Blogpost #2: Jasmine Jones

Recently Ethan, Kyndall, Carina, and I had the pleasure of hearing Dr. Chris Norris give a talk about how the work we do is important. Currently Ethan and I are cataloging, labeling, photographing, and scanning specimen in both vertebrate and invertebrate paleontology. 

In the past researchers had to travel or mail specimen from museum to museum to be able to see what they had. This was a long process that both limited researchers ability to conduct research and (when mailing) didn't guarantee the specimen would be returned. Then the internet got big and someone had the great idea of putting specimen on the internet, which is where we come in. By creating a way for people to view what the Peabody (and other museums) had online, then a lot more people could see each specimen. So the scanning and photographing that Ethan and I do are important because we help people see what is in the Peabody collections without having to drive here.

There used to be a virus going around called the 'No Name Virus'. It was one that people in the South-Western corner of the U.S. got. It was a big one that closely related to one found during the Korean War. No one knew where it was coming from, but with it relating to the Korean War, people started suggesting government foul play. Then mice became the focus of science and people started looking for dry mouse skins in museum collections. Scientists looked for these skins because you could extract their DNA. And thus scientists found out that people got it by breathing in deer mouse feces and urine smells. Without updated museum collections, scientists wouldn't have found the cause of this virus.