The Entomology Collection of the California Academy of Sciences contains approximately 12.4 million specimens representing 300,000 species, and it ranks among the largest and most actively used insect collections in the world. It is the principal collection of its type in the western U.S. Dr. David Kavanaugh, Curator in charge of the collection, has devised an ambitious plan to improve the curation and availability of the collection. New storage trays and identification labels will enhance the utility of the collection to visiting researchers and to the collection management staff. Many important collections that are currently inaccessible will be processed and made readily available to visiting investigators and through the Academy's specimen loan program. The proposed collection improvement project will increase the collection's research impact significantly, and will help to assure the long-term safety of irreplaceable research specimens. Collections of natural history specimens such as this one are unique resources for the study of biological diversity. Future generations of research will rely on the continued growth and improvement of museum collections.
