The Future of Natural History Collections

Abstract

Curators laid off, collections mothballed or transferred to other institutions, university museums shut down entirely—natural science collections and associated programs of specimen-based research are in crisis. The situation is typically characterized as a financial crisis, the result of an economic downswing that affects virtually every sector of society. However, resources for research and collections programs are often slashed disproportionately. Thus, the crisis is not a straightforward financial crisis per se, as the disproportional loss of monetary support is a symptom of the deeper crises swirling around these collections. Unless the underlying causes of these crises are more widely understood and rectified, collections-based institutions will continually suffer excessively during economic hard times.