Mission

The museums primary mission is devoted to research in the fields of systematics, conservation, and biodiversity. We also are heavily involved in undergraduate and graduate education. The museum is not generally open to the public, but occasional outreach activities provide an opporunity for non-students to learn about what we do.

    Biological research museums and archives are dedicated to a mission similar to that of libraries, but instead of preserving books and information about books, biological collections preserve organisms and information about life. People often think that the role of preserving information makes a museum a static place, but actually collections grow continuously through activities of faculty, students, and other researchers, as well as by exchange with other museums.  As they grow, collections increase in value and serve as samples of natural variation, evidence for the occurrence species in space and time, and they provide the ultimate basis for our understanding of species identity. Large biological collections are the sole source of information regarding phylogenetic affinity (evolutionary relationships), whether morphological or genetic. Without a collection of specimens, no comparative biology would be possible, from the level of local field guides to molecular searches for new drugs. This critical role is often overlooked by people who expect to see attractive dioramas of animals posed in model habitats, but the important research that happens in any research museum is behind the scenes where the public does not ordinarily go. With no public displays, we at the OSU Museum of Biological Diversity focus primarily on the mission that is not visible to the outside while providing resources for education and outreach. Ours is a museum dedicated to research and professional education.