Natural history collections are largely publicly funded, but large portions of the collections themselves are not easily accessible to the public. These collections tends to be housed off site, or in basements where the public cannot go. As a result, museums and the biological collections they hold are often undervalued, with funding for preservation and curation decreasing in recent years. This decrease in funding puts the collections, their staff, and the scientific research they generate at risk. Additionally, scientists face public perception challenges, being perceived as competent but cold. Therefore, myself and collaborators are asking if there are ways we can frame and present the basic research that museum collections support in a way that increases public appreciation, and support, of museum collections and the scientists that conduct this work.
Currently there is one publication regarding this research [5]. |
Image description: Scientist sitting in front of a microscope talking about their work on-screen.
Photo credit: Adrian Smith, NCSU and NC Museum of Natural Sciences |
AMSD of Neotropical Pioneer Tree Species
My dissertation focused on research conducted on and around the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute's Barro Colorado Island (BCI; Isla Barro Colorado) research station in the Republic of Panama (on map to the right). AMSD of Seeds Lacking Elaiosomes: Myself and collaborators have established through the use of seed caches of pioneer tree species that the seeds of some plant species that are not known to have elaiosomes are removed by ants. We are currently investigating the chemical mechanism that elicits the seed carrying response in ants. Without providing a food reward, these seeds may be exploiting the behavior of ants especially if the ants do not have the mandible morphology of processing the seeds themselves for food. |