Echinoderm Project 2023 - Week 4

This week, we gained a new member to the project. Susan Mac Low is from Davis, California and previously worked as a knitting instructor. She enjoys working with concrete objects and tools. Her experience in this area includes woodwork, origami, knitting, and electronics. She is interested in medicine, engineering, and fiber arts, and wants to become a lab tech in the future.

Susan adding labels to specimens

This week, we continued our work on cleaning and re-housing echinoderm specimens. We also continued to input the fossils into the museums database, as well as taking photographs, and attaching the images to the fossils within the database.

This Monday, we were lucky to learn how to do scientific illustrations by a science illustrator, Patricia Wynn. We learned to measure and follow the proportions of the specimen to begin the sketch, then to add some detail, and how to transfer the sketch using tracing paper. We look forward to practicing the skills she taught us and finishing our illustrations during our time at the museum.

Bushra, Patricia, and Lena during the illustration session

Lena contemplating the specimen she sketches.

Mohan and Lena working on their sketches.

Bushra working on her sketch. 
 
Lastly, we went on a tour of the Anthropology Collections with one of the curators, John Hansen. He discussed the origins of the collection, and he explained the evolution of the artifact storage, from the original, less than ideal, storage to the newest, climate-controlled, artifact storage. Anthropology collections are highly organized and completely digitized. He also told us about the reparations work being completed as artifacts are returned to their original cultures and some of the difficulties of that work. The main issue is that in the past, many organic artifacts were treated with highly hazardous chemicals and that can make it difficult to return. It was a fascinating tour and we were lucky to go.
New Anthropology storage

Old Anthropology storage



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