Clyde invertebrate samples become part of Hunterian collection thanks to paid internship
Aquatic invertebrate samples from the Clyde catchment have become part of the Hunterian Zoology Museum collection thanks to an internship delivered through the Third Sector Internships Scotland (TSIS) programme. In June we were joined by Katie Grimmond – a Zoology undergraduate from the University of Aberdeen – for a ten-week paid TSIS internship. Katie was tasked with developing a cataloguing system for our archive of aquatic invertebrate samples. Since 2005 the Clyde River Foundation has collected a large number of kick samples and Surber samples across the Clyde catchment and while the data from these samples had been used for individual reports, it hadn’t been collated into a central database. Thanks to Katie’s project we now have a system in place for adding records to a central database, as well as for moving data and specimens to the Hunterian collection. In developing the system Katie processed a total of 489 samples, 805 ‘events’ (data for which we no longer held the original samples) and transferred 100 samples to the Hunterian collection.
Willie Yeomans, Catchment Manager for the Clyde River Foundation said: “One purpose of Third Sector Internships was to allow hosting organisations the opportunity to carry out a well-defined piece of work which would be otherwise outside its reach, either financially or logistically. The Clyde River Foundation has expended considerable effort collecting and analysing samples of river invertebrates over the last ten years. We had accumulated hundreds of samples but could never have followed-up the Hunterian’s idea of initiating a research collection without having Katie on board and funding from TSIS. Katie organised, catalogued and curated our specimens, and made them useful for future researchers. She can come back any time!”
Maggie Reilly, Curator of Zoology for the Hunterian said: “Katie was an ideal person for this job – quick to learn, methodical and self motivated – a pleasure to see the work done perfectly!”
