Using technology to open the doors of natural history collections
Natural history collections hold volumes of information about the world around us and how it has changed over time. And while conservation experts and curators care for those specimens meticulously to ensure their information is preserved for generations, few of us have the opportunity to see and study them.
Dr. Catherine Early, the Science Museum’s Barbara Brown Chair of Ornithology, recently teamed up with researchers from museums around the country on a 3D imaging project that is changing that. Called openVertebrate (oVert), the project has used CT scanning technology to launch a new era of accessibility to natural history collections.
Technology lets us see inside
Through oVert, collaborators scanned more than 13,000 specimens from the collections of 25 museums, including amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds, and mammals. The result is a collection of detailed images and data that have given us access to the information held inside.
CT scanners use high-energy X-rays to view a specimen’s bone structure in three dimensions. oVert researchers stained a small number of specimens with a temporary contrast-enhancing solution that allowed them to visualize soft tissues like skin, muscle, and other organs. The resulting models provide a unique perspective of an animal’s anatomy that, until now, has only been available through destructive dissection and tissue sampling.
“Museums are constantly engaged in a balancing act,” said David Blackburn, lead principal investigator of the oVert project and curator of herpetology at the Florida Museum of Natural History. “You want to protect specimens, but you also want to have people use them. oVert is a way of reducing the wear and tear on samples while also increasing access, and it’s the next logical step in the mission of museum collections.”
The value of oVert extends beyond scientific inquiry. Artists have used the 3D models to create realistic animal replicas, photographs of oVert specimens have been displayed as museum exhibits, and specimens have been incorporated into virtual reality headsets that give users the chance to interact with and manipulate them.
oVert at work here at home
Dr. Early collaborated with colleagues around the country on the scanning of specimens for oVert before she joined the Science Museum’s Center for Research and Collections in 2020. The project’s scanned specimens, however, served as a useful resource in the development of the museum’s online programming for students.
“Our Science Museum team partnered with Dr. Jaimi Gray from oVert, who made virtual models for the Dino Dentist virtual program for students in grades K to 2,” Early says. “These models represent something close to the physical models that we use in the in-person version of the program. It was a cool way to use this 3D scanning technology to provide an at-home version of an in-person residency experience that students love.”
“That’s the spirit of the project,” Early continues. “It’s all about preserving specimens while expanding access to the information they can give us.”
Interested in viewing the spectacular imagery?
oVert features imagery that gives us a memorable and unique look inside these natural history specimens. Learn more about the project and see some of the insightful (and colorful!) images from our friends at the Florida Museum of Natural History.
