The University Collections Facility
grew out of geology department collections documented to 1873. From
that modest beginning, the collections burgeoned to over seven million
objects encapsulating the natural history of the state, with representations
from the nation and the world. It is an administrative unit of the Fulbright
College of Arts and Sciences and seeks to serve the campus, the community,
and research scholars.
Our collections of seven million objects in archeology, ethnology, history,
geology, and zoology are at the University of Arkansas Collections Facility
located at the University of Arkansas Experimental Farm.
Natural history collections are a time machine we use to see into the
past. If the proper care is taken, a specimen, which represents a unique
organism or an artifact from a past time and place, will be preserved
for long periods of time: for example, plants and animals collected
by Darwin in his epic voyage on the Beagle and by Lewis and Clark in
their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase Territory are still revealing
their secrets.
Here are a few ways in which natural history collections have been used:
• to plot the distribution of rare and endangered plants and animals
through time
• to compare pollen to help identify the sources of plant-borne
allergies
• to document invasive species moving into an area
• to use fossils to plot continental drift
• to determine relationships of extinct animals, such as the thylacine
(Tasmanian wolf) and the quagga (zebra) with living specimens using
DNA comparisons
And here are examples of the University
Collections:
• In the classroom: University classes in ornithology, ecology,
herpetology, mammalogy and classics borrow specimens for class use or
visit UACF to view fragile specimens.
• In exhibits: Loans of specimens to other units, including departments
on campus and museums; the Art Institute of Chicago featured several
artifacts from the exhibit "Hero, Hawk and Open Hand: American
Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South"
• For artists: Wood carvers authenticate their bird sculptures
and artists authenticate their sitters’ costumes
• For after school activities: Girl Scouts working toward a unique
museum badge sponsored by the Northwest Arkansas Museum Consortium (one
of two or three such badges in the country)
• For career models : University Days teachers bringing their
best and brightest elementary and high school children to campus and
Vital Link career days students learn about how their community works.
• For research: A retired EPA scientist doing independent research
on the land snails of Arkansas for an upcoming book and a faculty member
determining distributions of Bewick’s wrens
• For future generations: University faculty and students deposit
their collections after they have completed their research or citizens
donate valued family items of historical significance.
