Volunteering
Limited volunteer opportunities exist in the VM collection, and are dependent on availability and interest of the applicant. Types of tasks assigned to volunteers vary from inventorying the collection, to specimen preparation. Students interested in specimen preparation can request to be put on our prep email list - on weeks when we do preps a list of available specimens will be sent out mid week for student to sign up for, and preps will take place on Friday. Tasks other than prepping may take place at other times during the week. Interested students should fill out a volunteer form and email it to museum@humboldt.edu.
Museum Studies (BIOL 499)
Students interested in museum-based sciences have the opportunity to enroll in BIOL 499 units and pursue independent collections and research projects. Projects pursued within the museum make use of research collections and the various on-campus facilities. interested students should contact the curator Dr. Silvia Pavan at Silvia.Pavan@humboldt.edu.
Undergraduate or Graduate Thesis/Directed Study (BIOL 490/499 or 690/699)
These courses are a series of ways for undergraduates (BIOL 490/499) and graduates (BIOL 690/699) to earn course credit for conducting research and writing a thesis. BIOL 499 can provide one or two units for undergraduates who participate in research projects. Students can also perform more intensive research and complete a written thesis (BIOL 490). Enrollment in these courses is by permission number only, and there is limited availability for mentoring within the museum, so interested students should contact the curator Dr. Silvia Pavan at Silvia.Pavan@humboldt.edu or the collections manager. Some current research projects are highlighted below.
Museum student Ghennya Shain posing with her live mounts (ca. 2022).
Zalophus californianus (California sea lion) skeleton mount by museum student Itsi Trejo (ca. 2022).
Jessica Hernandez preparing a long-tailed weasel skin.
Students working on preparing mammalian specimens.
Brandon Zelaya skinning a gopher snake.
Thomomys bottae (Botta's Pocket Gopher) skeleton mount by Nathan O Johle.
Museum student Tegan Alberts curating weasels and skunks.
Student Spotlight
Pricilla Ceja
Pricilla Ceja (she/her) is focusing her research on comparing external, cranio-dental, and baculum morphology on closely related species of South American Neotropical tree squirrels, specifically those in the "Microsciurus" flaviventer group: "Microsciurus" flaviventer, "Microsciurus" sabanillae, and a putative new species referenced to as "Microsciurus species 2". Under the advice of Dr. Silvia Pavan, her goal of this project is to assess morphological variation in this group and contrast it with genetic variation to determine how many species are supported using an integrative taxonomic approach.
Isamar Lopez-Argueta
Hi my name is Isamar (he/him/el) and I’m a third year wildlife major. Recently, I have realized that I want to pursue a career in evolutionary biology and paleontology, so my experience volunteering at the Vertebrate Museum has been a rewarding and exciting opportunity for me to explore these new areas of interest. I am currently doing a BIOL499 project in Dr. Karen Kiemnec-Tyburczy’s lab focusing on the impacts salinity has towards amphibians, specifically the Pacific Treefrog, and their distribution in wetlands.
Christina Glitzow
Christina is a wildlife major who has skillfully prepared opossums, harbor and Guadalupe fur seals. She is now experimenting with artistic taxidermy on a raccoon.
BIOL 499 Project: Assisting Dr Silvia Pavan with DNA sequencing Trowbridge's shrew, Sorex trowbridgii.
Chloe Good
I started volunteering at Cal Poly Humboldt’s vertebrate museum in April of 2023 where I worked on specimen preparations for the collection. I quickly fell in love with the meticulous work of preserving and documenting the diverse array of mammals in the collection. Now, as a student enrolled in the 499 Directed Study course, I have been working on cataloging and correcting each of the specimens collection information. This will help create the opportunity for vital information to be readily accessible to other institutions and researchers, fostering collaboration and knowledge-sharing through platforms like ARCTOS. From the hands-on experience of preparing specimens to the academic rigor of cataloging, my time with Cal Poly Humboldt's vertebrate museum has been one of the many highlights throughout my academic career here.
Makayla Mendez
Hello, I'm Makayla Mendez. I'm a first year at Cal Poly Humboldt, I have been working with the museum for the last 6 months and couldn't be happier! I was born and raised in sunny Cosoy "dry place", more well known as San Diego, California. In my short time since starting with the museum, I have accumulated many projects. My main project being, helping the museum move into the digital age using 3d imaging techniques to create an interactive online museum accessible to all. I can't wait to see where this journey will take me and am so grateful for the opportunity to work and learn :)