Current Projects
MVZ researchers are Principal Investigators on a diverse range of topics,
ranging from molecular and behavioral studies to biodiversity informatics.
Many of these projects are funded by the National Science Foundation
and other sources. Some of the active projects and grants in the Museum
are listed here.
An online database that draws together
all available information on the biology and conservation of amphibians,
worldwide.
A community-based research effort
to develop an evolutionary tree for all amphibians.
A project funded by the Moore Foundation
that involves worldwide collaboration of natural history and geospatial
data experts. The primary goal of this project is to maximize the
quality and quantity of biodiversity data that can be mapped in support
of scientific research, planning, conservation, and management. The
project promotes discussion, manages geospatial data and data standards,
and develops software tools in support of this mission.
A NSF-funded project to scan
and make available through the internet a large portion of its historical
field notes and photographs. Thousands of pages and photos have been
scanned, and the website for viewing them is under development.
The MVZ is working towards a
resurvey of its major expeditions prior to 1940, with a goal of comparing
faunas from the past with the present.
A NSF-funded project to develop a distributed
database network for 38 herpetological collections.
A collaborative project that addresses question-driven
research in evolutionary biology, macroecology, phylogeographic methodology,
and conservation.
With the
support of the National Geographic Society Conservation Trust and
the SeaWorld & Busch Gardens Conservation Fund, wildlife specialists
are headed to Kenya's Masailand to get a precise measure of the current
lion population and attempt to broker a peace between the predators
and livestock owners.
The Laikipia Predator
Project in northern Kenya was established in 1998 to explore the ecology
and conservation of African predators that conflict with man.
A NSF-funded project to create an international
network of mammal collections with access to specimen data online.
MaNIS is now fully functional.
A molecular analysis of relationships between behavior,
demography, and patterns of genetic variation in tuco-tucos (Ctenomys)
of South America.
A distributed database project for avian
biodiversity information that currently includes 32 data providers.
ORNIS will serve as a portal for querying collection and non-specimen
databases, and will develop/utilize a suite of online tools for improving
georeferencing and for detecting errors in taxonomy, localities, and
collecting events.
A 3-year project to resurvey early collecting sites that formed the basis for Animal Life in the Yosemite. This work is the first stage of the Grinnell Resurvey Project, and stretches from Mono Lake west through much of Yosemite National Park and down into the Sacramento Valley. 2006: The three year project has now been completed, but some follow up work is presently being done.
