Moving and Improving the Florida Museum of Natural History Fish Collection
WHEN: June 8-13, 2025
LOCATION: University of Florida Main Campus, Gainesville, FL
Application period now closed.
Elementary School Teachers!
SEFS offers the second cohort of Florida elementary school teachers for our professional development program titled, “Moving and Improving the Florida Museum of Natural History Fish Collection.”
Cohort members attend a weeklong professional development workshop. Much of the workshop takes place in the Florida Museum of Natural History’s brand-new, state-of-the-art Special Collections Building. The building houses roughly 4 million specimens preserved in 60,000 gallons of ethyl or isopropyl alcohol that make up the Museum’s expansive “wet” collections, including those from the Herpetology, Ichthyology, Invertebrate Zoology, Mammals and Ornithology divisions. Storing specimens used by scientists worldwide, the building serves as a space for researchers to conduct studies that provide critical information for our global community.
During the workshop, participants learn what it’s like to be a scientist working with museum collections and the processes involved in moving specimens and updating a collection. These processes may include identifying, preserving, cataloging, photographing, and digitizing specimens for use. Scientists also help organize, provide access to, and properly store specimens. Participants leave the workshop with content expertise that is sure to get their students excited and expose them to STEM topics.
INSTRUCTORS:
- Dr. Larry Page, Curator of Fishes, Florida Museum of Natural History
- Rob Robins, Ichthyology Collection Manager, Florida Museum of Natural History
- Zach Randall, Biological Scientist and the Digital Imaging Division’s Collection Manager
- Dr. Megan Ennes, TESI Director and Assistant Curator of Museum Education, Florida Museum of Natural History
- Stephanie Killingsworth, Scientist in Every Florida School