Carnegie Museum of Natural History

One of the Four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh

conservation

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5 Surprising Conservation Facts

cleaning a panda diorama

by Kathleen Bodenlos

Gretchen Anderson is a conservator at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. She is restoring a panda diorama that will be prominently placed in our newly renovated gift shop. (Stay tuned for more on the gift shop in the next few weeks).

Here are 5 surprising things about conservation of a diorama.
1. Less is more: Use as few chemicals as possible

  • Soot sponges, water, and vacuums are the top
    choices in lieu of harsh chemicals. Water is one of the most powerful solvents!
  • Gretchen begins with a fan brush and a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate air filter) vacuum to remove as much dust and arsenic traces as possible.
  • She is wearing a protective face mask and gloves to protect herself from any arsenic that might be stirred up.
  • Soot sponges are a rubber sponge designed to absorb soot and are used dry. Another handy tool is a makeup sponge. A make-up sponge is used when just a little tiny bit of water is needed to move the dirt.
  • Particulate dust (dust, dirt and soot) is extremely damaging to museum collections. It is best to remove it.
sponge covered in dust

2. Some conservationists also do a little restoration on paint

  •  When in doubt go lighter to match a color
  • Think impressionism and mottle with several colors if possible. A good example is the natural colors on a rock.
restored panda diorama

3. Move ‘em up and head ’em out—RAWHIDE!

  • For many older dioramas, the skin of the animal is literally a raw hide. They are often treated with arsenic to keep the hide from becoming infested with insects and being eaten/damaged
  • Mercury, and other pesticides were also used to prevent insect attack on some museum collections.
  • A sealed exhibit case helps to keep the diorama safe from damage. Dust and insects are kept out. If there are any pesticides inside the case these are kept in – protecting the public.
  • Plant material
    ·  Not all of it is fake. Some of the actual plant materials are painted to make them look alive
    ·  Even a non-expert can discern what is fake and what is real upon close examination
  •  Save money—use less
    ·  When washing clothes the soap is to keep dirt from settling back on clothes
    ·  Agitation and water are the real cleaner
    ·  Use 1/3 less soap and your clothes will be clean
    and you will ensure that all the soap is removed which will help protect your
    skin

Kathleen Bodenlos is the Director of Marketing at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to write about their unique experiences.

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Artist in residence

Study skins of birds with their drawings

Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s artist in residence Ashley Cecil brought these study skins from our collection back to life with her drawings that she’ll later paint in full color.  These six species of birds are often injured or killed when they collide with glass windows in urban areas where buildings and structures invade their flight space.

Carnegie Museum of Natural History is one of eight organizations who have joined the partnership BirdSafe Pittsburgh,which works to research and reduce bird-glass collisions in urban communities.

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Reclaiming Nature

Bridge over lotus pond
Bridge over lotus pond
A once dead pond is now alive
A once dead pond is now alive
Storytime on a toad stool
Storytime on a toad stool
Human sized bird's nest
Human sized bird’s nest
three chickens in a cage
Chickens protect the plants

sign explaining that chickens eat both bugs and plants

by Kathleen Bodenlos

Pittsburgh has a reputation for transforming itself. Once a grimy industrialized city, we have become a network of neighborhoods with green spaces, bike trails, culturally rich attractions, and a thriving economy. The Pittsburgh Botanic Garden mirrors our transformation story.

Reclaiming land from Pittsburgh’s industrial past, they transformed land and ponds into an artistic nature experience. Acres that were once farmed, logged and mined have been reinvented and now offer hiking trails, flowers, and surprising works of art. A Monet worthy pond that was once filled with acid is now alive with lotus. Barred Rock Chickens protect the plants through their natural diet of insects and also help to fertilize the crops.

The gardens offer plenty of surprises for kids from a giant bird nest that could fit a large human family to an enchanted area for reading time complete with toadstools on which to perch.

With 460 acres left to steward, it seems this impressive example of reclamation has only just begun.

Kathleen Bodenlos is the Director of Marketing at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Passionate about nature, art, and travel she enjoys visiting other organizations with a similar focus on conservation and education.

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An Appalachian Research Hub

Powdermill Nature Reserve Visitor's Center

Researchers at Powdermill Nature Reserve, the environmental research center of Carnegie Museum of Natural History, are documenting the health of Western Pennsylvania’s flora and fauna with bird banding, long-term studies, and other key environmental research out of Rector Pa.

Those efforts will be bolstered thanks to a recent $700,000 grant from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, which will further position Powdermill as an ecological research powerhouse of the Appalachian region. The grant will fund new technology like drone imagining and radio frequency “nanotags” to study and protect birds. The focal species groups that will be studied are birds, pollinators, salamanders, and forest trees.

Powdermill scientists are eager to use nanotag radio telemetry to improve their tracking of migratory birds, attaching tiny radio beacons to birds that will track their migration as they fly by special towers equipped with sensors.

The sensors will log the tagged birds in a central database, allowing scientists to track birds from South America to Canada without recapturing them. Since only about one in 1,000 birds banded at Powdermill are ever recaptured, the new technology is sure to improve the reserve’s data collection efforts.

“As this grant strengthens our scientific activities, Powdermill will accordingly improve its educational outreach regarding pressing environmental issues of interest to concerned citizens,” said Powdermill Director John Wenzel.

Check out Powdermill Nature Reserve’s Facebook page for beautiful images and snapshots of some of the important working happening there that will benefit the entire Western Pennsylvania region.

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Photo Traps in Conservation

Photo Trap Display

by  Patrick McShea

In the Hall of North American Wildlife at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, there’s a display of field
research tools that includes a 14-inch screen that continually shows still images of  bobcats, black bears, and
other seldom seen residents of Powdermill Nature Reserve, the museum’s environmental research center. The images were collected in photo traps, sturdy programmable cameras with shutters triggered by motion or heat sensors.

A photo trap unit rests adjacent to the screen with its lights, lens, and sensors facing outward. The compactness
of the camouflage-patterned device contrasts with enormous contributions such cameras are currently making in wildlife conservation studies. Single cameras can collect photographic evidence of rarely seen species at a low financial cost and with minimal disturbance of the targeted creatures. Arrays of strategically placed cameras can be used to calculate population densities and chart individual territories.

Around the corner from the display a clipboard-mounted activity sheet invites visitors to try their skill at interpreting photo trap evidence at the nearby Jaguar diorama.

clipboards hanging on the wall with activity sheets

For anyone interested in how photo traps are documenting the
continued presence jaguars and ocelots in the American southwest, the US Fish
and Wildlife Service maintains a site of spotted cat images.

Patrick McShea works in the Education and Visitor Experience department of Carnegie Museum of Natural History. Museum employees are encouraged to blog about their unique experiences of working at the museum.

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A Holotype with a History

jar with a label that reads "Macroprotodon cucullatus iberius"by José Padial

This jar contains the holotype of Macroprotodon cucullatus iberius, a subspecies of false smooth snake, in the herpetology collection of Carnegie Museum of Natural History.

The holotype is the name-bearer of a species and every species recognized by scientists is associated to an holotype.

The specimen was collected in Cadiz Province, Spain by American herpetologist Stephen Busack. Because of his knowledge of
Spanish, Stephen Busack was deployed in Rota Naval Base during the Vietnam War, and he used his spare time to research the area’s poorly known local fauna of amphibians and reptiles.

His research revealed new species, and the precise locality data he collected is now key to demonstrate the radical transformation that the environment of the area has experienced during the last 40 years.

Many of the populations studied by Busack are now gone. Populations from Cadiz Province are now considered to belong to the species Macroprotodon brevis and it is the smaller and rarest snake of the Iberian Peninsula. It feeds on lizards, baby snakes, blind snakes, and even individuals of its own species!

José Padial is the William and Ingrid Rea Assistant Curator of Herpetology at Carnegie Museum of Natural History. He most recently traveled to the remote Vilcabamba mountains of Peru in the pursuit of biodiversity research. Read more at www.tumblr.com/blog/expeditions-carnegiemnh.