemur Center |
12:10 | Talk 4 | Barbara Thiers (New York Botanical Garden) | Botanical Gardens: Sharing Digital Data from Living and Herbarium Collections |
12:30 | Panel Discussion | 60 minutes | Extended specimens & Living Collections: Reed Beaman (NSF), Barbara Thiers (New York Botanical Garden), Gil Nelson (iDigBio), and Andy Bentley (University of Kansas) |
1:30 | Break/Kumospace | 30 minutes | |
2:00 - 2:40 | 3D anatomical data use in zoos and museums | ||
2:00 | Talk 5 | David Blackburn (oVert/UF) | The potential impact of digital anatomical data from zoos |
2:20 | Talk 6 | Catherine Early (Science Museum of Minnesota) | No species left unscanned: how zoos can fill gaps in 3D imaging of museum specimens |
2:40 - 3:00 | Museum capacity for sample storage | ||
2:40 | Talk 7 | Prosanta Chakrabarty (LSU) | Vouchers and Genomic Research:
The Overlooked Science of Linking the Living and the Dead |
3:00 | Break/Kumospace | 30 minutes | |
3:30 | Memphis Zoo Behind the Scenes Video | Felicia Knightly (Memphis Zoo) | Vet Hospital: Biological Samples, Digital Images, and Handling of Deceased Animals |
4:00 | Break-out Discussion | 60 minutes | Collective thoughts & ideas after the workshop. What are 1) Low-hanging fruit (what can we do NOW), 2) what's doable on a near-timescale (1 year) without extra funding, 3) What's ideal, but will require time, money, resources, and staff - but could be transformative? |
5:00 | Closing | Organizers | Next steps and plans for the future |
5:10 | End |
Resources
- AZA Accreditation Standards: See page 101 for a subsection of the AZA policy on responsible population management.
- Biological Collections Network
BCoN Report: Extending U.S. Biodiversity Collections to Promote Research and Education