Students Prepare for Extraction of Ancient DNA

There are several new research projects going on behind the scenes at the Joseph Moore museum.  Sonia Kabra and I, Rachel Wadleigh, are working with the museum director, Heather Lerner, and will be posting once a week about what we are working on.  We will be here for four weeks and we have a lot to fit in!

I just completed my first year at Earlham and I’ve already been working at the museum for two semesters.  Throughout the year I have been working on the Insect Exhibit, which is now open, and during the second semester I was a Museum Host on Saturdays.  This summer I’m excited to be doing research on some of the museum specimens.

The Joseph Moore Museum is well known for having the most complete giant beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) specimen in the world–it’s 7/8ths complete.  Aside from this specimen on display in the museum we have bones from at least ten other giant beaver individuals in our collections. We will be attempting to extract DNA from many of these this summer.  Since these specimens are many thousands of years old the extraction will be more difficult, take longer, and be more susceptible to contamination than a DNA extraction from a modern specimen.

You can see us at work in the basement of the museum in our new ancient DNA lab over the next three weeks.  We just received many new supplies last week and we are taking precautions to keep it free of modern DNA that could contaminate our ancient DNA samples.  After we drill out small samples from the giant beaver bones, we will perform an DNA extraction and then do Polymerase Chain Reactions (PCRs) to amplify the DNA we extract.  From this work hope to be able to determine what are the closest relatives of these extinct beavers and, later, determine if there are multiple species of giant beavers.

There are many steps to this process and many things that could go wrong along the way, but I am looking forward to the experience.  Right now we are working on designing primers needed for PCR.  This is proving to be a challenge since we don’t really know the giant beaver’s close relatives.

This is just one of many projects we are working on, although it is the one I am most looking forward to as I’m excited to get some hands-on experience working in the lab.  In later posts you’ll hear about an eagle phylogeny, the harpy eagle genome, Hawaiian honeycreepers, and even more about giant beavers.

Contributed by Rachel Wadleigh

The Giant Beaver is not actually a beaver?

I am fascinated by how DNA is present in every known organism, especially in archival specimens. Using specific regions in the genome to compare and establish phylogenetic relationships between the living and the dead shows us that this code of life can help us travel back in time. Wikipedia suggests that the extinct Giant beaver (Castoroides ohioensis) is not a close relative of the modern day beaver (genus Castor). But there is currently no genetic evidence supporting this statement.

I am excited to work with the Giant Beaver specimens we have at the Joseph Moore Museum and extract DNA sequences from them in the ancient DNA lab in the basement (we will be drilling a hole through its skull to extract DNA!!). We are still in the process of designing primers for the PCR, which will help us amplify regions of interests. Rachel and I, under the supervision of museum director Heather Lerner, have been downloading gene sequences from modern beavers and other rodents and designing primers on our computers. We got our ancient DNA lab supplies delivered yesterday. I am interested in getting hands on experience in the lab. As we will be working with old DNA samples, we need to be really careful about contamination. This process requires a lot of control and care—and I can’t wait to get started!

Contributed by Sonia Sandeep Kabra

New (Lizard) Diets for Spring

When senior Julie Tamanini, a student worker who took over lizard care this fall, mentioned feeding the lizards on the leftovers from the student cafeteria, she was kidding. But Carol Stocksdale, the Coordinator of Educational Outreach, saw potential in the joke.

Carol and Julie started communicating with Kathie Guyler, the cafeteria supervisor, to work out the details. Eventually, they developed a system. Every week or two, when Julie starts to run low on food, Kathie will pull out some of the leftover produce from the cafeteria. “The veggies are all fresh, which the lizards like a lot more than the old frozen stuff. It’s great to see how much better their appetites are!” says Julie.

Our two lizards, Judi Dench, a green iguana,and Kazul, a bearded dragon, have different overall dietary needs, but both benefit from the fresh produce. Judi, like all green iguanas, is a vegetarian and loves the new variety in her diet. Aside from various greens, Judi is learning to love cantaloupe, red peppers, snow peas, and green beans. 

Our bearded dragon, Kazul, is an omnivore, like most humans. In addition to the fresh produce, he gets 15 crickets every day. Like many young organisms, he is more reluctant to eat greens, but does love the newfound delight of apples, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, bell peppers, cantaloupe, and green beans. 

Julie has noticed a difference in the animals after she started them on their new diet. “They both have much better color! Judi is greener, and Kazul has a gorgeous bright orange throat.” Those are excellent signs that the new diet is improving their health. Thanks to the support of the cafeteria, our lizards are better than ever!

 

Open House Schedule!

The Joseph Moore Museum’s Annual Open House is Saturday, from 10am-5pm! If you’re thinking about coming, check out the schedule below to find out what you don’t want to miss!

10am-12pm: Ask a Nature Photographer, Jim Chagares, nationally acclaimed photographer will field questions and talk about his photos displayed in the museum lobby
10:30am: Insect Exhibit Unveiling
11:00: Ask an Entomologist, Chris Smith, Professor of Ants Biology
11:30am: Insect pinning demonstration
     (bring your own previously frozen insects to pin)
11:30: Planetarium Show
12pm: Study skin preparation demonstration
12:30pm: Ask a landscape photographer, Walt Bistline, Assistant Professor of Art (photograph featured in the insect exhibit)
1pm: A capella concert (Earlham’s New Measures and Brimley’s)
1:30: Planetarium Show
2pm: Insect pinning demonstration
         (bring your own previously frozen insects to pin)
3pm: Story time with insect-themed stories
3:30: Planetarium Show 

Insect-themed snacks, museum tours, planetarium shows, reptile meet and greets, insect tasting, and a craft station featuring face painting and antenna headbands will be occurring throughout the day. 

Review of Joseph Moore Museum

Review of Joseph Moore Museum

A local blogger wrote a stellar review of the Joseph Moore Museum. Get a visitor’s firsthand view of the museum!

Busy as Bees

Spring is in the air-the birds are chirping, the grass is greening, and the museum is full of workers scurrying to make labels, research insect feeding habits, apply for grants, and build new exhibits. We’ve all been learning a lot about insects, and we’re excited to share it with you on April 6, from 10am-5pm, at our Annual Open House.

While you count down the days until the insect exhibit is ready to explore, you can admire the photographs from local photographer Jim Chagares. He has received recognition from the Audubon Society for his excellent photographs, and we are lucky to have quite a few now on display in the museum lobby. From birds to butterflies, Jim preserves nature with an artistic eye. Stop by and check it out!

Grants Awarded to JMM staff

Congratulations to members of the Joseph Moore Museum staff and museum class participants Hannah Blue Rose, Casey McCabe, Bailey Heinzen, Ketih Runyan, and John Edoussaint on the acceptance of their grant proposal! These students received a significant Student Action Research grant from the Earlham College Center for Environmental Action to help fund the renovation of our insect exhibit. Their work on the project, entitled “The Interdependence of Humans and Insects” will be unveiled at our annual Open House on April 6. Thanks to the CEA for their support!

John Iverson, Emeritus Director of the museum, also received a grant this week from the National Science Foundation. He has continued student-faculty research funding for a long-running (since 1981) experiment with colleagues at Iowa State University about the effects of temperature on sex determination in painted turtles. Congratulations, John!

Spa Day

Sometimes, life as a museum specimen can get messy. Being on display all the time can take a toll on a taxidermied bird. Years of dust and dirt build up, like plaque on teeth, until the color and clarity of each feather is covered up. With the recent generous donation of a HEPA approved artefact vacuum, we are restoring our exhibit specimens to like-new shine.

Before: a Northern Harrier

The museum’s collections manager, Ann-Eliza Lewis, with the help of the Intro to Collections Management class, is starting this project with the “Indiana Birds of Prey” exhibit from the lobby. Donning lab coats and gloves, the students will eventually work up to the mounted heads in other parts of the museum. In fact, any taxidermied animal that has hair, fur, or feathers in the museum, and a corresponding layer of dust, will get a little museum spa time.

No ordinary dust cloth or vacuum would clean up these birds without destroying its carefully preserved feathers. A particulate vacuum, made specifically for collections, is gentle on the feathers, but strong enough to remove the build-up of dust. With special filters for fine particulates, including a HEPA filter, the vacuum thoroughly cleans each specimen. Even this specially made tool can be a little too strong. Ann-Eliza and the crew made a small modification to keep our specimens intact-a simple Handi-Wipe over the mouth produces the perfect amount of suction.

The first client at the JMM spa, a Northern Harrier, is a kind of hawk. Harriers build their nests not in trees, like many birds, but on the ground or on small mounds in the middle of open areas, like prairies or marshes. Hunting mostly small mammals like ground squirrels and mice, harriers will fly low over their territory, listening carefully for any sounds from potential prey. Click here to listen to Harrier calls, and here to see a picture of the northern harrier in action.

 

Are you ready for the big reveal?

Meet our Northern Harrier, freshly cleaned up:

After

What to Do With Your Pet Rock Collection

Some people collect stamps, others collect state quarters, and others collect natural history artifacts. When I was a kid, I had a whole drawer full of rocks that I had picked up out of the backyard and the park. That’s how Joseph Moore started his collection, too, just keeping all of the interesting artifacts and animals he found. For all of the blossoming collectors out there, we’ve put together a few tips about how to start.

First of all, what should you collect? Rocks and fossils are always a good place to start, since they’re easy to pick up and take home. Be careful where you take from, though: most state parks in Indiana don’t permit visitors to take natural specimens with them. Try starting in your own backyard or a neighborhood park instead!

For the more adventurous, insects are another diverse and easy group to begin with (for some insect-specific tips, visit this website from Purdue University). Birds are not a good idea for a private collection, because migratory birds and birds of prey are protected under the CITES agreement, an international treaty to protect endangered and threatened species, created in 1973. Many other mammal and reptile species are also protected-for a full list (with pictures) see the CITES website here. Natural history isn’t the only kind of collecting that is valuable, though. Keeping family artifacts like photos, home videos, art projects, or autobiographical stories, is something your children, grandchildren, and beyond can appreciate.

When you find something you want to add to your collection, make a record of what you find. This usually includes what it is (which may take some research), where you found it, and when. If you’re planning on sharing your collection, or if there is more than one person in your family contributing to the collection, write down who found the object. Keeping good records can help future researchers who are doing studies of past populations. Many of the scientific research done here at the Joseph Moore Museum is about establishing a historical baseline for a certain trait in a species to see how it has changed over time. (Click here or here to read articles from the Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections and from a curator about why natural history collections are important)

Preserving all these treasures can be challenging. For some help, see this website from the San Diego Natural History Museum, or this one from the American Museum of Natural History about fossil collections, or this one from the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works, for caring for personal artifacts. Most important is to keep your collection away from substances that will damage it, like sunlight, dust, dirt, and acidic papers or boxes.

If you don’t feel comfortable preserving an interesting artifact in your home, you can donate them to the museum! We don’t have room for everything, but we are happy to accept the more unique pieces of natural history. Call the museum to talk to us about your item at 765-983-1303. One word of caution, for the most commonly mistaken item people bring to us: if you think you’ve found a dinosaur tooth, check again! Dinosaurs never lived in this area of Indiana, but there were many small horn corals found here during the Ordovician period that are now fossilized. You can see some on display in the museum’s Ordovician fossil exhibit.

 a sketch of a horn coral

Happy collecting!

Dear Santa,

Hi Santa! How’s your year been? Ours has gone well, but there are still a few things we need to finish some of the big improvement projects we’ve been working on.

• Staple gun
• Hairdryer
• Rotary cutter and mats
• Mat cutter
• Easels-tabletop and floor-standing
• Giftcards to Hobby Lobby, Office Max, or Menards

Since we don’t have a chimney, you can use our donations page . It’ll save you a stop, anyway.

Have a wonderful Christmas, and say hello to Mrs. Claus for us!

The JMM staff