UVM Natural History Collection Internship Courses

Biological collections lie at the heart of our scientific understanding of the diversity of life on this planet. They are the repositories of irreplaceable specimens that document patterns of biodiversity across time and space, and result from the collective efforts of both professional researchers and amateur naturalists to collect, describe and classify species from our backyards to the far corners of the globe. The primary mission of a natural history collection is to safeguard this precious biological material, and make data, specimens, and information accessible to the wider community. In this internship course, students will learn about the history and utility of natural history collections, and be introduced to the techniques employed in an active research collection through seminars, demonstrations, and hands-on projects to organize, conserve, and document the UVM Thompson Zoological collection’s invertebrate and vertebrate specimens. Although the course has a Biology prefix, it is not limited to life-science students, and is open to anyone with an interest in natural history museum studies. This is a variable credit course. Pictures of interns in action are below.