Adding a large US collection of mollusks from the american museum of natural history to the eastern seaboard TCN

The National Science Foundation Division of Biological Infrastructure awarded the American Museum of Natural History $433,567 on June 1, 2026, to digitize and integrate a large mollusk collection into the Eastern Seaboard Thematic Collections Network.

Over a three-year period through May 31, 2029, AMNH will database approximately 40,000 uncatalogued lots (roughly 160,000 specimens) of mollusks from the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, georeference associated collecting localities, and produce high-resolution images of 93 type lots representing 50 significant Eastern Seaboard species. The work combines optical character recognition–assisted label transcription with standardized data structuring and public accessibility. AMNH's Malacology Collection holds an estimated 188,000 specimens spanning 150 years of collecting, with only 18–20% currently digitized. This project will bring the total proportion of digitized U.S. Eastern Seaboard mollusk records to over 90%, directly supporting research on marine and coastal biological systems and enabling bioinformatic analyses and genomic resource development relevant to U.S. coastal communities and economies. The project will engage public audiences through web content and social media outreach tied to AMNH's existing exhibits and build partnerships between academia and industry to develop a competitive STEM workforce.

Work is performed in New York, New York. The award is funded under CFDA 47.074, Biological Sciences.

Abstract

Natural history collections provide strategic biological data assets that document biodiversity across space and time, underpinning discovery and innovation. However, their scientific value depends on making specimen data accessible to researchers, decision-makers, industry, educators and the public. The american museum of natural history (amnh) malacology collection is one of seven largest mollusk collections in the united states and holds an estimated 188,000 specimens from the atlantic and gulf coasts of the united states, spanning 150 years of collecting. However, only 18?20% of the collection has been digitized. This project will integrate amnh's eastern seaboard mollusk holdings into the eastern seaboard (ESB) thematic collections network (TCN), bringing the total proportion of digitized U.S. ESB mollusk records to over 90%. Making these standardized and structured data publicly available will directly support research on marine and coastal biological systems, while advancing biotechnology innovation by enabling bioinformatic analyses, genomic resource development and data-driven discovery relevant to U.S. Coastal communities and economies. The project will also build partnerships between academia, industry and others to develop a competitive stem workforce. This project will engage broad public audiences through web content and social media outreach tied to amnh's existing exhibits. This project is aligned with the NSF priorities in biotechnology. Over a three-year period, amnh will database approximately 40,000 uncatalogued lots (~160,000 specimens) of mollusks from the atlantic and gulf coasts, georeference associated collecting localities, and produce high-resolution images of 93 type lots representing 50 significant eastern seaboard species. Digitization will combine optical character recognition (OCR)-assisted label transcription with direct data entry into amnh's axiell EMU collection management system, following the established ESB TCN workflow. Specimen records will be enriched with taxonomic, temporal, locality, and trait data, including live- VS. Dead-collected status and the presence of epibionts where recorded, and disseminated freely through the amnh invertebrate zoology web portal, the invertebase symbiota portal, idigbio, gbif, and obis. The addition of amnh's holdings will substantially increase the density and taxonomic breadth of occurrence data available for species distribution modeling and historical baseline analyses, filling outstanding geographic, temporal, and taxonomic gaps in the ESB TCN dataset, including underrepresented habitat types such as estuaries. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.- subawards are not planned for this award.