Date: 10/8/26 6:54 am From: Jacob C. Cooper via groups.io <cooperj2...> Subject: Re: [NEBirds] FW: Please save the important Sternberg Museum biological collections
From what I can see on the publicly posted agenda for the Board of Regents, they are discussing renovations to Bruner Hall, where UNK ornithology collections and space are located.
Speaking from a personal perspective (not on behalf of the university), I can say that there have been discussions in the past about whether the UNK collection will remain here given the number of budgetary cuts that have been occurring within the NU system. As Peggy discussed at the NOU meeting, there are lots of us here working to preserve it and hoping that it can remain at UNK.
So to answer your question:
Sternberg — closing at the end of the year
UNK Collection — future uncertain
JC
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Jacob C. Cooper, PhD (he/him)
Citizen of the Cherokee Nation
From: <NEBirds...> <NEBirds...> on behalf of Tobin Brown via groups.io <tobinjbrown...>
Date: Thursday, October 8, 2026 at 08:10
To: <NEBirds...> <NEBirds...>
Subject: Re: [NEBirds] FW: Please save the important Sternberg Museum biological collections
Caution: Non-NU Email
So is the Sternberg being closed? Or is the UNK collection being closed?
I want to thank everyone (especially Paul!) for their support of ornithology programs within the University of Nebraska.
I am not in a position to speak on behalf of the university in any capacity (nor am I privy to higher-level conversations in my position), but I did want to correct the record that the Sternberg Museum is in Fort Hays, Kansas.
Dear Dr. Shaffer, Dr. Eckerson and University of Nebraska Regents;
It has come to our attention that there is a plan to shutter the Sternberg Museum at the University of Nebraska Kearney.
As President of the Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, and on behalf of our members, I strongly urge you to reconsider this decision and preserve the important and irreplaceable historical specimens in this collection for current and future generations of Nebraskans
Our organization was originally founded as a scientific organization by researchers at the University of Nebraska in 1899, making us the oldest continuous state ornithological organization in the country. We continue today in our mission of the study, appreciation and protection of birds.
There is a very strong and growing Ornithology program in the Biology department. Their research, conducted in Nebraska, will be getting international recognition soon as their proposed taxonomic 'split' of the Marsh Wren into two species (Eastern and Western, both residents of Nebraska) is being accepted by the American Ornithological Society, and will permanently impact the understanding of bird taxonomy.
Collections like the ones at UNK and the the State Museum in Morrill Hall are extremely important for not only the education of students and citizens in Nebraska, but for the potential for scientific research. Advances in molecular sequencing technologies now make the extraction and study of DNA from historical specimens possible. These collections from the state of Nebraska over the past century hold secrets and stories that can never be studied and revealed if destroyed.
In September, NOU held our Fall Meeting on the UNK campus with nearly 100 attendees, including UNK faculty, undergraduate and graduate students from UNK and UNL. Dr Letitia Reichart, co-chair of Biology was our keynote speaker. Several students from UNL, UNK and as far as Univ of Wyoming presented scientific research at this meeting. One of the most interesting presentations was by Peggy Huss, a student in the Biology department and ornithology program at UNK. She is painstakingly restoring the avian collection at UNK that has been neglected for decades to preserve this important natural history of our state. New specimens are also continously being collected as dead birds are found, catalouged and preserved.
These collections owned by the University of Nebraska system are important for not only the education of students from across the state that attend, but also the citizens of this state that visit these museums and for the repository of historical biological materials that cannot be replaced once destroyed.
NOU has maintained a strong association with the University system over the past 127 years and most recently have transferred our archival material from the state museum in Lincoln to UNK. Under my presidency in the past 2.5 years, we have supported the ornithological research at UNK/UNL by providing opportunities for faculty and students to present research related to Nebraska's 472 (soon to be 473, thanks to UNK) bird species and associated habitats that are so important. It is my plan that we will also begin supporting these studies with small research grants in thr near future.
We respectfully ask that you preserve and protect these important historical collections of not only birds, but all the other irreplaceable biological samples contained in these collections.
Sincerely,
Paul L. Pearson, Ph.D
President-Nebraska Ornithologists' Union
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Paul L. Pearson, PhD
President-Nebraska Ornithologists’ Union
Omaha, NE
