Museum of Biological Diversity Annual Open House Celebrates Backyard Diversity

This year’s theme celebrates "Backyard Biodiversity." Planned activities for kids include “Bugs in Goo,” plankton races, and seed planting. A live insect zoo, interactive displays, a natural history gift shop, light refreshments, and tours of the collections ensure a day of fun learning experiences for everyone.  The event is free and open to all, with free parking available in all OSU lots surrounding the Museum.

 

“Since our facility is a research museum and does not have exhibits, this is our chance to share our collections and knowledge with the community,” Herbarium Director John Freudenstein said.  “We hope that visitors will be as excited about our treasures as we are and that they will come away with a better understanding of how important biodiversity is to all of our lives.”

 

Everyone at the museum works feverishly for weeks to plan a lively celebration of biological diversity for kids of all ages. Folks who step through the doors at the annual open house are welcomed by a friendly group of faculty, staff and students eager to share their museum and talk about what they do there that makes a difference. As a curator once said, “It’s not just about dead things in jars.”

 

https://mbd.osu.edu/open-house

 

Several distinct biological research collections, some as old as the university itself, were brought together as the Museum of Biological Diversity in 1992, not just to accommodate the special needs of growing collections, but to foster collaborations, brainstorming, and collegiality among the researchers.These ongoing research collaborations and expanding collections are an important resource for scholars here and abroad; the MBD allows access to some materials no longer available for collecting or viewing outside its walls.

 

In many cases, the museum is the last resting place for rare and extinct species, a fact that underscores the importance of preservation.

 

The Collections

 

The Herbarium has a rare book room, the world’s largest seed, and 500,000 or so specimens of carefully preserved plant matter—leaves, seeds, and flowers. Many of the earliest were collected by Columbus’ founding family, the Sullivants.

 

The Acarology Laboratory houses one of the most extensive tick and mite collections in North America and hosts the world’s premier Annual Acarology Summer Program. Now in its 61st year, this intense three-week lab and field course draws biologists from around the world.

 

The Charles A. Triplehorn Insect Collection, with more than 3.5 million catalogued specimens and the world’s largest leafhopper collection, is one of the top university collections in North America.

 

The Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics is one of America’s two most-respected animal sounds labs.

 

The Museum of Zoology—a museum within a museum—has six divisions: Bivalve Collection, Crustaceans, Fishes, Gastropods and the General Collection,

Higher Vertebrates, and Parasitic Worms.