"I-,tural history museum to house PSU collections by Cynl Starlr neat ra! embdr "d,"d,,l, when tt the Nor H~stary. PSU . and mu c73, 'i ses, lying ~n ers, or nr k lhia D. Stowell tg out ot glas r a NS ~n metal draw ied eternally ~n r ~ . ., thousandr of P5U an~masl pectmcns ab~de For yearr, tile~rboner anri skins have prov~ded~n,tiuct~onaal nd r r~a r ch opportun~t~eisor student,, iaculty and community scholan. Nearly ~nvrsihleto the public, the ..-,..-L, F collections awaft the day ley will take up residence in thwest M u ~ u mot Natural alumnus, visiting researcher seum dtrector Dav~dTaylor 7 MSI har an offlre amidst the tosstls that represent the museum's flrst acqulsltlonr. Temporartlv homed in the Unwerr~ty'rEarth Sc~encei Museum In Cramer Hall, the embryonic Nonhwest Museum of Natural History has existed tor two years ~n the mmds - and closets - of Taylor and his wife. designer Ann Kendall Taylor. Now, wlth a hoard of d~rectors In place, an advtsow council meeting regularly, and non-proflt papers in order, the museum ii hecom~ng a rcallty. Serving an the advlsory caunc~lare memkri of PSU's geology, biology and anthropology rlcpartmenti. all oi whlch have specimen5 that w ~ lbl e loaned to the museum once it flndi new quarters. The advisors have also been bra~nstarmcngto generate exhib~tconcepts and deslgn idea. Vlsrlon to the Northwest Muse oi Natural Htsto~ymtght one day a walk throuph Oregon, pay a vl the age of dlno5aur5, and ..rand eyeball to eyeball w~th a skeletal sperm whale "We'r~looking ior innovative to tell the geologic and hie hlstor Oregon at the same time." said Taylor, who has h ~ sPh.D. in paleontology from the University Cal!tornva-Berkeley. "We alw w. have a lot of spectator pan~c~pati For Instancethey could pan for gold. or locate ieatureson a push-hurton reltef map of Oregon." Dlrk Farbrr, Biologv Oregon, with its diven~tyoi climate, plants, animals and human culture, has much to contr~buteto the f~eldof natural history, feels Taylor. After all, c t xvar in the volcan!c ash depo5in oi central Oregon that archaeologtsts once found a threc-toed horae that filled in an evolutionary gap hetween prlmtliv~ and modern horrci, sad Tavlor. The museum could tell many such 5torcer. A natural htstory mu\eum in the state's most populous area could also be a boon to Oregon's tourist bus!ness, added Taylor. "The museum might keep people ~n the city one more day as well as give them idear ior v!sttlng other part\ of Oregon." "The museum might keep people in the city one mo r e day as well as give them ideas for visiting other parts of 0regon-." Dirk Forbes, a museum advisor and PSU biology professor, believes the museum could be a "malor contr~bulionto the commun~ty."He sees two roler ior the ~nrt~tutnon - to educate the publ~cand to cnrouragc research. Locating the muwum near the campus would provide PSU students wtth even greater resources than they already have m,ith the biology callert~onthat Forbes OVerSMS Over the years. students enroll~d ~n vertebrate an~culationrlaires have prepared mo\t at thc akcletons and "<kjns" stored and on drsplay In two rooms of Scicnrc Bu~ld~n~ 11, said Forbes. Specimens ha\,? ben collected in the field by students and iaculty or have come trom roo ialalft~es. The biology collection was started by iormer proiesror Gwrrgr Fjsler, whore principal interert was in f~sh. S~nceForbes came to PSU in 1964, he has made a canrciour effon to expand the diverrity of specimens and to collect species series, at least I5 members of each sex, to ~llurtrate indiv~duavl ariations. The rollect~on now con51stsof 2,600 mammals. 1.000 birds, 3,300 amph~bian,and reotlles. and 1.500 f141.Manv more sdecimens have yet to be "wbrked up" and curated, sa~d Forbes. Taylor, who bervcd ar paleontology research director at the Oregon Museum of Sctence and Industry ior several years, sees the Northwest Muscum of Natural Hlrtory as a foundation from which research expedittons can ortglnate. "The rnubeum would encourage students at both the secondary and college levels to do i ~ e l dstudy," thereby bullding the museum collection, he sad Taylor's own excavation experience began ~n h~ghschool, when two fossilized mammoths were found in Southwest Portland. He went on to gather "the largest collection ever assembled from the lohn Day fossil bed" ~n central Oregon. Much of this collection was donated to the Uncverstty of Washington because there wa5 no su~tablereposjtary in Oregon Taylor ieels a malor museum would help prevent such mater~alsa, nd those irom amateurs - who are respunsihle for "a lot of the real impunant Ilnds" -from leav~ngOregon. Looking into the display cases, cablnet5 and drawer, a nCramer Hall and Science Building 11, it is easy to lmaglne a museum of natural hlstorv of the scope the Taylorr and their adv15ors envlrron. And the Tyrannosaurus rex, the snow Ieo the Pacli~citr~ped olphln, the ammonlte shell\. the prehlstorrc frorcn tn rock - they all wall. PSU Perspective, Summer 1985 / p
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