Collection Managers Panel

The Collection Managers Panel discussion hosted by the Florida Museum Student Association was awesome! Working in a Natural History Museum quickly became a dream job of mine as an undergraduate, when I volunteered in the small herbarium at my college. This experience and the idea of working in museum collections is what first planted the seed of pursuing a graduate degree. As a graduate student outside the museum (my lab is in the biology department), it is a rare opportunity to meet and interact with folks in ranges of the FLMNH other than the herbarium and the panel included folks from across FLMNH (including archaeology, paleontology, mammalogy, ornithology, ichthyology and the herbarium). The panel discussion provided both insight into the roles and responsibilities of a collection manager and an introduction to members of the FLMNH community I may have heard of but never interacted with personally.

The seven panelists: Lindsay Bloch, David Boyd, Nicole Cannarozzi, Andy Kratter, Verity Mathis, Kent Perkins, and Roger Portell, shared their perspectives and experiences on the hiring process, what a typical day might entail (and how this has been affected by restrictions in place for COVID-19), specific training they consider invaluable, and their role in research. Before attending this event, I had some understanding that roles and responsibilities of a collection manager likely varied depending on the institution and the collection a person manages, but it was fascinating to hear how different they could be within a single museum – beginning with the hiring process (some panelists fell into their positions, while others were intentional about their career pursuits; some were hired after completing a BS or BA, some have a MS, and others completed a PhD). There were also differences in the amount of fieldwork associated with their position and the ways in which they participated in research, but it was clear that everyone on the panel loved their work – affirming my undergraduate dream job hypothesis!

During the discussion on research, panelists shared that their work is often not properly acknowledged. While it may be uncommon to have research formally written into the job description (though these positions do exist), collection managers are continually contributing to research. Unfortunately, the specialized work they do is often not acknowledged in research papers and lacks visibility despite the central role the collections and their work may have played in the research project. I look forward to discussing the intricacies of giving proper credit to those involved in my own collections-based research, such as Kent Perkins here at FLMNH, and I am grateful to FMSA for hosting this panel discussion and to the panelists!

 

Written by Lindsey Riibe

Thank you to Lindsey for writing this post and the Collection Managers for hosting this workshop! Please contact studentassociation@floridamuseum.ufl.edu with any questions.

-FMSA E-Board