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Pensoft’s new Diamond Open Access journal Natural History Collections and Museomics (NHCM) has just concluded its first topical collection, “Entomological Outreach Collections and Community Engagement.”
The collection brings together contributions from faculty, curators, collection managers, and students from around the world, having sprung from the November 2024 “Collections Reaching Out” symposium at the Entomological Collections Network annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. The symposium focused on the conception, preparation, management, and educational use of outreach drawers: special collections of insect specimens curated for public learning and awareness.
Despite their crucial role in science education and public engagement, outreach drawers have remained understudied. The papers in this new collection aim to fill that gap, examining their purpose, design, usage, and how to assess their impact. The editors, Victor Gonzalez and Jennifer C. Girón Duque, brought together international perspectives to identify best practices and strategies that maximise outreach effectiveness.
Featured in the collection
- Balancing discovery and education in natural history collections – Alfonsina Arriaga Jiménez, Simon Fearn
Children observing insects during National Science Week 2024. Image credit: Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Tasmania.
- Entomology outreach drawers – the good, the bad and the beneficial – Kirstin A. Williams
- Use of insect specimens for Science Olympiad entomology exam in Georgia, USA – Kelly Carruthers, Yash Sajjan, Vaishnavi Balaji
- The scientific and educational role of the Invertebrate Division at the LOUNAZ Museum of Zoology in Loja, Ecuador – Aura Paucar-Cabrera, Xavier Rojas-Ruilova, Lisbeth Quezada-Cueva, Vinicio Escudero-Armijos
Educational collection of the Invertebrate Division at the LOUNAZ Museum. a Young visitors at an insect educational session; b insect cabinets and display boxes showcasing curated specimens. Credit: Paucar-Cabrera et al.
- Enhancing outreach collections with live insects – Natalie Herbison
- Insect insights: case studies using 3D-printed specimen models as a tool for accessibility, education and outreach in a Natural History Museum – Adrián Sánchez Albert, Marina González Cristóbal, Luis R. Pertierra, Celia González-López, Mercedes París, Carlos A. Palancar, Manuel Sánchez Ruiz, Markus Bastir, Robert J. Wilson
- Come Bug Me: the first attempt at an outreach event showcasing the Invertebrate Zoology Collection of the Museum of Texas Tech University – Jennifer C. Girón
- Outreach drawer collections and visual science communication enhance public engagement with native bee diversity in Colombia – Andrés Felipe Herrera-Motta
- From trash to teacher: utilizing unlabeled, unsealed, and unprocessed specimens for community engagement – Patricia L. S. Wooden, Nikolai K. Artley, Caitlin M. Silva, Michael L. Ferro
- Bugged out: A High School outreach class using display drawers to highlight the importance of insects – Abby Weber
- From collections to connections: empowering communities through entomological outreach – Brenda J. Cruz-García, Osvaldo Sandoval, Emilio J. Cruz-García, Fernando Escobar-Hernández, Alfonsina Arriaga-Jiménez
- Carri-on communicating: Creating portable insect displays for entomological outreach – Ashleigh L. Whiffin
- A framework for the assessment of outreach drawers in insect collections – Victor H. Gonzalez, Kelsey L. Wiggins, Kade Bonnell, Jennifer C. Girón
- Promoting native bee conservation through outreach: the Auburn University Native Bee Lab outreach collection – Jasmine A. L. Cates, Anthony P. Abbate
By exploring topics from innovative educational programs and accessible specimen displays, to community science initiatives and frameworks for assessment, the collection demonstrates how outreach collections can turn “bugs in drawers” into powerful vehicles for learning and community engagement.
NHCM’s Diamond Open Access model ensures that these resources are free and available to all, reaffirming the journal’s commitment to inclusivity and expanding the societal impact of natural history collections.
You can read the topical collection here.