Lions and tiger sharks, and hares...oh my! Stabilizing and providing digital access to eight decades of parasites from vertebrates

The Biodiversity Research Collections at the University of Connecticut is one of the few collection facilities in the country with considerable holdings of parasites. This project aims to stabilize and curate a series of large collections of parasites collected over the last 80-years from a wide range of vertebrates across the United States and around the world.

These specimens and their detailed associated data will be made publicly available through several on-line platforms. Given that many of their hosts cannot be readily sampled for parasites today, in part because many are now considered threatened or endangered, these collections serve as irreplaceable records of the parasites of these vertebrates. The historical nature of these collections will help inform our understanding of broader changes in parasite faunas over time.

The comprehensive nature of their associated data makes these collections valuable assets for furthering our understanding of fundamental questions in parasite ecology and evolution. To connect this unique resource with broader themes of science in school curricula and civic themes in particular, a competition to formally designate a Connecticut State Parasite will engage middle school students in museum science and, familiarize them with the legislative process required to transform an idea to a bill and finally to a law.

Opportunities to gain skills in collections management, databasing, host and parasite diversity, and science communication will be provided to a curatorial postdoctoral fellow, and graduate and undergraduate students.

The primary goals of this project are to stabilize, curate, and provide access to ca. 128,000 specimens of parasites (e.g., nematodes, tapeworms, flukes, ticks, lice, and fleas) from vertebrates (e.g., fish, sharks, stingrays, birds, mammals, lizards, and amphibians) in nine historical collections. Stabilization activities will include remounting and reattaching labels to microscope slides and replacing archival vials and lids.

Specimens will be re-curated and re-organized to facilitate accessibility. Host identifications will be updated to align with current taxonomy. All specimens will be accessioned and databased along with their associated data in the existing Lawrence R.

Penner (LRP) parasite database and shared with data aggregators. A new module will be added to the LRP database to house images of original host specimen necropsy sheets associated with parasite specimens. In collaboration with the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History, on-line access to information on 25 iconic Connecticut vertebrate species and four of their parasite species represented by specimens in the collection will be provided to classes of middle school students.

Classes engaged in the Connecticut State Parasite challenge will compete in making a case for their favorite parasite and will learn about the legislative process from experts.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.