Using museum specimens to look into the past and to inform the future
by Dr. Bill Ludt, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
Natural history museums inspire wonder and awe amongst the public. Displays and dioramas detail the diversity of life on our planet, living in various habitats and on different continents. Fossil skeletons of dinosaurs and other extinct creatures highlight life that was once abundant, but is no longer with us as a result of our constantly changing planet. But in addition to the information that is showcased to the public, there is another side of museums, one that is rarely seen by most visitors, but is where the discoveries that are presented to the public are revealed. This talk will focus on the other side of natural history museums – the behind-the-scenes scientific collections and the science that is conducted using them. The importance of museum collections, why we have them and maintain them, and what they are used for will be discussed, specifically focusing on the fish collection at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County (NHMLA). Traditional uses of museum collections will be presented with stories of new species discoveries and efforts to untangle the fish Tree of Life. Surprising new uses of museum specimens will also be discussed with a fascinating example of using preserved fishes to understand the impacts that microplastics have had on our local southern California marine ecosystems over the past 80 years. This project involves several different fish species that are locally abundant and that serve different ecological roles in their communities, ranging from toothy deep-sea predators, to blue-eyed friendly herbivores. The talk will conclude with a discussion on how museums and the specimens they house can help inform public policy and lead us to a more sustainable relationship with the natural world around us.
Dr. William (Bill) Ludt is the Associate Curator of Fishes at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, a position he has held since 2019. He holds a B.S. from the University of Arizona, a M.S. from the University of Texas at Austin where he worked primarily at the UT Marine Science Institute, and a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. Prior to starting at the NHMLA he was the first Collette Postdoctoral Fellow in Systematic Ichthyology at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. His research aims to determine the factors that have influenced the biodiversity of fishes that we see on our planet and determine how patterns of fish biodiversity have changed over time. He also is interested in conserving and protecting marine biodiversity by understanding the impact that we have on our marine environments. To better understand fish biodiversity and answer the questions he is interested in, he leverages the variety of data that can be obtained from museum specimens, and also actively travels to conduct field work and add specimens to museum collections worldwide.