Date: 3/28/24 2:43 pm From: <marciaaabrahams...> <marciaaabrahams...> Subject: [nysbirds-l] The next Queens County Bird Club meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at 7:30 PM, featuring Paul Sweet, Collection Manager, Department of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History
The next Queens County Bird Club meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, at 7:30 PM at Alley Pond Environmental Center, 229-10 Northern Boulevard, Douglaston, NY 11362.
Paul Sweet, Collection Manager, Department of Ornithology at the American Museum of Natural History will present "The South Pacific Revisited – Digitizing specimens from the Whitney South Sea Expedition".
Paul Sweet was born in Bristol, England and has been interested in Natural History for as long as he can remember. After completing a degree in Zoology at the University of Liverpool, he traveled extensively in the Americas and Asia for several years before working in the Singapore Natural History Museum. In 1991 he moved to New York to work at the American Museum of Natural History where he is now the Collection Manager of the Ornithology Department, the largest bird collection in the world. During his tenure at the AMNH, he has participated in many museum expeditions to countries including Vietnam, Central African Republic, Cuba, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea.The Whitney South Sea Expedition was the longest and most ambitious ornithological voyage ever undertaken. Spanning over 20 years from 1920 to 1941, this comprehensive survey visited hundreds of Pacific islands, many of which were ornithologically unknown. Ultimately over 40,000 bird specimens were sent back to New York for study, resulting in the description of 277 new taxa. Specimens amassed by the expedition also shed light on bigger questions in evolutionary biology, biogeography and speciation. Although this collection is immensely valuable, it was collected 100 years ago when modern data standards had not been developed. Particularly lacking from the specimens’ original labels was detailed geographic information. Fortunately, the expedition crew kept personal journals that often give information on precise collecting localities. Using this information and working with NYC high school students in the AMNH Science Research Mentorship Program, we have been able to unite this information with the specimens, allowing them to be used for modern studies that require specimen mapping.
Marcia Abrahams
VP/Programs CoordinatorQueens County Bird Clubwww.qcbirdclub.orgEmail: <MarciaAAbrahams...>
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