Date: 10/7/26 9:28 pm From: Paul L. Pearson via groups.io <Propearson...> Subject: [NEBirds] Help save the UNK Museum Bird Collection-action needed on Oct 8!!!
The Sternberg Museum at UNK is going to be a victim of the ongoing budget cuts to the University of Nebraska system. This includes the bird collection.Saving natural history collections is difficult and apparently there is one part time curator for vertebrates and nothing else in the state of Nebraska -- down from having two curators for birds, two curators for mammals, collections managers for each, etc at the state museum. UNK has a collection that has been long neglected that, as you saw at the Fall Meeting, Peggy Huss and others in the Biology Department are trying to fix up and grow. There is historical material we do not want to lose and new material being gained via methods like salvage. If you are happy with the work the UNK Ornithology program is doing and want to preserve the resources we have for students (especially at such a small and rural institution, please contact the leadership before the Oct 9 Regents Meeting and voice your opinion.Basic science and documentation like this is extremely important, and we saw how these historical collections of birds from NE could now yield DNA and reveal answers to understanding our natural communities.https://ruralradio.com/krvn/news/board-of-regents-to-meet-oct-9-in-kearney/Not to rush or pressure you, but they will be talking about future renovations and plans for the biological sciences building at this Regents meeting on FridayHere is some info:Regents inbox (you can also look up the individual Regents to contact them)<corpsec...> Dr. Julie Shaffer, the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs - <shafferjj...> Janet Eckerson (dean of College of Arts and Sciences <eckersonjm...> take 5 minutes on Thursday to send an email and stress the importance of biological collections to the students of Nebraska and to the future of scientific research in our Universities.Thank you!Paul L. Pearson, Ph.D.President, Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union
