Global natural history infrastructure requires international solidarity, support, and investment in local capacity
Abstract
Amid global challenges like climate change, extinctions, and disease epidemics, science and society require nuanced, international solutions that are grounded in robust, interdisciplinary perspectives and datasets that span deep time. Natural history collections, from modern biological specimens to the archaeological and fossil records, are crucial tools for understanding cultural and biological processes that shape our modern world. At the same time, natural history collections in low and middle-income countries are at-risk and underresourced, imperiling efforts to build the infrastructure and scientific capacity necessary to tackle critical challenges. The case of Mongolia exemplifies the unique challenges of preserving natural history collections in a country with limited financial resources under the thumb of scientific colonialism. Specifically, the lack of biorepository infrastructure throughout Mongolia stymies efforts to study or respond to large-scale environmental changes of the modern era. Investment in museum capacity and training to develop locally-accessible collections that characterize natural communities over time and space must be a key priority for a future where understanding climate scenarios, predicting, and responding to zoonotic disease, making informed conservation choices, or adapting to agricultural challenges, will be all but impossible without relevant and accessible collections.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (26)
Bazartseren Boldgiv
Ariuntsetseg Lkhagva
Department of Biology, National University of Mongolia
Scott Edwards
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University
Nils C. Stenseth
Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Synthesis, Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo
Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan
Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Dondog Altangerel
Natural History Museum of Mongolia
Dorj Usukhjargal
Department of Biology, National University of Mongolia
Badamgarav Dovchin
Round River Conservation Studies
Sundev Gombobaatar
Department of Biology, National University of Mongolia
Nyamsuren Batsaikhan
Department of Biology, National University of Mongolia
Christina Warinner
Department of Archaeogenetics
Isaac Hart
American Center for Mongolian Studies
Kurt Galbreath
Northern Michigan University
Stephen E. Greiman
Department of Biology, Georgia Southern University
Jason Malaney
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science
James D. Murdoch
Wildlife and Fisheries Biology Program, University of Vermont
Bryan McLean
Department of Biology, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Sharon N. DeWitte
Erin Manzitto-Tripp
Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado-Boulder
Karen Chin
Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado-Boulder
Talia S. Karim
Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado-Boulder
Carl Simpson
Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado-Boulder
Nancy J. Stevens
Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado-Boulder
Jonathan L. Dunnum
Biology Department and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, MSC03 2020
Joseph A. Cook
Biology Department and Museum of Southwestern Biology, University of New Mexico, MSC03 2020
William Timothy Treal Taylor
Museum of Natural History, University of Colorado-Boulder