This award will allow the continued improvement of the mammal collection at the University of Alaska Museum (UAM). Specifically, PIs will catalog retroactively 10,000 specimens, construct a database and begin verification of the entire collection (28,000 specimens), enhance the frozen tissue collection (currently at 700 specimens) and establish a permanent collection manager position. The UAM mammal collection is the only regional resource readily accessible to state, federal and academic scientists in Alaska for research and education on mammals from the Arctic and Subarctic biomes. UAM is the de facto natural history museum for Alaska and continues to be the central repository for voucher material arising from environmental management studies and other research projects. Recently, UAM became the repository for frozen tissues (with vouchers) from NBS and NOAA projects in Alaska. The improved collection will be widely used in research and education on the biology and game management of Arctic and subarctic mammals.
