Georgia Museum of Natural History Information
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Background Information The Georgia Museum of Natural History links collections, research, public service, and education through programs designed for a diverse audience. Natural history museums are repositories for collections of archaeological, biological, geological, and paleontological materials. For the most part, such collections consist of specimens or artifacts gathered so that they may be studied by students and professionals or displayed for public edification. At The University of Georgia, faculty, staff, and students have built significant collections in natural history through their research. Taken together, they are the most comprehensive in Georgia. These collections play an important role in the teaching mission of the University as well as in public service and outreach. The Georgia Museum of Natural History is a consortium consisting of 14 important natural history collections. These collections are supported by six departments at the University of Georgia: Anthropology, Botany, Entomology, Geography, Geology, and Plant Pathology. Each collection is the largest of its kind in Georgia. The collections are primarily administered and supported by their academic departments and colleges. Public service, outreach, and some administrative programs fall under the Office of Director of the Museum and five collections are supported by the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. The Museum has four primary roles:
The Universtiy of Georgia Museum of Natural History is an important repository of objects, artifacts, and specimens relating to the natural history of Georgia and the Southeast. Many separate collections constitute the Georgia Museum of Natural History:
Each of these collections represents an irreplaceable storehouse of information and knowledge relating largely, though not exclusively, to Georgia and the Southeast. Each collection is professionally managed and curated by specialists in their respective areas. All the collections have regional significance and most have national if not international recognition within the scientific community. On purely subjective basis comparing the range of types of collections, their size, the extent of their research programs and the quality of management practices, collections affiliated with the Georgia Museum of Natural History rank among the important museums of natural history in the nation and certainly within the top museums of natural history in the southeastern United States. A recent survey among the nation's universities maintaining museums of natural history indicated that the Georgia Museum of Natural History collections rank 9th in terms of size. The Museum's collections are broadly recognized in the scientific community as an important regional resource. Each year the Museum processes requests for information and loans of thousands of specimens to researchers throughout the world. It is visited by approximately 100 scientists who utilize the collections in their research. But more than just a repository, the Museum is an archive of information and knowledge that goes beyond the actual specimens. The cumulative knowledge and expertise of the collections personnel, most of whom have national and international recognition, is an irreplaceable resource almost as valuable as the collections themselves.
Education and Outreach Program The GMNH Education and Outreach Program is dedicated to inspiring stewardship of the natural world by assisting the citizens of Georgia to develop and extend their awareness, appreciation, and understanding of our state and regional natural history, the global interrelationships of all natural systems, and the interactions of humans with these systems. The Museum provides a variety of educational outreach programs to the local community including:
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Faculty, staff, and students affiliated with the Georgia Museum of Natural History play an important role in public service and outreach in Georgia. The Museum links collections and the research done with the collections to the needs of the state and the natural history curiosity of its citizens. Public service and outreach programs associated with the Georgia Museum of Natural History have two primary goals: to be a source of technical information for federal, state, and local agencies as well as private firms involved in managing the state's natural resources and to provide natural history education to the general public. The role of the Georgia Museum in the management and preservation of our natural heritage is vital. The collections affiliated with the Museum are inventories of the cultural, biological, and geological heritage of the southeastern United States, one of the most diverse temperate regions in the world. Many of the collections contain unique historical records of locations and species that are now destroyed, extinct, endangered, or rare. These museum specimens are the only permanent existing record of much of our cultural and natural landscape. As more areas are developed, these specimens provide a picture of what once was and is no more. The personnel affiliated with the Museum are often the only ones in the state who can provide accurate inventories and identifications of materials for managers, scientists, and members of the public. Using the specimens and the information associated with them to conduct applied research and provide technical service is an important activity. Each year the Museum's staff respond to thousands of requests for loans, surveys, general information, identifications, and inventories. Most of these originate within Georgia from agencies such as U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Forestry Service, the Cooperative Extension Service, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, the Georgia Forestry Commission, and Georgia Department of Transportation as well as from private organizations and members of the general public. An equally important role for the Museum is to provide education to the public in natural history. By stimulating public interest, support, and understanding of natural history through traveling exhibits, special events, tours, Science Boxes, workshops, web sites, and other outreach programs, the Museum contributes to a greater appreciation for our State's environment and to the importance of preserving it for future generations. The goal is to answer the public's questions about the natural world around them. (top)
The Georgia Museum of Natural History is an important center of natural history research. For almost a century, the University of Georgia has been a center of research in natural history related to the state, the region, and the world. To a large extent the quality of this research is based upon the information and knowledge associated with the 14 collections affiliated with the Georgia Museum of Natural History. These collections represent research conducted in dozens of fields of study. They are crucial for graduate research and training programs in their respective academic departments. Each year the personnel associated with these collections generate approximately 100 scientific publications and average over $1,500,000 in contracts and grants. The collections themselves represent voucher specimens for the research and the data associated with each of the collections contains an important base for future research. The research activities associated with the collections encompass both basic and applied fields of study. Though not exclusively so, much of this research relates to Georgia and the southeastern United States. Basic research in archaeology, zoology, botany, and geology is important in conducting applied research needed to manage Georgia's cultural and natural heritage wisely to ensure it will survive for future generations. Detailed knowledge is critical to the intelligent management of this heritage Much of this information is used by government agencies and private organizations. The Museum supports undergraduate and graduate research in natural history through the annual Joshua Laerm Academic Support award. (top)
The Georgia Museum of Natural History is uniquely qualified to provide interdisciplinary instruction in the university. Like many large university museums, the teaching mission of the Georgia Museum of Natural History is based upon the strength of the collections, especially their research and service programs. The collections associated with the Museum provide unique opportunities and mechanisms for the transmission of knowledge. They are a medium for understanding and appreciation of the complex natural world through direct exposure to natural history objects. The collections associated with the Georgia Museum of Natural History are used in over 50 undergraduate and graduate courses in at least a dozen University departments. These range from courses in scientific illustration to plant taxonomy. Thousands of students tour or use objects from the collections each year. The Museum offers a special hands-on opportunity through a natural history internship. (top)
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