News:
On May 25, 2024, we are organizing a public symposium at the Hessian State Museum in Darmstadt titled D³ - Diversity, Digitization, Didactics, to which we cordially invite everyone. For the symposium, we have secured a series of great speakers with extremely interesting presentations – the keynote address will be delivered by the new director of the Natural History Museum Karlsruhe, Prof. Dr. Martin Husemann. Here is the program for download.
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We are a nonprofit organization (science and research) with the objective of advancing the digitization of natural history collections. The acquired digitized specimens (e.g. 3D models of insects) are intended to aid in promoting species knowledge, thus further embedding the significance and value of biodiversity in the public consciousness. Our primary focus is on insects, and there are compelling reasons for this...
The massive extinction of species in recent decades holds significant ecological, economic, and societal implications. Among the most profoundly affected are insects, which comprise the largest group of animals on Earth with over a million described species. Their biomass has dramatically declined in the past decades...
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Many insect species, for example, play crucial roles as pollinators and in decomposition processes. Insects also form a fundamental food source for numerous vertebrates (such as birds, bats, and amphibians). Not only the unique and vulnerable diversity but also the various ecological functions have now placed insects at the center of ongoing conservation efforts.
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The diversity and evolution of insects have been documented through hundreds of millions of specimens in natural history museums and private collections. Accessing such collections is scarcely possible for the general public and often comes with significant barriers even for researchers. Additionally, there is a risk of losing these specimens over time (due to natural decay or disasters like the major fire at the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro in 2018, where around 20 million unique specimens were irretrievably lost to the flames).
So, what does all of this have to do with our organization? Check out the sections who we are and what we want.
