Biological collections have underlaid major discoveries in public health, materials science, global and local biodiversity change and more. It was analysis of a hundred years of museum egg collections that provided the evidence that DDT, DDE and dieldrin were destroying bird populations by weakening egg shells, as described in Rachel Carson's landmark book, Silent Spring. The source of pathogen outbreaks from hantavirus to West Nile virus to coronavirus have been tracked using museum collections, informing public health initiatives critical to human safety. Learn about the scientific treasure trove in natural history museums where a specimen contains signatures of nutrients, heavy metals, pollinator interactions, predation, mimicry, mutualism, disease, migration, physiological processes and more. In this course, students will read primary scientific research using museum collections, design and conduct research using data from museum specimens and write a grant proposal detailing the design of your own collections-based research project. This course is designed to benefit from students' pre-class preparation via readings and videos, with classroom sessions devoted to hands-on activities and team-based learning. Because students will read scientific articles, they should feel comfortable with reading scientific papers and with ecological and evolutionary content covered in BIOL 111.