Week 5

Week 7! 

We are nearing the final stretch! In our penultimate week at the museum we inched ever closer to being finished curating our cabinets. For the past few weeks, many of us have been focusing on type specimens, and all of us have come across some "good stuff" in our drawers!

This week we had the pleasure of visiting the Invertebrate Zoology collection. This collection houses all specimens from the previously separated Entomology, Terrestrial Arthropod, and Marine Invertebrate departments. This department is therefore characterized by its great taxonomic diversity. For this tour we mainly focused on insects, and got to see some super charismatic members of the collection - including longhorn beetles, walking sticks, wasps, and a variety of butterflies and moths!

Some large and charismatic walking sticks, beetles, butterflies and hoppers. 
This drawer is not curated for study, but is awesome nonetheless! 

A snapshot of the Hymenoptera collection!
That big guy in the middle is Pepsis heros, also known as a Tarantula Hawk 

A colorful variety of butterflies! 

This week the interns also answered a few questions about their experience and their plans for the future. They were asked 1) What have you enjoyed most about this experience? 2) Have you found any particularly cool/noteworthy specimens? 3) Where are you headed after this is over? Any plans for the rest of the summer/immediate future?

Some of Abby's nautiloids

Abby:

1) I've really enjoyed getting to see behind-the-scenes of so many of the museum's departments. Our weekly tours were a great way to learn about various preservation and curation methods, and get to know how staff ended up at the museum. We got to see some very cool species and artifacts.

2) I came across some impressive pearly nautiloids and a specimen collected by Alexander Bickmore, AMNH's first president (which I mentioned in a previous blog). I've also seen some cool trilobites that were completely intact.

3) I'll be headed back to Philly to spend the rest of the summer with my family. In October, I plan to intern in the invertebrate zoology department at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum, specifically working on a deep sea invertebrate sampling program.

Lindsey:

Throughout this experience I have enjoyed working hands on with the specimens and becoming familiar with their taxonomy. There has not been any one specimen that I can recall, but I did find working with type specimens to be pretty neat. When this is all said and done, I am immediately heading to South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana to collect samples for my own personal research. I will then be returning to Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis to finish my undergraduate career.

Vanessa

1. It has been so wonderful working with such an awesome group of women! I have also loved getting a glimpse into how a museum of this size operates, and having the chance to see so many of the incredible collections. My favorite thing to do was to come in early in the mornings and explore the exhibits before the visitors arrive.

2. I think the coolest specimens I worked with were the Argonauta (paper nautilus) shells! They are so delicately thin and beautiful. These "shells" are actually egg cases produced by the females to protect their young.

3. Later in August, I will be headed to New Zealand for the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections Conference. As soon as I get back, I will be starting the last year of my master's in museum studies at the University of Kansas.

A trilobite!

Argonaut shells!

Eva:

1) My favorite thing about this internship has been interacting with the fossils themselves. It’s been such a privilege to have access to a collection this vast and to be handling some really beautiful and interesting specimens. I have also greatly appreciated being in an environment of intelligent and supportive women in science.

2) Some of my favorite specimens have included whole crinoid heads and of course the ammonoids!

3) At the end of the internship I will be spending time with my family in Denmark. When I return I will be staying in the NJ/NY area (hopefully volunteering at the Museum) and applying to graduate schools.

Pieces of a giant nautiloid

Izzy:

1. I have most enjoyed seeing the wide diversity of life from the Carboniferous, and seeing the difference in fauna between geological eras. Also really enjoyed the tours of the collections, getting to know the other interns, and getting to know the museum itself!

3. I'm uhhhh applying for jobs and going to be volunteering in entomology and hope to get a job at the museum in the future, and in a few years grad school. immediate plans just keep exploring the city!!!