Natural History Display Exhibits Vitality of ASU Collections
On January, 20th, 2006, Dr. Jon Harrison of School of Life Sciences inaugurated the new public display and celebration in the ASU Life Sciences A-wing - along with Dr. Robert Page, Director of SoLS and Dr. Thomas Nash, Director of the Lichen Herbarium.
“This [Natural History Collection at ASU] really is the closest thing that Arizona has to a Natural History Museum. It is a tremendous resource.” Harrison said.
The dedication brought out a crush of celebrants: faculty, students, staff, visitors and distinguished guests. Dr. Don Pinkava, now retired and professor emeritus, headed up the Herbarium for nearly 30 years. “When I came here there were 13,000 specimens. It has grown to almost 260,000. Up until now, it’s been every curator for themselves, it’s time to bring things together as a group and see the potential in the combination of the collections.”
The display now houses a representative sampling of specimens assembled from literally millions of plant, animal, fish, insect, shell, reptile, and plant holdings at ASU.
Dr. Nash invited those assembled to think about the space and what it might become. “Our insect collection, for example… is a marvelous record of what once was, in the 1960s and 1970’s. For anyone interested in global change, here is a basis for documentation of what has occurred…to start looking at the patterns of change, particularly the effects of climate change on the flora and fauna, even locally.”
One thing is very clear, the collections aren’t simply a sampling of the past, they point the way to inform and form the future. To see what new things come to your mind, visit Natural History Collections online, http://nhc.asu.edu or http://seinet.asu.edu or contact Kathleen Pigg kpigg@asu.edu.