Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum
and Montana Comparative Skeletal Collection

The University of Montana

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Philip L. Wright Zoological Museum and Montana Comparative Skeletal Collection

Staff

Dave posing as a Caribou (Rangifer tarandus), Brooks Range, Alaska

 

David Dyer, Curator

office: (406) 243-4743

email: Dave.dyer@mso.umt.edu

Education:

M.S., Museum Studies, University of Nebraska - Lincoln

B.S., Zoology, The Ohio State University

Areas of Interest: Curation of Natural History Museum Collections

Mammalian Osteology, Identification of Vertebrate Remains, Museum Exhibits,

and Zooarchaeology.

Brief Background: Dave has worked for a variety of natural history museums

for over 30 years, including the University of Nebraska State Museum, Cincinnati

Museum of Natural History, and the Natural History Department of the Ohio Historical

Society. He has served as Curator, Collections Manager, and Exhibit Preparator. Dave is

interested in all aspects in the operation of natural history museums, but his jobs have in

one way or another been involved with the vertebrate skeleton, from building and curating

comparative skeletal collections, to working in faunal analysis, and articulating casts of

large Pleistocene mammal skeletons for exhibit.

 

Emily taking a sample from a mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus) for arsenic testing. Photo by Dave Dyer.

 

 

Emily Graslie, Volunteer Curatorial Assistant

Education: BFA, University of Montana - Missoula

Brief Background: Emily completed an internship with

the UMZM during her undergraduate degree and went on to

become a full-time volunteer for the museum.  Her focus in the

collections revolves around executing the daily tasks required

with running a natural history facility, including processing and

filing new donations and loans, preparing specimens for the

collection, giving tours, training volunteers and interns, and

acting as the TA for Vertebrate Osteology.  She also promotes

the creative and productive work of the UMZM through various

Internet social media, including authoring the Museum's

tumblr.com page.  Emily is currently pursuing her Master of

Arts in Museum Studies through the Johns Hopkins University,

and is completing her research in the UMZM collections.

 

 

 

Sam preparing a sandhill crane (Grus canadensis) for the collections - Photo by Emily Prag

 

Sam Case is a junior studying Wildlife Biology and Art, and currently

expresses an interest in Ornithology and preparing study skins of birds.  He has

volunteered for the UMZM since Summer 2011, and has used the collections for

informing his wildlife artwork.

 

 

Charles at the Natural History Center

 

Charles Miller is a volunteer bird preparator at the museum. He also serves

as a naturalist at the Montana Natural History Center.

 

 

 

Emily Kerr examining a snake during a trip to New Zealand

 

 

Emily Kerr is a senior studying Zoology with an interest in herpetology.  She

volunteers in the laboratory assisting in preparing specimens for the collection. 

 

 

 

Duggan Backhouse-Prentiss is a student with a strong interest in museology and monotremes, and has been assisting in the

completion of curatorial work since the Fall of 2011.

_________________________________________________________________

    Past Staff

Jon with a whale skull in Torrey Pines State Park.Jonathan Hardes, Research Associate

Brief Background:  Jon worked as the assistant curator at the P.L. Wright Zoological Museum from 2003 to 2006.    His additional experience with museum collections includes work with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Interior Museum Program, Glacier National Park, the University of Montana Department of Anthropology, and the Robert S. Peabody Museum of Archaeology. Jon is currently working as an archaeologist in Kotzebue, Alaska.

Shannon investigating a historic structure

 

 

 

 

Shannon Gilbert is a local Zooarchaeologist who has co-taught

the museum's Vertebrate Osteology course.

 

 

 

Becky in the museum's main collections

 

Becky Bigley has worked in nearly every area of

the museum, including serving as the teaching

assistant for Vertebrate Osteology.  

 

 

 

 

 

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