A century’s worth of natural history specimens enter the digital age

Enbridge-funded Indigenous youth internships at the Canadian Museum of Nature will accelerate international access to records and data

Out from the depths of the collections at the Canadian Museum of Nature, natural history specimens are ready for their close-up.

The nation’s natural history museum, based in Ottawa, is undertaking a major project to digitize over 14.5 million of its collections that document biodiversity and geodiversity, mostly within Canada. Once completed, the online records will live on indefinitely for researchers, scientists and the general public to access.

“These records are critical components of the permanent scientific record and help us document biodiversity’s distribution over time and space,” says Jeff Saarela, vice president of research and collections at the Canadian Museum of Nature. “Much of what we know about biodiversity today is based on collections like this one.”

In 2023, two Indigenous youth will embark on 16-week internships to capture images and upload records from the museum’s biodiverity collections. About 25% of the collection has been digitized to-date.

“There’s a lot of work left to do,” says Saarela.

The museum’s pecimens, some collected more than a century ago, represent many types of organisms: amphibians, fish, birds, insects, plants, mammals, lichens, mosses, reptiles, fossils of animals and plants, and more.

The two Indigenous youth internships are set to be based out of the museum’s Natural Heritage Campus located in Gatineau, QC. The science facility has about 50 permanent staff and several associate researchers, all of whom provide key contributions to the museum’s research and collections work.