Ever wonder how a research museum acquires new specimens, what researchers do on an oceanographic cruise, or what personal challenges cruises create? This post is the third in a series that provides a behind-the-scenes look at how researchers prepare for a cruise, working life on the ship, and how specimens are recovered and introduced into the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)'s research collections.
The importance of EMu transactions
Long before new Invertebrate Zoology (IZ) specimens become publicly available for study by researchers outside of NMNH, they must first be officially brought into NMNH's specimen catalogue. Before electronic records and computer databases, the museum curators simply logged new specimens and their associated information into a ledger organized in chronological order. Today, NMNH staff rely on the Electronic Museum (EMu) database for cataloguing purposes. However, what the public sees when searching EMu is a much simplified version of the multi-step workflow that goes on behind the scenes.
To learn more about the process by which new specimens are brought into IZ's collections, we will follow several samples recovered from the field by Karen Osborn on her recent oceanography cruise aboard the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)'s R/V Western Flyer. Additionally, we'll meet Kristen Mercer, the museum technician responsible for every package that comes into or ships out of IZ.
Three samples - three destinations
While aboard the R/V Western Flyer, Karen used two methods to recover samples. On the first day of the cruise, for example, Karen collected a jelly that had hyperiid amphipods living on its bell (pictured). To recover this specimen, the remotely operated vehicle Doc Ricketts was used to carefully obtain and return the animal to the ship. The jelly arrived on board with the hyperiids still happily clinging to its surface. In other cases, such as the Paraphronima, a different hyperiid with greatly enlarged eyes that take up its entire head, Karen used a trawl net; this approach can recover many more organisms, although sometimes they are returned to the boat in less than perfect condition.
Typically, Karen is interested in both the morphology and genetics of specimens that she recovers. Hence, back on board the ship, Karen removed small samples of tissues from these organisms for DNA extraction. Additionally, another small sample of tissue was removed for deep freeze storage in NMNH's tissue bank, while Karen preserved the majority of the organism (the "voucher") in a jar of formalin, a tissue fixative. Because of the prominent roles that genetics and genomics play in all biology today, Karen and other IZ curators most often collect three types of samples from most specimens returned to NMNH's collections facility.
These three types of samples also necessitate different shipping and handling protocols. The DNA extraction and frozen tissue samples (pictured) must be kept cold, and hence, they must be transported back to NMNH very quickly. While on board the ship, these samples were stored in a -80 degrees Celsius freezer. Once ashore, Karen sent them by overnight mail back to NMNH. When the package arrived at NMNH, the tissues for immediate extraction were sent to the Laboratory of Analytical Biology where Karen’s molecular support scientist, Herman Wirshing, is now continuing the DNA extraction work. The archive tissue samples will be moved to long-term storage in an off-site deep freeze facility, which serves as NMNH’s Biorepository.
Meanwhile, Karen shipped the vouchers in formalin/seawater by ground, which means this package took over a week to arrive back at the museum. By the time the vouchers arrived this week, the tissues inside were fully fixed by the formalin. The next step is to slowly exchange the formalin through a dilution series into 70% ethanol. The change to ethanol from formalin is a time consuming process that bathes the specimen in pure seawater to rinse out the formalin, then into a series of more dilute seawater to rinse out the salt, then into increasingly more concentrated ethanol preservative solution to preserve the specimen for long-term storage.
However, before any of this work was able to move forward, the specimens first had to be transacted into EMu. Kristen Mercer, the museum technician who initiates this complex process, will take over from here!
Meet Kristen, IZ museum technician and EMu transaction specialist
Hey there, invertebrate fans, I am Kristen Mercer. I am originally from Boise, Idaho, and my background is in archaeology. Early in my education, I became interested in the long term care and storage of historical objects. This interest led me into the world of museums, first through the National Park Service and now with the Smithsonian NMNH IZ department. One of my main duties in the department is to handle all incoming and outgoing shipments. Because our specimens belong to the largest research collection in the world, and many require special care, this is a very important job and requires a lot of attention to detail. I explain some of this work below.
The first thing I do when IZ receives a package containing specimens, such as Karen's research specimens from the cruise, is assess the current condition of the materials. For example, if the specimens arrive on ice and have to be moved to a -80oC freezer, then I move them quickly, to stabilize their temperature. Once anything immediate has been taken care of, I log the package into the shipment module of EMu. The information that I capture includes who sent the package, when it was received, and how it was is sent to IZ (i.e., FedEx, USPS, etc.).
Next, I open the package to see what it contains (Kristen pictured at work). Does it contain borrowed IZ specimens that another researcher is returning? Does it contain material that someone is donating to IZ? Or as in Karen’s case, does it contain material that one of our curators collected for the Smithsonian? Each type of package must be handled differently. After I determine what type of package IZ has received, I can include curator (typically, the person to whom I'll deliver the package) information in the shipment log.
The third step is to initiate what's called a transaction in EMu. The transaction module requires information such as the identity of the researcher who sent the specimens to IZ. I also record how many lots and how many specimens are in the shipment, as well as basic information about the specimen’s genus, species, etc., depending on what's been included by the researcher. This transaction record has an assigned number, which is generated by the computer, that will be tied to the catalogue numbers later given to each specimen.
Unlike the old, old system of hand-written ledgers, transaction numbers and electronic databases help museum staff track each and every specimen throughout its time at the Smithsonian, whether or not that time is brief (a loan) or forever (an addition to the permanent collection)! These records are really important, because they include details of the entire Smithsonian history of each specimen in one database, which prevents any information from being lost and ensures that anyone with a question about the history of a particular specimen can easily find that information.
If you're still not convinced about the importance of EMu transaction entries, then try to imagine curating a museum collection with more than one million specimens with paper records alone or where none of the specimens' history was filed in an easy-access system!
Stay tuned...
Once Kristen and Karen have ensured that all of the specimens are back at NMNH and properly transacted into EMu, the real fun can begin! As we wrap up this series, we're preparing to launch our next series, which will explore specimen processing and museum curation, beginning with the red jelly and hyperiids that were introduced in this piece.
by Kristen Mercer and Liz Boatman
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