Stevan J. Arnold & Lynne D. Houck Herpetological Collection

 

In 2018 I gave a talk to my department, describing the Herpetological Research Collection at OSU (composed of two parts: the Stevan J. Arnold & Lynne D. Houck Collection and the smaller Robert M. Storm Collection).  I urged the department to hire a curator.  At the time I assumed that both parts of the collection would move into remodeled space in Cordley Hall and that the department might eventually hire a curator.  I was wrong on the first count and probably wrong on the second as well.  Here are links to the talk as well as to ppt and pdf versions of the slide show:  talk  and ppt and pdf versions.

 

 

The document below describes the Stevan J. Arnold & Lynne D. Houck Collection and its move to the University of Michigan.

 

 

 

This image carousel shows the steps of packing the collection at OSU, moving it to Michigan, unpacking at the Museum of Zoology, and incorporating the specimens and frozen tissue into the UMMZ herpetological collection.  Photos by Greg Schneider, Steve Arnold and David Maddison. 

 

OSU: overview of one of three rooms of specimen jars assembled for packing
OSU: jars of water snakes (N. taxispilota) in staging room
OSU: jars of garter snakes (T. sirtalis) in staging room
OSU: racks of boxes of frozen tissue inside -80 deg freezer
OSU: frozen tissue boxes inside -80 freezer used for trip to Michigan
OSU: moving jar boxes into the moving truck
OSU: jar boxes and -80 freezers inside moving truck
OSU: loaded moving truck ready to depart for Ann Arbor, MI
UMMZ: moving boxes from OSU into place
UMMZ: Jar boxes from OSU organized for unpacking
UMMZ: curatorial assistant unpacking jar boxes from OSU
UMMZ: Greg Schneider show racks of specimen jars
UMMZ: specimen jars on shelves, note earthquake rails
UMMZ: Curatorial assistant sorting frozen tissue vials
UMMZ: Curatorial assistant tying UMMZ tags on specimens
UMMZ: liquid nitrogen containers for storing frozen tissue
UMMZ: Curator Dan Rabosky and Collection Manager Greg Schneider showing off their alcohol storage cabinets
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The collection move generated a lot of media attention on a national scale and especially in Michigan:  The Michigan Daily        Michigan Radio       YouTube

In particular, the move meant that Michigan became the curator of the world’s largest research collection of snakes.