An award has been made to the Texas Tech University under the direction of Dr. Robert D. Bradley to move several natural history collections into a newly renovated area that will double the overall space for these collections. The collections include several hundred thousand specimens of mammals, birds, and invertebrates, as well as tissue and skeleton collections. The collections are heavily used for research and have been resources for numerous graduate thesis research projects. The mammal collection is among the largest associated with an academic institution and houses species from the southwestern United States as well as many other areas of the world. Accessibility to the collections has been severely hampered in recent years by the crowded conditions. Outside funds were procured to build a new collection space and purchase new compactors. The award from BRC will provide staff support to move the collections to the new space, where their research value can be fully realized. The collections are used by federal and state agencies for research and testing in epidemiology. The project will involve a graduate assistant and research assistant who will assist in the move of the collections.
