UVM Natural History Collection Internship Courses

BIOL 2991 and BIOL 3991 are offered every fall and spring semester

We meet on Mondays from 3:30 – 4:20 pm in the Blundell Building for BIOL 2991

You must first take BIOL 2991 to take BIOL 3991

No prerequisites needed to take the BIOL 2991 internship course

To sign up register for BIOL 2991 during the course enrollment period

Check out the UVM Natural History Museum website at: https://www.uvm.edu/ccp/naturalhistory

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.

Please email me at ellen.martinsen@uvm.edu with any questions about this internship course.