ZOOL 4023 – BIODIVERSITY COLLECTIONS RESEARCH
Spring 2005
GARETH DYKE, JULIA SIGWART AND NIGEL MONAGHAN
INTRODUCTION
Every scientist who studies living organisms will at some point interact with archive collections.
This course offers hands-on experience in zoological collections of fossil and recent material, in
collaboration with research staff of the National Museum of Ireland, Division of Natural History
(NMINH). You can refer to the project website (http://www.ucd.ie/zoology/museum/) for more
information about this collaboration. The course will provide an opportunity to become familiar
with the taxonomy and diversity of a particular group of animals from an archival point-of-view.
Topics covered will include biodiversity from an historical perspective; taxonomy; aspects of
long-term specimen care; modern methods and techniques in specimen collection and
preparation; and practical experience in specimen handling, identification and curation. Above
all this course aims to teach students effective research skills in using the resources available in
natural history collections.
There will be no formal written examination for this unit. Because there is no examination, the
course will run for seven (7) weeks including a series of ten (10) lectures as well as four (4)
workshops and assigned library time. Workshops focus on the development of an intensive short
research project based in UCD lab space in the scientific collections of NMINH. Attendance at
workshops, as with practicals in earlier years, is mandatory and will impact your mark.
Attendance at lectures will not be monitored, but as lectures are all directly relevant to
workshops and assignments, it is highly recommended that you attend. You will demonstrate
your productive use of assigned reading/ library time through the work of your assignments.
There is no textbook for this course, but reference materials are available from the instructors
and (at your initiative) from the UCD library.
Assignments are always due at 5.00pm on the Friday of the week they are assigned.
Assignments must be submitted electronically to the course convenor <gareth.dyke@ucd.ie>
An outline for the assessment of this unit is given at the end of this document.
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COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1. Introduction and Concepts (24 Jan)
Mon. Lecture 1. Introduction & Logistics
Wed. Lecture 2. What Museums are For
Workshop1: Orientation to Beggars Bush (NMI off-site store)
Assignment 1: [team] given a list of potential projects to chose from, turn in names of people in
your team (2-3 students), project choice, and 2nd choice.
Week 2. Constructing Collections (31 Jan)
Mon. Lecture 3. Keeping what we have
Wed. Lecture 4. Types & Nomenclature
Week 3. Concerns for Museum Collections and Workers (7 Feb)
Mon. Lecture 5. Entropy in action
Wed. LIBRARY TIME: Find and check out / photocopy articles and books about your project group
Workshop2: Documentation
Assignment 2: [team] create an original catalogue of the material in your project collection.
Format according to standard style (provided). This will provide the basis for your biodiversity
analysis.
Week 4. (14 Feb)
Mon. Lecture 6. Phylogeography
Wed. Lecture 7. Modern Museums and Exploration
Assignment 3: [team] Biodiversity worksheet (past, present, and represented diversity)
Week 5. Curation and Conservation (21 Feb)
Mon. Lecture 8. Guest lecture
Wed. LIBRARY TIME: use to complete assignment (using atlases to research locality data)
Workshop3: materials testing
Assignment 4: [team] Distribution maps (past, present, and represented ranges)
Week 6. (28 Feb)
Mon. Lecture 9. Specimen Preservation
Wed. LIBRARY / READING TIME
Assignment 5: [team] Write methods and results for materials testing (based on Workshop 3)
Week 7. Conclusions (7 Mar)
Mon. Lecture 10. Guest lecture
Wed. LIBRARY / READING TIME
Workshop 4: Optional additional workshop if needed to complete Assignments 6 and 7
Assignment 6: [team] Methods and Results sections for your final report (based on Assignments
AND additional written work in the style of a technical paper.)
Assignment 7: [individual] Abstract, Introduction, and Discussion sections for your final report.
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LECTURE OUTLINES (PROPOSED)
Lecture 1. – Introduction & Logistics
Introduction stuff; logistics, mechanics, scheduling, lots of handouts
Overall theme: Why are you here?
Lecture 2. – What Museums are For – JULIA
multiple research impacts of specimen collections; justification of dedicated-use resource;
Permanent science; contributing to something larger than an individual student or researcher;
vouchering
Lecture 3 – Keeping what you got – NIGEL
choosing preservation techniques for recent material; implications of preservation method on data
retained in specimen material; maximising specimen utility
Lecture 4. – Types & Nomenclature – GARETH
Systematics and the ICZN; documentation and type specimens
Lecture 5. – Entropy and Chemistry: Life as a dead thing – NIGEL
specimen degradation: preventable vs. relatively inevitable (Bynes disease, pyrite damage, UVfading); preventing data loss
good specimen care and documentation
Lecture 6.– Phylogeography – JULIA
studying recent and distant evolutionary change; distribution maps
Lecture 7.—Modern Museums and Exploration – NIGEL
development of key European museums (19th century evolutionary thought; museums and
important figures in biology)
health concerns for museum workers (formalin, arsenic, etc.); pest control; archival materials;
computerising museums
Lecture 8 – Guest Lecture
Chris Collins (Head of Conservation), Natural History Museum, London
Lecture 9. – Conclusions
topic to be determined
overflow from L1-7, or topic based on student interest, or discussion of project and report
Lecture 10. – Guest Lecture
Geraldine O’Neill (Director), UCD Centre for Teaching and Learning
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ASSESSMENT
There is no formal examination for ZOOL 4023. Intensive practicals and report writing are
considered assessment criteria in lieu of an exam. The breakdown of marks is as follows:
15%
Formal assignments (Assignment 1 – Assignment 5)
Marks assigned vary between the Assignments. Assignments are always due at
5.00pm on the Friday of the week they are assigned (see course schedule), and
must be submitted electronically to the course convenor <gareth.dyke@ucd.ie>.
Late assignments will lose marks.
65%
Final Report
Each student will submit an individually written report (i.e. Abstract, Introduction,
Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion) reporting on curation project
procedure and results, justification for work and discussion about value of
collection (in particular project and in general), and an Appendix which includes a
complete catalogue of the group.
Materials and Methods and Results sections, and the catalogue Appendix, will be
written collaboratively between student team members as assignments during the
seven-weeks of the course (20% of course mark).
Introduction, Discussion, and Abstract sections will be written individually (40%
of course mark).
10%
Quality of project work
(curatorial precision, attention to detail, good specimen handling, etc.)
10%
Participation
(particularly instructor’s assessment of student contribution to group work)
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