Collections for the Public Good: A Case Study from Ohio

Abstract

Natural history collections serve science and society in a variety of ways. Collections of geological, including paleontological, materials are of special importance in the 21st century, as they serve not only as repositories for scientific research specimens, but are also used in teaching, outreach, and engaging the public in science. These collections link us to our scientific, technological, and cultural history, and help to inspire the next generations of scientists and technologists. In addition, they provide inspiration for creative works. They also have an important role in informing public policy and national security, as geological materials are fundamental to the global economy. Examples from universities, museums, and government agencies in central Ohio, USA, help to illustrate the myriad ways that geological collections are relevant to modern society, and provide continuing, critical benefits. These examples reinforce the need to ensure the long-term support of collections.

1. Introduction

Natural history collections serve science and serve society in a wide variety of ways [1,2,3,4]. Geological collections, which archive minerals, fossils, subfossils, and rocks, including geological drill cores and rocks of extraterrestrial origin, are of special importance in the 21st century, as they serve not only as repositories for scientific reference specimens, but also play an important role in teaching, outreach, and engaging the public in science (Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7 and Figure 8) [5,6,7]. Specimens and their associated data and metadata are a record of efforts to satisfy innate human curiosity about the natural world. They commonly have been collected at considerable human and financial cost, and their stewardship is both a moral imperative and a means of reducing redundancy of effort. Natural history museums that exhibit collection objects promote scientific literacy [8,9,10] and help inspire the next generations of scientists and technologists. They provide inspiration for artistic (Figure 1G), musical, and literary works [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18], and have an important role in informing public policy and national security [19]. Geological collections, and natural history collections more generally, are an important, high-demand resource that are commonly unacknowledged or underappreciated [3].

In this paper, we offer some answers as to why natural history collections, and specifically geological collections, are important and relevant to society today and to the future of humankind. We offer perspective on the ways that geological collections will continue to benefit society at large by providing some illustrative historical examples. The examples derive principally from our experiences with the stewardship and use of geological collections held in public and private institutions, organizations, and agencies in central Ohio, USA, but these examples can be extrapolated to many other settings, and even other types of natural history collections. The examples emphasize that maintaining a strong and vibrant interconnectedness among regional institutions and units within them greatly increases the ability of organizations that maintain collections to safeguard and provide knowledge and service both individually and collectively. This idea is similar to the concept of a “metamuseum” [20] or a “global museum” [1]. Geological collections are a significant element of our geoheritage [21,22,23] and have connections to our cultural heritage. The regional, collective approach to the stewardship and utilization of geological collections in central Ohio exemplifies how a group effort can effectively preserve the geoheritage of a region and contribute to a global effort to preserve and share knowledge.

2. Geological Collections in Central Ohio: Background

The geological collections of central Ohio are significant historically from regional, national, and international perspectives. Since the early 1800s, Ohio has occupied a place of importance in the United States’ history of westward expansion, natural resource exploration and production, industrialization, education, and politics [23], and this has had a global impact. Key geological resources produced in the state beginning in the early 1800s include salt, limestone, sandstone, sand and gravel, shale, clay, oil and natural gas, coal, iron, gypsum, and water [24,25,26,27,28,29,30]. A well drilled in Noble County, Ohio, in 1814 was the first in America to encounter oil [29]. In the 1890s, during a time of enormous industrial expansion, Ohio was the world’s leading oil producer [29]. Coal and iron production [24,29] was also important for fueling the nation’s Industrial Revolution. As human populations in the American Midwest grew, stone was needed on an increasing basis for building materials [24,31,32,33,34] and road metal. Clay was needed to make bricks used in building [26]. The ceramics industry, which also became increasingly important during this time, ties its origin to university classes first taught at The Ohio State University in 1894 [35,36]. Clay, silica from sandstone, and coal for firing kilns were essential to the early growth of the ceramics business [24,29]. Access to clean natural sources of water was necessary to support the increasing populations of people and animals and to irrigate crop land [29].

Figure 1. Geological materials: minerals (A–D), meteorite (E,F), fossil (G), and building stones (H). (A) Calcite with sphalerite, probably from Oklahoma, USA; width = 14 cm; OSU 54756. (B) Sulfur from Agrigento (formerly Girgenti), Sicily, Italy; width = 12.5 cm; OSU 54757. (C) Chalcanthite on quartz, probably from Arizona, USA; width = 8.5 cm; OSU 54758. (D) Native copper from Michigan, USA; width = 11.5 cm; OSU 54759. (E,F) Part of the New Concord meteorite, an observed fall, indicated by the historical inscription on the specimen (F), from Muskingum County, Ohio; width = 12 cm; OSU 18324. (G) Chondrichthyan fossil, Cladoselache fyleri, in an iron-rich carbonate concretion showing exceptional preservation of phosphatic hard parts (teeth), plus cartilage and soft parts including skin and muscle miomeres; surrounded by ovoidal “decay halo,” from the Cleveland Member of the Ohio Shale (Devonian), Berea, Ohio; length = 25 cm; collected by William Kepler c. 1880–1886, maintained in the OWU collection for c. 140 years; OSU 54760. This specimen inspired a 2024 exhibition, “Fossils and Halos,” at the Richard M. Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University, organized by Camilla Querin and featuring original works of art by Kristina Bogdanov, Frank Hobbs, and Jeff Nilan (see Figure 8A). (H) Various Devonian and Carboniferous sedimentary rocks fashioned into building stones in the atrium of Orton Hall at The Ohio State University.

Figure 1. Geological materials: minerals (A–D), meteorite (E,F), fossil (G), and building stones (H). (A) Calcite with sphalerite, probably from Oklahoma, USA; width = 14 cm; OSU 54756. (B) Sulfur from Agrigento (formerly Girgenti), Sicily, Italy; width = 12.5 cm; OSU 54757. (C) Chalcanthite on quartz, probably from Arizona, USA; width = 8.5 cm; OSU 54758. (D) Native copper from Michigan, USA; width = 11.5 cm; OSU 54759. (E,F) Part of the New Concord meteorite, an observed fall, indicated by the historical inscription on the specimen (F), from Muskingum County, Ohio; width = 12 cm; OSU 18324. (G) Chondrichthyan fossil, Cladoselache fyleri, in an iron-rich carbonate concretion showing exceptional preservation of phosphatic hard parts (teeth), plus cartilage and soft parts including skin and muscle miomeres; surrounded by ovoidal “decay halo,” from the Cleveland Member of the Ohio Shale (Devonian), Berea, Ohio; length = 25 cm; collected by William Kepler c. 1880–1886, maintained in the OWU collection for c. 140 years; OSU 54760. This specimen inspired a 2024 exhibition, “Fossils and Halos,” at the Richard M. Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University, organized by Camilla Querin and featuring original works of art by Kristina Bogdanov, Frank Hobbs, and Jeff Nilan (see Figure 8A). (H) Various Devonian and Carboniferous sedimentary rocks fashioned into building stones in the atrium of Orton Hall at The Ohio State University.

Foundational geologic exploration and cataloging of Ohio’s stratigraphic, paleontological, and hydrological resources were essential to the development of American industries [24,25,29]. Globally, through the 1800s, scientists were first developing a detailed understanding of Earth’s deep-time history, including its record of biodiversity, biological evolution, and physical and chemical evolution, in part stimulated by economic necessity [24,26,29,37,38,39]. The stratigraphy and paleontology of Ohio played a key role in this developing narrative [24,26,29,37,38,39,40,41], contributing especially to our understanding of Paleozoic marine, freshwater, and terrestrial life forms and environments (Figure 3) and to the record of continental glaciation and terrestrial life forms of the Pleistocene “ice age” [24,25,42,43]. During the 20th century, Ohio was an incubator for aviation and space exploration initiatives [44,45]. By 1903, functional aircraft had been developed in Ohio, and by the mid-1960s, technically trained military personnel from Ohio would become pioneers in space, orbiting Earth in 1962 and touching down on the Moon in 1969. Also in the 20th century, as remote areas of this planet, such as Antarctica and the high peaks of the Andes and Himalaya Mountains, were being explored, Ohio scientists maintained leading roles in their exploration and scientific documentation [46,47,48]. Ohio continues to maintain a large industrial, technological, and educational underpinning to its economy, and continues to be a source of important scientific and technological innovation.

Figure 2. Public outreach and engagement are important uses of museum collections. Here, Orton Museum Director Loren Babcock (center right) discusses the reconstructed jaws of a giant Pliocene shark, Otodus megalodon, with Susan Olesik (left), Dean of The Ohio State University’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, during a university-sponsored event in 2025. Photograph by Emma Parker.

Figure 2. Public outreach and engagement are important uses of museum collections. Here, Orton Museum Director Loren Babcock (center right) discusses the reconstructed jaws of a giant Pliocene shark, Otodus megalodon, with Susan Olesik (left), Dean of The Ohio State University’s College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, during a university-sponsored event in 2025. Photograph by Emma Parker.

Geological collections maintained in central Ohio are an integral part of the record of human scientific, technological, and industrial achievement from about the 1830s to the present [29,49,50]. The collections include Earth materials of global and extraterrestrial origin but have an especially strong Ohio focus or focus on the work of Ohio scientists. The stories they tell, however, mirror all humanity and its history. The collections and organizations we discuss here are:

1.

Orton Geological Museum, The Ohio State University, Columbus (OSU):

The Ohio State University, the flagship university of Ohio’s university system and a leading research institution, maintains a large geological collection at the Orton Geological Museum. The Orton Museum has been a repository for the State of Ohio’s geological and paleontological collection since the museum’s founding in 1874 by Edward Orton [43], the university’s first president and first professor of geology. The collection of fossils includes more than 7500 type, figured, and referred specimens. Minerals; rocks, including meteorites; and building stones are also part of this large collection. The museum maintains an expansive and vibrant teaching and outreach program. University classes, including a natural history museum curation program, are taught in the museum. More than 150 group tours, classes for school-age children, and external outreach activities facilitated by museum personnel are organized annually. The Orton Museum works collaboratively with other units on the Ohio State campus that provide teaching, outreach, and research, such as the Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy; the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center (including the United States Polar Rock Repository); University Libraries; and various academic departments to provide STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) enrichment to groups of varied types. The museum works collaboratively with the Ohio Division of Geological Survey to bring geological education to the general public and is engaged in activities, including research and exhibitions, with other museums regionally, nationally, and internationally. The museum works with varied state and federal agencies on matters of science in the public interest. The museum participates in joint exhibitions or contributes to exhibitions in other museums, such as the Ohio History Connection and COSI. It also engages in activities with universities, pre-university schools, libraries, and avocational groups both regionally and in neighboring regions of the United States and Canada.

2.

Battelle Center for Science, Engineering and Public Policy (BC), The Ohio State University, Columbus:

The Battelle Center connects government, non-profit, and industry partners to researchers and students at The Ohio State University, providing a home to address the most pressing challenges at the intersection of technology and public policy. The Battelle Center does not maintain a natural history collection but collaborates with state and federal agencies on matters of science in the public interest and is thus positioned to facilitate use of these resources for the public good.

3.

United States Polar Rock Repository, Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center, The Ohio State University, Columbus (PRR):

The Polar Rock Repository is a United States National Science Foundation-funded facility that provides online access to rock samples, unconsolidated deposits, terrestrial cores, and dredge samples for scientific research primarily from Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. The PRR online database (prr.osu.edu) includes a wealth of metadata on 64,000+ samples, including field notes, sample photos, stratigraphy, observed minerals, and surface features useful to a broad range of Earth scientists.

4.

Ohio Division of Geological Survey, Columbus (OGS):

The Ohio Division of Geological Survey, part of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is tasked with serving as a state repository of geological specimens, including rock and sediment core, well cuttings, and other samples collected in the course of geological investigations. The bulk of the collection consists of rock core, exceeding a cumulative length of 99,000 m (300,000 feet). Much of the core was collected by the Survey during the years when it employed a drilling crew, with the balance of the collection having been donated by other organizations. The collection is housed in a warehouse and laboratory facility at Alum Creek State Park, Lewis Center, Ohio, where researchers can examine the materials free of charge. Photography, microscopy, and other services are available. Taken as a whole, these samples record Ohio’s geologic history, bearing evidence of volcanic activity, rifting, metamorphism, deformation, glaciation, and many other important geologic processes.

5.

Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware (OWU):

Ohio Wesleyan University, one of the earliest universities founded in the State of Ohio, amassed a geological collection beginning in about 1845 with the work of Frederick Merrick, the university’s second president and a professor of natural history [51]. The collection included some specimens from the short-lived first Geological Survey of Ohio, directed by William W. Mather in 1837–1838 [25]. Other specimens collected for the first survey were evidently destroyed by fire at the Ohio Statehouse in 1852 [34]. In 1869, the Geological Survey of Ohio was reconstituted under the direction of John Strong Newberry, at which time the Survey embarked on an extraordinary phase of primary geologic mapping, stratigraphic and paleontological description, and resource analysis [24,37,38,39,40,41]. Specimens collected during the early phase of this work were first housed in the Columbus Statehouse [24] and later deposited with Ohio Wesleyan University [52]; others were distributed to the Columbia College of Mines (later transferred to the American Museum of Natural History, AMNH), to the Yale Peabody Museum (YPM), and to Marietta College in Ohio. From the time of the founding of the Geological Museum (now the Orton Geological Museum) at The Ohio State University in 1874, Survey collections were divided primarily between the Orton Museum and the Columbia College of Mines [43].

Geologists and paleontologists who worked in collaboration with the Geological Survey of Ohio, especially prior to 1874, commonly deposited their reference and examined specimens with Ohio Wesleyan University. James Hall of Albany, New York, and Leo Lesquereux of Columbus, Ohio, for example, are among the leading scientists of the time who contributed to the collection. Important collectors, such as Reuben P. Mann of Milford, Ohio, and William Kepler of Berea and later Delaware, Ohio, likewise added substantially to the collection. Specimens from Ferdinand V. Hayden’s 1871 expedition to the Yellowstone area of Wyoming were reposited with Ohio Wesleyan [51].

Ohio Wesleyan University faculty such as Edward T. Nelson and Lewis G. Westgate continued to add to the collection through to about the 1940s [51]. With faculty retirements in the 1960s, the collection had largely fallen into obscurity, and much of the institutional memory lapsed by about 1970. The collection entered deep storage until the need to repurpose its storage area led to renewed appreciation of the contents of the collection.

During 2023–2025, most of the OWU geological collection was transferred to the Orton Geological Museum (OSU) and the Ohio Division of Geological Survey (OGS) for long-term safekeeping and accessibility. At the Orton Museum, where the scientifically and historically most significant material has been reposited, specimens from OWU are being maintained as a named collection. This move resulted in the rediscovery of type specimens of fossils long thought to have been lost [52] and has provided rich opportunities for collaborative work linking scientists and artists, faculty and staff researchers, and students. A multidisciplinary program of public exhibitions has grown from this relationship.

6.

COSI, the Center of Science and Industry, Columbus:

COSI is a hands-on science center. It was founded in 1964, making it one of the oldest museums of this kind in the United States. COSI has a small natural history collection. It does, however, maintain a partnership with the American Museum of Natural History, New York (AMNH), that involves a large exhibition of dinosaurs. In addition, COSI receives limited-term exhibitions, primarily from the AMNH, and these commonly include geologic subject matter. COSI also partners with the Orton Geological Museum for loans of specimens used in thematic displays. A popular aspect of the COSI experience is the use of natural history specimens for facilitated hands-on interactions guided by museum staff.

7.

Ohio History Connection, Columbus:

The Ohio History Connection (OHC) maintains collections of more than 2.4 million objects, representing the history, archaeology, and natural history of Ohio. The natural history collection contains approximately 40,000 cataloged lots of specimens (where a lot can be a single object or dozens of objects). This collection covers the entire breadth of Ohio’s natural history, including zoology and botany, and geological collections of rocks, minerals, and fossils. Fossil collections include invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants. The collection of Pleistocene mammals is the largest public set of specimens from Ohio, which has a rich Quaternary fossil and subfossil record.

One unique part of the collection is the large assemblage of ores, sandstones, and limestones used by many of Ohio’s 46 historic blast furnaces in the Hanging Rock Iron Region of the state. By the time of the US Civil War (1861–1865), Ohio was the leading producer of iron in the nation [26]. Among other things, Ohio iron was used to make the famous ironclad ship the Monitor [53]. This irreplaceable collection includes samples of iron produced by these furnaces.

The archaeology collection at OHC is made up of more than 6100 separate collections, which contain over 2 million total objects. Many of these objects are of local geologic origin, and worked by humans into tools, points, and other items. Regional resources such as Ohio flint [26,54] were commonly traded to other parts of the continent. By establishing the geologic and geographic origin of these objects, early trade and travel routes can be delineated.

Public displays at the Ohio History Connection are Ohio-themed. The museum partners with the Orton Geological Museum for loans of specimens used in thematic displays in both museums.

3. Repositories of Research Materials

Geological museums, including those having specialized foci such as paleontology, mineralogy, or mining, normally maintain research collections with reference specimens of regional to worldwide provenance, as defined in their mission statements. These collections save researchers and industry users substantial time and money by minimizing additional fieldwork for certain types of projects. Consequently, the money previously spent by funding agencies to support field work and resulting in the amassing of specimens continues to pay dividends indefinitely and cost savings to future projects that utilize these specimens.

Geological collections serve as a resource of comparative materials for researchers, public employees, industry representatives, and the general public [1,3]. They provide ready access, and often free access, to geologic samples that can help answer small-scale or large-scale questions. Sometimes these questions are as simple as ones of specimen identification. Other times they may be ones relating to geologic occurrence of, for example, an economically important mineral, an ore body, or petroleum [55]. Correct identification of samples, and an understanding of their geological context, has long been, and will continue to be, foundational for human economic development and prosperity [56]. Areas of critical need with respect to geological materials now and in the near future include the search for economic sources of critical or strategic minerals for industrial or technological purposes [19], such as rare earths, quartz, spodumene, tourmaline, corundum, microcline, gold, silver, copper, and many others; minerals for human consumption, such as salt; rocks for building stones, metal alloys, sand and gravel, ceramics, and many other purposes; and rocks or minerals used in energy production or storage.

Figure 3. Plates from early Geological Survey of Ohio publications documenting the Paleozoic biodiversity of Ohio. (A) Carboniferous plants in coal from near Rushville, Perry County, Ohio [49]; (B) skull of a placoderm (armor plated) fish, Macropetalichthyes rapheiolabis (published as M. sullivanti [50]) in Devonian limestone from Sandusky, Ohio.

Figure 3. Plates from early Geological Survey of Ohio publications documenting the Paleozoic biodiversity of Ohio. (A) Carboniferous plants in coal from near Rushville, Perry County, Ohio [49]; (B) skull of a placoderm (armor plated) fish, Macropetalichthyes rapheiolabis (published as M. sullivanti [50]) in Devonian limestone from Sandusky, Ohio.

The world’s economy depends on geological resources and reserves, especially those of petroleum, diamond and other gem minerals, and gold and other metals [55,56]. Museum collections provide opportunities for the study of representative examples of these materials and offer opportunities to inform the public about them using real-world examples [3,9].

Geological collections represent a resource that may not necessarily need to be recollected, and in some cases, cannot be recollected. Older collections commonly retain specimens from localities that are no longer accessible [52]. Some of these were collected at great expense. Continued expansion of human development across the planet has rendered some sites inaccessible, whereas other sites, such as coal mines that were once productive, may have exhausted the source material or simply ceased quarrying operations. Some such sites may contain minerals or rocks of interest in a different economic or social context. Specimens retained in collections can reduce redundancy of effort and cost, as they can be sampled readily, at much less cost than mounting an expedition to reacquire sample material from an area that was explored at an earlier time. It is not unusual for industry personnel to request study of specimens held in public research collections [29], as companies often do not retain many reference materials themselves, or do not support the related costs for curation.

One geographic area of global concern at the present time is Antarctica. Both the U.S. Polar Rock Repository (PRR) and the Orton Museum (OSU) retain major collections of rocks, minerals, and fossils from across the continent (Figure 4 [46,48]). These collections afford researchers the ability to study a considerable range of Antarctic geologic materials without mounting a large, expensive, and potentially redundant or dangerous new expedition to collect samples [46]. These samples have also served as starting points for pilot studies of Antarctic materials leading to further work on the continent.

Geological collections provide insight into Earth’s long history and its physical, chemical, and biological evolution. Most studies of ancient biodiversity hinge on museum collections [57,58,59,60,61], as they often represent the distillation of the work of generations of avocational and citizen scientists and may include specimens from localities that are no longer accessible [52,59]. Large museum collections allow large data sets to be assembled relatively rapidly, making it possible to effectively test large-scale ecological, evolutionary, or other hypotheses [57,59,62,63]. Having large collections already assembled, researchers can reap the benefits of prior work without having to mount large and expensive new studies [59]. The field of conservation paleobiology, which helps inform us of the ways organisms and ecosystems have responded to environmental changes in the relatively recent geological past and provides insight into the ways they may respond in the future, depends heavily on already-assembled collections of fossil (Pleistocene and older) and subfossil (Holocene) remains of organisms [64,65].

Paleontological collections commonly yield important new information as specimens collected in the past are reexamined [43,52,57,59,66,67,68]. In recent decades, reexamination of skeletal materials of large Quaternary land mammals, for example, has led to recognition of scars left by the butchering activities of ancient peoples, providing insight into the ecology of early humans and their contemporary fauna, and providing clues to factors that may have contributed to the extinction of some species [69,70,71]. Recent reexamination of the reconstructed skeleton of the giant ground sloth Megalonyx jeffersonii on display in the Orton Geological Museum, and the first skeleton of this sloth mounted as a museum exhibit (Figure 5 [66,72]), shows scars to the femur (Figure 5B) that are similar to those on other Pleistocene megafauna related to the slicing of meat from the bone by Paleo-Indians [69,70,71]. The skeleton was unearthed in 1890, mounted in 1896, and radiocarbon dated at ~13,100 calendar years BP in 2015 [66]. In this instance, restudy of the skeletal materials originally collected strictly as a paleontological skeleton provides new information about the ground sloth and provides an early date for the peopling of the American Midwest. Restudy of Paleozoic fish fossils held in the OSU and OWU collections after more than 130 years has led to new developments in our understanding of the systematics and biodiversity of Devonian and Carboniferous taxa, and new insight into the taphonomic circumstances surrounding their preservation as fossils [43,52,73]. At the time the fossils were first described and illustrated [50,74,75,76,77,78], the academic discipline of taphonomy did not exist, and relatively little attention was paid to how fossils were formed. The work has also led to a deeper understanding of the early history of paleontological collecting and study.

Figure 4. Geological collections from high latitude regions of the world are reposited in the Orton Geological Museum (A–D) and the U.S. Polar Rock Repository (E,F). (A) Anterior portion of the reconstructed skeleton of the theropod dinosaur Cryolophosaurus ellioti (cast) from the Hansen Formation (Jurassic) of Mt. Kirkpatrick, Central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica, on display in the Orton Geological Museum; length of skull = 63 cm; OSU 54761. (B) Leaves of the pteridospermophyte (seed fern) Glossopteris from the Buckley Formation (Permian) of Mt. Glossopteris, Antarctica; width of slab = 15 cm; OSU 54762. (C) An ammonite, Maorites seymourensis, from the López de Bertodano Formation (Cretaceous) of Seymour Island, Antarctica; maximum diameter = 15 cm; OSU 38414. (D) A drawer of ammonites from the Antarctic Peninsula. (E) Part of the specimen storage area of the U.S. Polar Rock Repository (PRR). (F) Erica Maletic examines polar specimens in storage at the PRR.

Figure 4. Geological collections from high latitude regions of the world are reposited in the Orton Geological Museum (A–D) and the U.S. Polar Rock Repository (E,F). (A) Anterior portion of the reconstructed skeleton of the theropod dinosaur Cryolophosaurus ellioti (cast) from the Hansen Formation (Jurassic) of Mt. Kirkpatrick, Central Transantarctic Mountains, Antarctica, on display in the Orton Geological Museum; length of skull = 63 cm; OSU 54761. (B) Leaves of the pteridospermophyte (seed fern) Glossopteris from the Buckley Formation (Permian) of Mt. Glossopteris, Antarctica; width of slab = 15 cm; OSU 54762. (C) An ammonite, Maorites seymourensis, from the López de Bertodano Formation (Cretaceous) of Seymour Island, Antarctica; maximum diameter = 15 cm; OSU 38414. (D) A drawer of ammonites from the Antarctic Peninsula. (E) Part of the specimen storage area of the U.S. Polar Rock Repository (PRR). (F) Erica Maletic examines polar specimens in storage at the PRR.

One aspect of geological collections that is often overlooked is the role such collections play in inspiring artwork (Figure 1G), inspiring music, or providing documentation for published creative work in other media [11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18]. Numerous examples exist of the ways that geological and paleontological objects or concepts have made their way into popular culture. These are instances where the public is served quite directly, but the source material has sometimes become obscure. For roughly two centuries, dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals have captured the public imagination, largely through the artistic and written interpretations of them made from skeletal material residing in the world’s natural history collections [11,12,17,79]. Some of the most viewed objects of any kind in the world’s museums are the mounted skeletons that have long inspired creative works. At Ohio State, for example, the two most photographed exhibits on campus are the reconstructed skeletons of a dinosaur, Cryolophosauus ellioti from the Jurassic of Antarctica (Figure 4A), and a giant ground sloth, Megalonyx jeffersonii from the Pleistocene of Ohio (Figure 5A). Numerous photographs of these display items have been posted to digital media sites, which has broadened their public exposure, but the sense that these are collection objects is not always conveyed. The Orton Museum’s skeletal reconstruction of M. jeffersonii evidently served as the inspiration for Sidney (“Sid”), the giant ground sloth in Dreamworks’ “Ice Age” franchise movies. The reconstruction has some anomalous morphological details, which were not recognized in 1896 when the skeleton was mounted. For example, the mounted skull is a cast from an individual about 30% smaller than the Ohio specimen, and the pelvis, which is based on Megatherium americanum from Argentina, is about 30% larger than it should be. These interesting and distinctive details are replicated in the cartoon character “Sid”.

Figure 5. Reconstructed skeleton of the giant ground sloth Megalonyx jeffersonii, installed in the Orton Geological Museum in 1896, from unconsolidated Pleistocene sediment, Millersburg, Ohio; OSU 15758. (A) Skeletal mount; height as mounted = 2.1 m. (B) Screenshot of a three-dimensional digital image of the upper part of the right femur, showing cut marks inferred to be the result of butchering activity by Paleo-Indians using stone tools; width across head of femur = 26 cm.

Figure 5. Reconstructed skeleton of the giant ground sloth Megalonyx jeffersonii, installed in the Orton Geological Museum in 1896, from unconsolidated Pleistocene sediment, Millersburg, Ohio; OSU 15758. (A) Skeletal mount; height as mounted = 2.1 m. (B) Screenshot of a three-dimensional digital image of the upper part of the right femur, showing cut marks inferred to be the result of butchering activity by Paleo-Indians using stone tools; width across head of femur = 26 cm.

A fundamental understanding of the history and composition of our Earth and other bodies in the Solar System has been made possible primarily through the collection of meteorites (Figure 1E,F), and secondarily through rock materials collected by humans or robots from the Moon (Figure 8D). Further exploration, and potential economic exploitation, beyond Earth’s atmosphere will entail the sampling of rocks for comparative purposes with specimens already present in our geological collections [80]. Planning for such missions, including developing effective sampling strategies, will depend in part on existing geological collections.

Specimens can also illuminate our planet’s history with respect to other bodies in the Solar System. An example is the Serpent Mound impact structure in southwestern Ohio. The bedrock strata in the area of Serpent Mound had long been recognized by geologists as anomalous [81,82], with “cryptovolcanism” being a leading explanation [83,84] for the chaotically faulted and displaced bedrock units (Figure 6B,D). As the 20th century progressed, the Earth’s potential as a target of extraterrestrial impactors gradually gained greater recognition [85], but as recently as the 1990s, geologists were cautious about attributing the Serpent Mound structure to extraterrestrial impact. Rock cores in the custody of the Ohio Geological Survey, many of which had been drilled for oil and gas exploration (Figure 6A–C), were examined, sampled, and found to contain two diagnostic indicators of extraterrestrial impact: iridium anomalies and planar deformation features, which occur only in crystalline minerals that have been subjected to hypervelocity impact forces [81]. Since confirming these features, scientists have been confident in describing the Serpent Mound structure as an impact crater [82]. Had the rock core not been archived with the Ohio Geological Survey, it is likely that this structure’s origin still would be unsettled.

Geological information is already becoming more widely available and accessible through the digitizing of collection objects and associated metadata, as well as online databases of museum collections [1,86,87,88,89]. Technological advances enabling more detailed, and even three-dimensional, rendering of specimens is expanding our ability to apply these objects in our research, teaching, and outreach (Figure 5B, Figure 6A and Figure 7 [90]). Three-dimensional printing is broadening our ability to bring these objects to the people who can benefit from them. As digital scans only recover the physical dimensions of an object, it is unlikely that digital technologies will substantially diminish the need for having collection objects available for study. The increasing array of geochemical analytical techniques such as stable isotopes, rare earth elements, biomolecules including ancient DNA, and proteins in fossils have greatly expanded the types of information that can be extracted from the geological and paleontological record [1]. If anything, these technologies are likely to increase the need for specimens from different contexts, many of them of historical value, that can be used for imaging, digital study (Figure 7), and geochemical analysis.

Chemical analyses that may be critical for certain projects will continue to require the availability of collection objects. Geological specimens with good contextual data that reside in already-assembled collections are a ready source for new data and provide a cost-effective source for multiple approaches of analysis. For example, Ohio’s oil and gas industry experienced a major transformation after 2009, driven by the emergence of unconventional shale plays that now lead the state’s energy production [91]. This shale gas development was facilitated by an archived rock core in the OGS Core Repository. Although collected decades earlier, this core remained largely unexamined until interest in unconventional resources surged. Analysis of the core revealed promising data that helped validate the potential for shale gas in Ohio, encouraging investors to pursue further exploration. Without this core, development of the Utica Shale (Ordovician) play might never have happened or at least would have been significantly delayed.

Figure 6. Rock cores (A–C) and interpretative information derived in part from coring data (D). (A) Screenshot of a three-dimensional digital model of a section of rock core drilled from the Mt. Simon Sandstone (Cambrian), Allen County, Ohio, with a trilobite, Olenoides? sp., on the upper surface, as illustrated (stratigraphic top is to base of illustration); diameter of core = 10 cm; OSU 54392. (B) Section of rock core drilled from the Serpent Mound impact structure showing reverse faults (white lines a, b) enclosing a layer of impact breccia (dark, inclined layer); arrows indicate relative direction of fault movement; black lines (c, d) indicate bedding laminae. (C) Shelving with boxes of rock cores at the Ohio Division of Geological Survey’s Horace R. Collins Laboratory and Core Repository. (D) Interpretive geologic map of the Serpent Mound impact structure in southern Ohio; bedrock unit identifiers are keyed to chronostratigraphic position (geologic age): Odw = Ordovician; Se, St-b, Snb, Sdnb = Silurian; Do = Devonian; DMu = Devonian–Carboniferous (Mississippian); Mc-d, Mlc = Carboniferous (Mississippian); Qal, Qt1 = Quaternary.

Figure 6. Rock cores (A–C) and interpretative information derived in part from coring data (D). (A) Screenshot of a three-dimensional digital model of a section of rock core drilled from the Mt. Simon Sandstone (Cambrian), Allen County, Ohio, with a trilobite, Olenoides? sp., on the upper surface, as illustrated (stratigraphic top is to base of illustration); diameter of core = 10 cm; OSU 54392. (B) Section of rock core drilled from the Serpent Mound impact structure showing reverse faults (white lines a, b) enclosing a layer of impact breccia (dark, inclined layer); arrows indicate relative direction of fault movement; black lines (c, d) indicate bedding laminae. (C) Shelving with boxes of rock cores at the Ohio Division of Geological Survey’s Horace R. Collins Laboratory and Core Repository. (D) Interpretive geologic map of the Serpent Mound impact structure in southern Ohio; bedrock unit identifiers are keyed to chronostratigraphic position (geologic age): Odw = Ordovician; Se, St-b, Snb, Sdnb = Silurian; Do = Devonian; DMu = Devonian–Carboniferous (Mississippian); Mc-d, Mlc = Carboniferous (Mississippian); Qal, Qt1 = Quaternary.

Geological collections made over time have tracked human expansion, settlement, and economic development, and therefore provide guides to human history [7,92,93,94,95]. Many buildings [31,32,33,34,96] were constructed using Earth materials, and part of the reason we know much about some ancient civilizations is because those rocks or other Earth-derived products have had considerable stability over time. Quarrying operations, which had at their core economic drivers [29], in many places have yielded side benefits such as fossils [42] or minerals [30] that have made their way into collections and have provided us with a better understanding of our planet’s composition and history. Geological collections also have tracked human aesthetic interests through their applications in artwork (raw materials, pigments, etc.) and objects of adornment. The Ohio History Connection (OHC) and COSI have exhibits relating the course of human history to the geology of the American Midwest.

Natural history collections to some extent reflect the interests of the persons who assembled them, and in some cases those interests reflect the technological stage and sociopolitical circumstances during times in which the collections were assembled [7,79,92,93,94,95]. One curious, and quite remarkable, aspect of the OWU collection, at least the portion assembled under the auspices of Frederick Merrick, a theologian, physician, professor of natural history and moral philosophy, and abolitionist, is that specimens seem to have been acquired through relationships with geologists and collectors espousing views aligning with his own moral compass.

The impact that museum displays and collections have on the public and particularly on school-age children cannot be over-emphasized. In 2012, a break-in to the exhibit gallery of the Orton Museum resulted in damage to some of the larger museum displays [16]. The University and the central Ohio community at large stepped up to help restore the displays. Donations from various individuals in the community were received. Of note was a grade-school-aged girl who learned about the incident in a local newspaper and donated her savings to help make things right again.

It should be emphasized that museum collections are built in large part through philanthropy (Figure 7). Donations, or in some cases, sales, of collections made by private citizens or avocational scientists who spent their lifetimes or careers working to assemble a set of specimens that would not only feed their curiosity but also, ultimately, serve the public, commonly form the nuclei of public natural history collections. The nucleus of the OWU collection, for instance, was the R.P. Mann cabinet of minerals, rocks, and fossils, which included type specimens of Devonian fishes from Ohio described by J.S. Newberry in the mid-1800s (Figure 7C,D) [51]. Dr. Mann provided his collection to the university after retirement from a career in medicine. The initial set of specimens for the OSU collection were purchased with private funds or collected by Edward Orton upon his appointment at The Ohio State University, and the collection has grown substantially through the acquisition of specimens from private collectors, including several lifetime collections. Researchers and educators who amassed collections during projects, for teaching purposes or for their own enjoyment and interest, also have contributed to the OSU collection. In all of these examples, people have provided a gift to future generations, and the public collections they have enriched have become a way of maintaining the memory of those earlier lives, careers, and in some cases, heroism related to early exploration and the search for knowledge. Museums have a moral obligation to continue to honor the memory of those who have gone before.

Figure 7. Screenshots of three-dimensional digital models rendered from specimens in the Orton Geological Museum. All of these were gifts provided by donors to museum collections; (C–E) were originally gifts to OWU. (A,B) An enrolled trilobite, Isotelus maximus, early holaspid in dorsal view (A) and left lateral view (B), from the Waynesville Formation (Ordovician), Caesar Creek Spillway, Warren County, Ohio; length = 4 cm; OSU 54763. (C,D) Teeth of a sarcopterygian fish, Onychodus sigmoides, from the Delaware Limestone (Devonian), Delaware, Ohio; (C) large, individual parasymphysial tooth, lectotype; length = 5.5 cm; OSU 54751; (D) parasymphysial whorl, OSU 54753; maximum diameter of slab = 9 cm. (E) Leaf of a pterospermophyte (seed fern), Alethopteris serlii, in a siderite concretion from the Francis Creek Shale (Carboniferous), Mazon Creek, Grundy County, Illinois; length of concretion = 29.5 cm; OSU 54764.

Figure 7. Screenshots of three-dimensional digital models rendered from specimens in the Orton Geological Museum. All of these were gifts provided by donors to museum collections; (C–E) were originally gifts to OWU. (A,B) An enrolled trilobite, Isotelus maximus, early holaspid in dorsal view (A) and left lateral view (B), from the Waynesville Formation (Ordovician), Caesar Creek Spillway, Warren County, Ohio; length = 4 cm; OSU 54763. (C,D) Teeth of a sarcopterygian fish, Onychodus sigmoides, from the Delaware Limestone (Devonian), Delaware, Ohio; (C) large, individual parasymphysial tooth, lectotype; length = 5.5 cm; OSU 54751; (D) parasymphysial whorl, OSU 54753; maximum diameter of slab = 9 cm. (E) Leaf of a pterospermophyte (seed fern), Alethopteris serlii, in a siderite concretion from the Francis Creek Shale (Carboniferous), Mazon Creek, Grundy County, Illinois; length of concretion = 29.5 cm; OSU 54764.

4. Historical Paleontological Collections in 21st Century Research

Collections are valuable to science and society for a variety of reasons. They can be, for example, repositories of historical information, providing insight into the scientific thought process, the evolution of ideas, and even noteworthy historical events (Figure 1F). If we “read” the data properly, they offer lessons for the present and the future.

Extinctions in the biosphere are a primary existential threat on Earth today [97,98]. Extinctions occur today due to various factors, natural and human-induced, and the present-day perspective is limited. A deep time understanding of extinctions and recoveries is required, and this understanding is provided by the fossil record. Mass extinctions and recoveries have occurred many times during Earth history, and the Earth sciences provide the means to understanding extinctions and recoveries in their proper temporal framework [99]. As a means of effectuating understanding, documentation of the fossil record globally with the highest time resolution possible must be developed. Our ability to resolve geologic time through chronostratigraphy is constantly improving [99], so contemporary research must always adjust accordingly. Also, nomenclature and morphological data must be continually checked, verified, and updated [59,68]. Most published research on the fossil record has been completed during the past 200 years. Concepts of systematic nomenclature and morphology have changed markedly [72], as have descriptions and illustration standards. Genus and species concepts have changed through time, and numerical analyses of biological and paleontological data are always improving [58,61,62]. Restudy of historical collections in museums is required to standardize data sets for precise chronostratigraphy. Standardized data sets depend on well-developed systematic concepts [58,100,101], and a comprehensive and consistent understanding of the morphology of fossils. These objectives too require restudy of historical collections [59,68,102]. New and ever more sophisticated numerical methods are constantly being developed [58,61]; however, nothing new can be learned by applying these methods to older, flawed data. Restudy of historical museum collections is essential.

Numerous examples exist where restudy of specimens in geological collections opened the way for completely unanticipated discoveries. Discoveries made in existing collections commonly inspired renewed collecting based on the recognition of significant gaps in the collection, with the total leading to breakthroughs in scientific understanding and providing perspectives that challenged long-held ideas. Some well-known examples include a rethinking of the Cambrian diversification of metazoans resulting from restudy of the Burgess Shale in British Columbia, Canada [103,104,105], and the linked ideas that dinosaurs were warm-blooded, active creatures, and that birds are a surviving lineage of theropod dinosaurs [106,107,108,109,110]. Recent work on the affinities of the enigmatic Tully monster [111,112,113,114], reconceptualization of the fearsome Devonian placoderm fish Dunkleosteus [115], and reframing of the concept of how and where the most celebrated fossil deposits (Fossil-Lagerstätten) formed [116] reinforces the value of existing geological collections, and shows that important discoveries are ongoing and will continue to occur as long as we maintain and creatively address scientific questions using existing collections.

5. Teaching and Outreach

For many people, the first or most influential direct introduction to science is in a natural history museum. Geological, including paleontological, collections provide for vivid memories, have inspired generations of scientists, and have inspired many others to deepen their understanding of the Earth. In three central Ohio museums, some of the most popular exhibits are of ancient skeletons. At the OHC, the skeleton of the Conway mastodon, Mammut americanum, is a centerpiece of the interior display space (Figure 8C). At COSI, dinosaurs from the AMNH capture the public imagination. Temporary exhibits at COSI also commonly feature fossils (Figure 8B) or rocks. At OSU, the skeletons of a dinosaur, Cryolophosaurus ellioti (Figure 4A), and a giant ground sloth, Megalonyx jeffersonii (Figure 5A), have tantalized visitors for years. These institutions, along with others in the region, such as the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, and the Boonschoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton, Ohio, rather than being in competition with each other, complement each other in telling the geological history of the region given the individual uniqueness of their collections and the history of how they were created. Specimens in collections provide touchpoints that connect people to the natural world. Understanding that many of the objects we use daily were derived from Earth materials is not possible without these collections and the messaging we attach to them. One recent exhibition at OSU reinforces this concept: an exhibit of minerals and rocks used in cell phone technology clearly articulates the message that geology is fundamental to modern society. A small fragment of rock carried from the Moon to Earth by US astronauts on exhibit in the John Glenn College of Public Affairs, where the BC is located (Figure 8D), also implicitly carries the message that geology and modern technology are fundamentally linked.

Geological collections are a resource for engaging the public in matters that hinge on science. These may be purely scientific matters, or they may have an economic, aesthetic, or other focus. Understanding the underlying principles of geological processes is critical to understanding our Earth, but those processes often manifest themselves over millions of years and are effectively intangible. Museum specimens help make those processes become more tangible. Specimens in collections are routinely used to help develop research and critical thinking skills in young people. Tours of grade-school students and adults to museums or collections of other kinds are one avenue for engaging people, expanding their view of the world, and challenging them to think critically. Another avenue is by directly engaging them or coupling them to the discovery process. In one such example, restudy of the skeleton of a Pleistocene giant ground sloth, Megalonyx jeffersonii (Figure 5), involves middle-school students and instructors at various points in a multidisciplinary study [90]. Students are afforded opportunities to think broadly about, for example, the biology of a large, extinct mammal; why it may have gone extinct; and what its extant relatives are, as well as how fossils inform us about Earth’s past and what its future could be, and the relationship between the growth of scientific thought and the growth and development of human civilization. Finally, applying digital technologies to our collections (Figure 5B, Figure 6A and Figure 7) greatly expands our ability to connect with our audiences, which are increasingly technology-adept, and to present information in innovative and exciting ways [6].

Figure 8. Short-term (A,B) and long-term (C,D) exhibitions of geological specimens. (A) A Devonian chondrichthyan, Cladoselache fyleri, on display at the Richard M. Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University as part of the 2024 exhibition “Fossils and Halos” (Figure 1G). (B) Devonian marine fossils from Ohio accompanying a 2025 exhibition, “Sharks,” at COSI. (C) Mounted, reconstructed skeleton of the Conway mastodon, Mammut americanum, excavated in 1894 from Pleistocene sediment in a swamp between Champaign and Clark counties, Ohio, and other Quaternary mammals on display at the Ohio History Connection. (D) Fragment of rock from the lunar surface collected by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, in a commemorative mount and on display at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.

Figure 8. Short-term (A,B) and long-term (C,D) exhibitions of geological specimens. (A) A Devonian chondrichthyan, Cladoselache fyleri, on display at the Richard M. Ross Art Museum at Ohio Wesleyan University as part of the 2024 exhibition “Fossils and Halos” (Figure 1G). (B) Devonian marine fossils from Ohio accompanying a 2025 exhibition, “Sharks,” at COSI. (C) Mounted, reconstructed skeleton of the Conway mastodon, Mammut americanum, excavated in 1894 from Pleistocene sediment in a swamp between Champaign and Clark counties, Ohio, and other Quaternary mammals on display at the Ohio History Connection. (D) Fragment of rock from the lunar surface collected by Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, in a commemorative mount and on display at the John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.

6. Challenges and Prospective

Training the next generations of scientists and technologists will depend on having and maintaining quality natural history collections, including geological collections. Training the next generations of citizens who will take up occupations in other pursuits also will depend on maintaining collections. These collections will provide reference materials needed for specimen identification and mineralogical, chemical, and optical characterizations, as well as host material characterizations, in the future. As the search for new sources or renewal of abandoned sources of critical minerals intensifies [19,56], the need for good reference collections of minerals and rocks will become increasingly apparent. Paleontological collections will continue to inform us about ancient biodiversity, the course of biological evolution, and how organisms have responded to ecosystem change, including through extinction. Geological collections provide tangible links to Earth processes, providing the public with a baseline understanding of our planet and facilitating critical thinking skills. Regardless of occupation, people need to understand where Earth resources come from, how they are used, and the consequences of their exploitation. As humans will always be inextricably linked to natural resources, collection objects will provide tangible links to fundamental Earth materials and provide inspiration for thinking creatively about how these materials can be applied to the challenges faced by humankind. Artists, writers, and musicians will continue to be inspired by Earth materials, just as they have been for millennia. The foundations of our economy likely will be tied to Earth resources or their equivalents on other bodies in our Solar System well into the future, and for this reason, maintaining geological reference collections will remain an imperative.

Museum collections are not, and should not be, static and fixed. All museum collections grow in size and breadth. One of the challenges facing collection managers, museum directors, and others with responsibility for the stewardship of collection objects is planning for the efficient use of space, including increasing space allocation, as well as the necessary cabinetry and supplies for proper curation. This may mean new construction or the repurposing of existing facilities. The rate of collection growth may vary over time; the growth may be planned based on the scope of a research project or may be because of the accidental discovery of a skeleton during a construction project. Each new discovery provides a new understanding of Earth history. It may bring a whole new insight or may simply confirm what is already accepted knowledge. In either case, each specimen with good documentation and context is an important piece of the puzzle, and each new specimen needs a home with an appropriate storage environment. Changes, including additions, to facilities is usually expensive, and finding the financial resources and overcoming the administrative or political challenges needed to effect change or improve the storage conditions is often an involved process. Some of the most effective solutions have been stimulated through private philanthropy, including robust endowment support and generous as-needed gifts.

It is an unfortunate fact that not all institutions can afford to maintain indefinitely the natural history collections they have so carefully developed, commonly over many decades [59,102]. Changing financial circumstances or other priorities may force change and require collections to be orphaned. Collections, including important specimens in them and the paper or digital records associated with them, may be vulnerable for other reasons too. In such circumstances, it is important for both scientific and historical reasons to find alternative homes for these invaluable materials where they can continue to have relevance for scientific research, teaching, and outreach purposes [102]. The transfer of OWU’s important geological collection to OSU and OGS is one recent, good example of how institutions can collaborate to maintain a continuity of stewardship that will certainly reap consequential benefits well into the future. In their new space, the specimens from the OWU collection are being identified as necessary, receiving new archival quality, acid-free specimen trays and labels, and being placed in safe, accessible storage according to various criteria, such as scientific voucher status, original collector, geologic provenance, or systematics. Original labels, where present, are being conserved, and vulnerable labels are being placed in archival plastic sleeves.

Collections need well-trained staff for their long-term survival, and it is important to ensure a steady set of pathways for training. These can include internship or docent programs, formal university courses, and other options. Persons new to the profession may have a steep learning curve that includes safe handling procedures of both specimens and equipment, proper methods of cataloging and documentation, the systematics of the collection objects, and learning to identify many of the types of objects in the collection (commonly to genus-group or species-group levels with fossils, and species level or variety level with minerals). Collections need appropriate, accessible storage facilities, cabinetry, and environmental conditions. The conditions vary according to the type of collection, but for geological collections, clean, moisture-free, pest-free, climate-controlled environments with paper products such as labels and specimen trays that are acid-free are almost always necessary. Special care must be taken to protect people from potential hazards associated with certain geologic materials, such as asbestiform minerals, or rocks, minerals, and fossils emitting amounts of radiation and radon significantly greater than expected natural levels. Such conditions generally require special storage equipment and procedures, with a staff attuned to the needs and maintenance. Similar concerns with respect to allergens in a geological collection also need to be addressed.

With geological collections, breakdown of stored specimens over time, such as the common “pyrite disease” [117] affecting some pyrite and marcasite, is a major concern when the humidity in the storage space is too high, and appropriate steps to mitigate or slow the effects of pyrite disease in vulnerable specimens must be taken. For the most important specimens, replication of the objects in some form, such as digital photography, 3D modeling, or molding and casting, may be desirable.

Collection objects, when they are transported from one place to another place, are always at risk of being damaged. Procedural steps and equipment must be in place to minimize the risk of damage. Carts for transporting specimens within collection spaces need to be available; good packing materials are needed for shipping specimens; and vehicles used to transport specimens should be equipped to avoid significant jostling of specimens while they are being moved. This is especially true for loans of specimens between institutions for research, exhibits, or educational programs.

Ensuring the safety of objects in the collection also normally involves having adequate equipment and procedures in place for deterring shrinkage. Video cameras, locks on doors, locking fire-resistant cabinets, and other equipment should be considered, where appropriate, in collections facilities.

Natural history collections are a public resource. Geological collections are an important resource for the public good and important to both our geoheritage and our cultural heritage [102]. Public agencies have an ethical responsibility to maintain collections, but there are practical, economically driven reasons for doing so as well. Public agencies should treat and fund these collections as they would any other organization or infrastructure that serves the public good, such as roads, libraries, historical archives, or public safety systems. The geological collections in central Ohio, just like those anywhere, link us to our past, and are valuable resources that we draw on now and will continue to use in the future as we explore Earth systems, explore outer space, and navigate technological and ecosystem challenges.