The National Science Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant that will allow four major parasite collections to be digitized. The collections are part of UNL\u27s Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology. Scott Gardner (pictured) is the curator and director of the Manter Laboratory. A $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will allow the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology to digitally preserve four major collections of parasite specimens donated to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the past five years

Reed, Leslie

English

DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska

University of Nebraska - LincolnDigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - LincolnFaculty Publications from the Harold W. ManterLaboratory of Parasitology Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of5-2015NSF grant helps preserve parasite collectionsLeslie ReedUniversity of Nebraska - LincolnFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubsPart of the Parasitology CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of at DigitalCommons@University ofNebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology by an authorizedadministrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.Reed, Leslie, "NSF grant helps preserve parasite collections" (2015). Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory ofParasitology. 832.http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs/832http://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/unltoday/article/nsf-grant-helps-preserve-parasite-collections/  May 19, 2015 NSF grant helps preserve parasite collections    Craig Chandler | University Communications   The National Science Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant that will allow four major parasite collections to be digitized. The collections are part of UNL's Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology. Scott Gardner (pictured) is the curator and director of the Manter Laboratory. A $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will allow the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology to digitally preserve four major collections of parasite specimens donated to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln during the past five years.   Related Links: 12.01.14 | Gardner, team ID parasite that infected mammals' ancestor 07.18.14 | Gardner leads discovery of four new tuco-tuco species  Tags: Scott Gardner University of Nebraska State Museum Morrill Hall biological sciences Arts and Sciences   The specimens represent the work of four top-ranked U.S. scientists who toiled for decades, collecting and studying myriad parasites from around the world. Scott Gardner, Manter Laboratory curator and director, said the four collections contain, literally, hundreds of thousands of specimens and comprise a crucial record for how the Earth’s biological diversity had been endangered by anthropogenic habitat destruction and climate change. “These kinds of collections serve as the foundation for our understanding of biological diversity now,” he said. Yet when the scientists retired or died, few arrangements had been made to preserve their life’s work or to share it with new generations of scientists. Before they were donated to UNL, some of the collections sat unused on back shelves or storage rooms for years. However, before obtaining the three-year grant from the Collections in Support of Biological Research program of the NSF’s Division of Biological Infrastructure, Manter scientists could do little more than safeguard the specimens. More funds were needed to catalog the collections and create online digital records of them so that other scientists can study them from any internet-connected computer or device. The paper documentation of one collection was in such deteriorating condition that the laboratory bought frost-free freezers to store them. By cycling through their auto-defrost mechanism, the freezers in effect freeze-dry and kill the fungi that were consuming the documents. These documents are extremely important in that they contain the essential data on when, where, and from what host the parasite specimens were collected. The collections to be catalogued include those of:  Sam R. Telford Jr., described by Gardner as a world-class parasitologist from the University of Florida at Gainesville. In 2012, he donated his entire hemoparasite slide collection, which contains bloodstream parasites collected from reptiles around the world, to the Manter Laboratory.   W. J. Hargis Jr., former director of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, who died in 2008. Hargis’s collection contains samples of marine flatworms from around the world, including hundreds of thousands collected from research expeditions in Antarctic waters.   Malcolm McDonald, a waterfowl parasitologist who worked for the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., from 1957 to 1981. His collection, Gardner said, is an amazing record of the parasitic worms of waterfowl from the Central Flyway from the 1960s through the 1980s.   Nixon Wilson, a biology professor at the University of Northern Iowa from 1969 to 1997. Wilson collected ectoparasites, such as fleas and lice, from mammals in North American and around the world. “It’s a huge and very interesting collection,” said Gardner. Wilson died in 2011. Gardner said NSF grants, as well as private donations, represent a significant amount of the support for the Manter Laboratory. Without this support, knowledge of parasite biodiversity of the earth would be severely limited, the collections housed in the laboratory are that important, he added. Written by:  Leslie Reed | University Communications Published: 8 hours ago [May 19, 2015]  

NSF grant helps preserve parasite collections

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University of Nebraska - Lincoln
DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter
Laboratory of Parasitology Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of
5-2015
NSF grant helps preserve parasite collections
Leslie Reed
University of Nebraska - Lincoln
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs
Part of the Parasitology Commons
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Parasitology, Harold W. Manter Laboratory of at DigitalCommons@University of
Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology by an authorized
administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln.
Reed, Leslie, "NSF grant helps preserve parasite collections" (2015). Faculty Publications from the Harold W. Manter Laboratory of
Parasitology. 832.
http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/parasitologyfacpubs/832
http://news.unl.edu/newsrooms/unltoday/article/nsf-grant-helps-preserve-parasite-
collections/  
May 19, 2015 
NSF grant helps preserve 
parasite collections 
 
 
 
Craig Chandler | University Communications 
 
 
The National Science Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant that will 
allow four major parasite collections to be digitized. The collections are part 
of UNL's Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology. Scott Gardner 
(pictured) is the curator and director of the Manter Laboratory. 
A $500,000 grant from the National Science Foundation will allow the Harold 
W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology to digitally preserve four major 
collections of parasite specimens donated to the University of Nebraska-
Lincoln during the past five years. 
 
 
Related Links: 
12.01.14 | Gardner, team ID parasite that infected mammals' ancestor 
07.18.14 | Gardner leads discovery of four new tuco-tuco species 
 
Tags: 
Scott Gardner 
University of Nebraska State Museum 
Morrill Hall 
biological sciences 
Arts and Sciences 
 
 
The specimens represent the work of four top-ranked U.S. scientists who 
toiled for decades, collecting and studying myriad parasites from around the 
world. 
Scott Gardner, Manter Laboratory curator and director, said the four 
collections contain, literally, hundreds of thousands of specimens and 
comprise a crucial record for how the Earth’s biological diversity had been 
endangered by anthropogenic habitat destruction and climate change. 
“These kinds of collections serve as the foundation for our understanding of 
biological diversity now,” he said. 
Yet when the scientists retired or died, few arrangements had been made to 
preserve their life’s work or to share it with new generations of scientists. 
Before they were donated to UNL, some of the collections sat unused on 
back shelves or storage rooms for years. 
However, before obtaining the three-year grant from the Collections in 
Support of Biological Research program of the NSF’s Division of Biological 
Infrastructure, Manter scientists could do little more than safeguard the 
specimens. More funds were needed to catalog the collections and create 
online digital records of them so that other scientists can study them from 
any internet-connected computer or device. 
The paper documentation of one collection was in such deteriorating 
condition that the laboratory bought frost-free freezers to store them. By 
cycling through their auto-defrost mechanism, the freezers in effect freeze-
dry and kill the fungi that were consuming the documents. These documents 
are extremely important in that they contain the essential data on when, 
where, and from what host the parasite specimens were collected. 
The collections to be catalogued include those of: 
 Sam R. Telford Jr., described by Gardner as a world-class 
parasitologist from the University of Florida at Gainesville. In 2012, he 
donated his entire hemoparasite slide collection, which contains 
bloodstream parasites collected from reptiles around the world, to the 
Manter Laboratory. 
 
 W. J. Hargis Jr., former director of the Virginia Institute of Marine 
Science, who died in 2008. Hargis’s collection contains samples of 
marine flatworms from around the world, including hundreds of 
thousands collected from research expeditions in Antarctic waters. 
 
 Malcolm McDonald, a waterfowl parasitologist who worked for the 
National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., from 1957 to 1981. 
His collection, Gardner said, is an amazing record of the parasitic 
worms of waterfowl from the Central Flyway from the 1960s through 
the 1980s. 
 
 Nixon Wilson, a biology professor at the University of Northern Iowa 
from 1969 to 1997. Wilson collected ectoparasites, such as fleas and 
lice, from mammals in North American and around the world. “It’s a 
huge and very interesting collection,” said Gardner. Wilson died in 
2011. 
Gardner said NSF grants, as well as private donations, represent a 
significant amount of the support for the Manter Laboratory. Without this 
support, knowledge of parasite biodiversity of the earth would be severely 
limited, the collections housed in the laboratory are that important, he 
added. 
Written by:  
Leslie Reed | University Communications 
Published: 8 hours ago [May 19, 2015] 
 


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NSF grant helps preserve parasite collections

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