Future of 100-year-old sturgeon specimen in question
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MISSOULA — In an Aug. 14 farewell video, Emily Graslie, volunteer curator at the Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum at the University of Montana, singled out a century old Flathead Lake specimen as one of 24,000 that face an uncertain future due to the departure of her and her supervisor.
Graslie has worked at the museum since 2011 and became an Internet celebrity for her YouTube show “The Brain Scoop” which documents the scientific value, process, and nuances of working in the museum. She said in the farewell video that she was offered a job at the Chicago Field Museum and decided to take it after the University of Montana was unsure if they would have the funding to keep the position of curator open in Missoula.
Graslie voiced her concern about the future of the museum without a curator. In the video, producer Michael Aranda asks what could be lost if the museum is not properly maintained. In her last walk through of the museum, Graslie notes the walls of the facility are leaking and that some of the specimens are being poorly stored.
“The new mammalogy professor is being tasked with checking in on the collection, at least,” Graslie said. “So I guess that’s better than nothing, but I don’t know what’s going to happen with this stuff … We’re losing 3,400 natural history specimens, 2,500 fish, 500 reptiles, 500 birds and mammals, 100 years of natural history.”
Some of the data at stake includes local history.
“It’s all information and data that you can’t replace and can’t get back,” Graslie said. “You can’t go back to Flathead Lake in 1900 and collect another sturgeon. This is it. It’s all here in this room, the entire history of fish in Montana... Our grandchildren are going to be pretty upset with us that we didn’t put a little bit more effort in taking care of what is their collective past.”
Graslie said she hopes the collection can be moved, but isn’t optimistic about the outlook.
“People just don’t see the value in it,” Graslie said. “They would rather spend their money in the sports team or in the business school.”
Interim curator and mammalogy professor Paul Hendrickes said he has been tasked with “keeping the museum operational,” but plans to retire soon. Talks about who will take care of the museum after him are underway.
“The museum will probably continue to be underfunded and overcrowded,” he said.
