From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 4, October 2024.
By Carol Kelloff, Meghann Toner, and Erika Gardner
This year the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) and Biodiversity Information Standards (TDWG) held a joint conference in Okinawa, Japan, from September 2-6, 2024. The theme was “Enhancing Local Capacity, Elevating Global Standards.” Conducted as a hybrid meeting, the SPNHC-TDWG 2024 included papers and symposia on topics of “Back to Basics” sharing peer-to-peer experiences of the day-to-day curatorial work methodologies often learned through practical experiences. Other presentations focused on how we can elevate the global standards of collections care best practices and how digital technology and standards are becoming an increasingly critical component of natural history collections. Lightning talks, limited to 5 minutes, focused on one specimen in the collection that has a fascinating story to tell. Posters, workshops and demonstrations also occurred throughout the week.
Keynote speakers at the conference were Sara Beery, Assistant Professor of AI and Decision Making, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Tom Strang, Conservationist. Beery talked about the challenges and opportunities at the intersection of AI and biodiversity. Strang told how a chance meeting began a 23-year collaboration with Japanese colleagues to transition away from methyl bromide (MeBr) fumigation and the applicability of alternatives to the protection of cultural property.
An iNaturalist bioblitz ran during the conference for both in-person attendees in Okinawa and those attending remotely. During the conference, 4,738 images were uploaded, resulting in the upload of 1,071 species of both plants and animals. The Oriental turtle-dove, Streptopelia orientalis, ranked the most frequent upload.
NMNH Botany staff that attended were Erika Gardner, Carol Kelloff (SPNHC Archivist, Council Member, and a member of TDWG), and Meghann Toner (SPNHC Council Member, a Member-at-Large, and co-organizer of this year's meeting). Toner presented a paper entitled, "The question is, to destructive sample or not destructive sample botanical specimens." Her talk outlined how the U.S. National Herbarium is dealing with increased requests for destructive sampling of herbarium specimens. As collections are digitized and data is available to the public, this topic has raised awareness among other institutions that may discover that their collections may increase the frequency and size of destructive sampling requests. All three staff members also participated in a workshop focusing on the challenges and solutions facing modern herbaria.
The conference concluded with comments from the Okinawa team about our efforts towards sustainable conference practices, relaying results of the Bioblitz, giving out prizes, and providing thanks to our hard-working organizers. The SPNHC-TDWG 2024 and organizers worked towards reduced waste during the conference which included bringing one’s own cup to the coffee breaks, having electronic posters, and vendors bringing some material for display but using QR codes to disseminate information. The committee on Okinawan Sustainability Guidelines (MICE) graded SPNHC-TDWG 2024 on its code of conduct, waste reduction, events citizen participation, and selection of venue and hotels. SPNHC-TDWG 2024 received a high rating of 88.5% that will be used as a standard to gauge all future events held in Okinawa.
Plans are underway for the 40th annual meeting of the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections (SPNHC) to take place in Lawrence, Kansas, in early June 2025.
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