Museum specimens could help fight the next pandemic – why preserving collections is crucial to future scientific discoveries

Specimen preservation means researchers don't need to reinvent the wheel each time they ask a new question, making it critical for the advancement of science. But many specimens are discarded or lost.

Bryan McLean, Assistant Professor of Biology, University of North Carolina – Greensboro • conversation
Dec. 16, 2020 • ~11 min
biology museum-collections specimens reproducibility zoonotic-diseases zoonotic-viruses natural-history-collections museums natural-history

A special journal explains the critical importance of biological collections

Harvard researchers contribute to the preservation of museum specimens, marking the collections’ importance in a special journal released Nov. 19.

Peter Reuell • harvard
Nov. 19, 2018 • ~7 min

 science-technology  climate-change  insects  faculty-of-arts-and-sciences  fas  harvard  peter-reuell  reuell  animals  anthropocene  barnabas-daru  biological-collections  charles-davis  collections  davis  digitization  emily-meineke  herbaria  herbarium  jonathan-davies  meineke  museum  museum-collections  plants  preservation  specimens

A special journal explains the critical importance of biological collections

Harvard researchers contribute to the preservation of museum specimens, marking the collections’ importance in a special journal released Nov. 19.

Peter Reuell • harvard
Nov. 19, 2018 • ~7 min

 science-technology  climate-change  insects  faculty-of-arts-and-sciences  fas  harvard  peter-reuell  reuell  animals  anthropocene  barnabas-daru  biological-collections  charles-davis  collections  davis  digitization  emily-meineke  herbaria  herbarium  jonathan-davies  meineke  museum  museum-collections  plants  preservation  specimens

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