Preserving natural history in the museum

The work of building collections and preservation is an ongoing process. To preserve flora and fauna, the National University of Samoa is building up a natural history collection. After a successful field project with the Übersee-Museum Bremen in Samoa, a team from the Environmental Science Department of the NUS visited Bremen. Sene Taupega, Asonei Leauga and Vensel Chan accompanied the Übersee-Museum's natural history team for two weeks to share experiences of the diverse work with collections and conservation.

Eight people pose together for a group photo in front of the exhibition entrance — Welcoming the NUS team in the foyer of the Übersee-Museum (from left to right: Vensel Chan, Sene Taupega, Michael Stiller, Etta Grotrian, Wiebke Ahrndt, Asonei Leauga, Diana Michler-Kozma, Mitiana Arbon)

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

Two women look into a table display case, their faces reflected in the glass. — The group visited the exhibition and the specimens and models on display.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

A group of four people in front of a museum display, showing a white garment made out of bark cloth — Mitiana Arbon gave a guided tour of the visible storage, here in front of a dress made of bark cloth (tapa).

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

A group of four persons standing in a compact shelving area, one is taking pictures with a smartphone — Behind the scenes, the guests were given an insight into the museum's natural history collections. Ruth Nüß took the team on a tour of the mammal storage in the basement.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

A group of four people in a room with lots of white cupboards, a row of large whale bones lined up in the centre, antelope horns hanging on the wall — The magazine houses the skeletons and skins of a variety of mammals, while the storage requirements can vary greatly. A blue whale jaw, for example, does not fit in any cupboard.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

Four people stand in front of stacked wooden crates, one person opens the top crate, which contains birds' eggs. — In addition to bird specimens, nests and eggs are also safely kept in the bird storage.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

A group of people attentively watching a demonstration in a taxidermist workshop setting, surrounded by various tools and craft materials. — In short workshops, the prepartion of animal specimens and the various conservation techniques were discussed.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

A group of people engaging in a discussion or educational activity involving bird specimens at a table. — Nina Richelmann shows how a bird's bellows is mounted on an artificial body to obtain a specimen. The animal skins are not "stuffed" here.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

A group of three people is working together at a table with bird specimens — The NUS team takes a closer look at the skin of a buzzard.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

A person fixes a pressed plant on a sheet of paper. — Special techniques are also required to preserve plants. Sene Taupega creates a herbarium specimen by fixing a dried plant to a sheet of paper.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

Over the shoulder view of three people looking at an insect under a microscope — In the insect storage, Volker Lohrmann works with the team at the microscope. The workshop focused in particular on the identification of insect species and on collection management.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

Two persons watch, as a man in a lab coat places a prepared freshwater crayfish in a display jar — Preservation in alcohol is a tried and tested method for conserving organisms. Alexander Horn shows how he fixes a prepared freshwater crayfish in an exhibition jar.

CC BY-SA 4.0 Übersee-Museum Bremen, photo: Volker Beinhorn

This story relates to the topics Collecting, Cooperation, Museum Work, Samoa, National University of Samoa, Digitization, . Discover more content on these topics by clicking one of the tags!