Digitizing the fossil fern collections in the UC Museum of Paleontology.
Diane Erwin, Senior Museum Scientist
Museum of Paleontology
Closed. This professor is continuing with Fall 2023 apprentices on this project; no new apprentices needed for Spring 2024.
This project is part of a NSF grant to digitize and photograph fossil ferns in the Museum of Paleontology as part of the Advancing the Digitization of Biological Collections (ADBC) Thematic Collections program. The specimen record data and images generated from the project will be uploaded to the UCMP online database, the Pteridophyte Collections Consortium Symbiota, iDigBio and other data aggregating web portals. From these web resources researchers and the public will have access to these data for scientific, education and outreach purposes.
Role: To assist in databasing, imaging and georeferencing UCMP's fossil fern specimens using the UCMP online database system. Georeferencing fossils will be done using Geolocate and other mapping resources. Tasks will include hands-on work with fossil specimens, entering specimen data into the UCMP database for eventual uploading into the project's online Pteridophyte Collections Consortium Symbiota data portal. Learning outcomes will include gaining skills in curation of natural history collections, photographing fossil specimens, fossil fern identification, description, systematics and biology, and working with photo and specimen databases. The student will also have the opportunity to contribute content to the project's website and social media.
Qualifications: Students should have some interest in plants, paleontology, and/or the biological sciences, museum work, photography, and feel comfortable and capable of handling large to small, robust to delicate fossil specimens, be computer literate, and fastidious. Possessing good typing skills is a plus. Some of the work may involve somewhat repetitive tasks so student must stay focused and not be easily distracted or bored.
Hours: 6-8 hrs
Related website: http://www.pteridoportal.org/portal/
Related website: https://calphotos.berkeley.edu/