I began the Northeast Missouri State University (now Truman State University) mammalogy
collection after arriving at the university in 1980. The Science Division provided faculty start-up
funding to me for cabinets, curation supplies, and mammalogy field equipment. I oversaw the
development and growth of the collection with student assistance into the late 1990s when I
became Division Head (and then Dean with a title change) of the Science Division. At that time,
Dr. Scott Burt was hired as a faculty member in Biology, and he took over leadership of the
mammalogy collection again with student assistance.
I came to Northeast (Truman) as a mammalogist with much experience in mammal collection
curation and mammalogy fieldwork from my six years as a graduate student at the University of
Illinois. As a native of Missouri, I had a strong interest in building a collection of mammals that
represented the state’s diversity for both research and teaching functions. Especially for
the teaching function, I was interested in expanding the collection to represent all mammal
taxonomic orders and include specimens from other states and other countries. As a graduate student at the University of Illinois studying geographic variation, ecology, and evolution of eastern
chipmunks, I traveled to many universities and museums in eastern and central United States
and in southern Canada to examine specimens of this species in their collections. Through my
regular teaching of mammalogy, undergraduate and graduate student research projects, field
trips with students, my attending annual American Society of Mammalogist meetings and
traveling throughout the country, and collecting in other countries (such as Australia!), the
mammal collection at Northeast/Truman grew. I also was able to increase the diversity of the
collection through trades with other institutions.
A university mammal collection serves as a depository of species typically from the home state.
It is important that specimens are prepared as skins and skulls and sometimes skeletons with
accurate measurements and locality information to provide to investigators who are working
on questions concerning mammal taxonomy, ecology, genetics, and much more. The
professionals and students involved in curation of the collection must have ownership in a way
that insures quality care of specimens and accuracy of information.
At a smaller, primarily undergraduate university such as Truman, the teaching function of a
mammal collection takes on a larger role. The balance of research and teaching demands on a
mammal collection is at times difficult as the former calls for minimal use of materials by
untrained individuals, while the latter calls for just the opposite. Again, the success of this
dichotomy relies on the professional and student curators who manage the collection. This
success is important for the community of scientists, students at the university, and the general
public. And of course, a mammal collection becomes another resource for developing and
strengthening an environmental ethic in its users.
L. Scott Ellis, PhD
Emeritus Professor and Dean, Truman State University
October 4, 2018
