We kicked off the week, highlighting Black people in NHM and discussing the history of museums through the perspective of Black people. 

 

This event addressed what it means to be Black in Natural History Museums (NHMs) and served to introduce our community members to the broader scientific community and the general public. This also highlighted the various careers available in NHMs.

On this day, we confronted the colonial legacy of natural history collecting in order to reclaim and redefine this space. 

#BlackNaturalHistory

 

We examined the legacy of NHMs, the hidden figures contributing to biodiversity knowledge and collections, and the connections to colonialist and imperialist practice as related to Black peoples.

This event looked at NHMs as libraries of life and highlighted the specimens, artifacts, and objects that have contributed to our basic understanding of life on earth. We also illustrated the creative and innovative research that is possible because of these invaluable specimens.

Take a peek behind the scenes at the day-to-day of a museum professional. 

We explored digitization in collections and its potential to increase access.

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#DigiData

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Digitization has been noted as a major component to making collections more accessible. This notion was explored through several lenses, including leveraging imaging technology to mitigate neo-colonialism.

This event encouraged participants and future NHM professionals to directly engage in biodiversity collection with us.

 

We communicated the importance of documenting biodiversity, past and present, and the possible careers in biodiversity research. We explored biodiversity in our backyards.