Today we awarded the Hashtag Trophy to the Bloch Lab in our Vertebrate Paleontology Division for winning our staff #MuseumSelfieDay 2020 competition. Museum Selfie Day, usually held on the third Wednesday of January, is a fantastic opportunity for our Museum staff and students to highlight their work and workplace.

Like the Stanley Cup, each year’s winners are engraved on the award base and that team displays the award in their work space. BTW, there are lights on the hashtag in case one wanted to carry it around and show off.

In 2019, the Hashtag Award was held by our Invertebrate Paleontology Division. As you can imagine, there’s a little rivalry among our paleontologists, and the three top choices included Invertebrate Paleontology again this year. It was a tough choice by officiant Chelsea Collison and her panel.

Curator Jon Bloch and his paleontology team cashed in on the fact that everyone loves fossils, and they made sure to let us know what species they were featuring in their selfie. When we visited them to hand over the Hashtag, they especially wanted to have their photo taken in the lab, surrounded by fossils being prepped from the Montbrook dig site. So here it is:

Jon Bloch accepted the Hashtag Trophy for his paleontology team’s win on Museum Selfie Day 2020. Florida Museum photo by Chelsea Collison

Jon Bloch was excited for his paleontology team to win the Museum Selfie Day Hashtag Trophy. Florida Museum photo by Chelsea Collison

It’s hard to be serious when accepting a social media award for taking a selfie. Florida Museum photo by Chelsea Collison

Each year the winning department’s name is engraved on the trophy and team members hold on to it until it is given to the following year’s winner. Yes, it lights up! Florida Museum photo by Chelsea Collison

This informal trophy is awarded to a Florida Museum lab, collection or department that takes the best picture on Museum Selfie Day each year. Florida Museum photo by Chelsea Collison

Museum Selfie Day 2020: Bloch Lab in Vertebrate Paleontology. Clockwise from lower left: Rachel Narducci, Lazaro Vinola, Michael Ziegler, Jon Bloch, Mitchell Riegler and Jeanette Pirlo (center).

Our team members showed off their work this year, from specimens to labs to behind the scenes in the exhibits–and of course a bit of their silly side, because it take a sense of humor to get by around here!

Check out this year’s selfies:

Museum Selfie Day 2020