Fish, Herps, Birds, and Mammals​
A Great Prairie Marsh in Autumn by R.G. Larson
(Mural located in Milner Library)
Dr. Capparella is the curator of the Vertebrate collections located in the Science Lab Building. The skins, frozen tissues, and stomach contents in these collections are widely used by faculty and students to deepen their understanding of organismal biology. The collection’s first curator and collector was John Wesley Powell, the famous Western explorer and first director of the United States Geological Society. Capparella trains interested students in bird specimen preparation in the classroom and the field.
During the Legacy of John Wesley Powell Conference in April 2000, the collections were dedicated and renamed in honor of former curators John Wesley Powell and Dale Birkenholz. The official name is the John Wesley Powell-Dale Birkenholz Natural History Collections, consisting of birds and mammals (study skins, skeleton, frozen tissues, stomach contents, taxidermy mounts) dating back to 1867.
The mammal component was accredited by the American Society of Mammalogists in early 2007.
The written catalog data is georeferenced and entered into Specify for participation in the ORNIS and MaNIS international gateway portals.