Date of Graduation

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences

Advisor/Mentor

Jones, Austin

Committee Member/Reader

Dowling, Ashley

Committee Member/Second Reader

Wood, Lisa

Abstract

Museum biological collections store species data that can be utilized in research on biodiversity, environmental change, invasive species, public health, and disease. The University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum, which began in 1905, houses over 750,000 specimens and has not yet been digitized. Making data publicly accessible via the internet makes the data available to the entire scientific community. The goal of this project was to create a digital resource to allow greater access to the University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum holdings. To do so, data from Bombus (bumble bee) and Xylocopa (carpenter bee) specimens were databased in Excel and displayed as an interactive map on the University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum website (https://arthropod.uark.edu/databasing-efforts/). An additional document was created to provide guidance to future students to further the project. The hope is that digitization will improve access and awareness of the University of Arkansas Arthropod Museum and its data. It is anticipated that this project may provide support when applying for funding for further digitization and student projects.

Keywords

Bombus, Xylocopa, ESRI, Natural History Collections, Entomological Collections, Databasing

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