02145nas a2200205   4500008004100000245007800041210006900119490000600188520150000194100001801694700002501712700002001737700002501757700002801782700002201810700002201832700002201854700002001876856004301896       2013                        eng d00aV Factor: Volunteers as a bridge between museum scientists and the public0 aV Factor Volunteers as a bridge between museum scientists and th0 v13 a<p>V Factor is a new programme at the Natural History Museum in London. It offers volunteers&nbsp;the chance to work in public view alongside Museum scientists on collection-based research&nbsp;and curation projects, taking them from visitor to proactive volunteer. It aims to involve a volunteers&nbsp;project manager, scientists, curators, volunteers and the public in the museum&rsquo;s research.&nbsp;Volunteers work alongside scientists on a research project whilst benefiting from a unique, informal and fun learning experience. Visitors are able to observe the processing of&nbsp;samples and interact with those involved. The management of this volunteer programme is&nbsp;described in this paper. The pilot project was &lsquo;Throughflow&rsquo;; an international study of Southeast&nbsp;Asian fossil corals as a means to describe the high biodiversity of their ecosystem and the&nbsp;effects of environmental change. Volunteers have successfully assisted with the cleaning of&nbsp;specimens so that they may be curated. At the same time, they have been discussing with experts project-related information, collections care, and the role of museums today. The programme&nbsp;has been continuously evaluated and changed as felt necessary. By March 2013, 45&nbsp;volunteers were involved. Outcomes have included improved volunteer talent and education&nbsp;management, excellent assistance with scientific work and novel means of attracting the public&nbsp;to the museum&rsquo;s work.</p>
1 aMiller, Renee1 aJohnson, Kenneth, G.1 aThomas, Ali, L.1 aDouglas, Lyndsey, G.1 aSantodomingo, Nadiezhda1 aBroom, Yoke, Shum1 aAvedillo, Therese1 aMurray, Cassandra1 aSadler, Theresa  uhttps://ipaeg.myspecies.info/node/204901949nas a2200157   4500008004100000245004900041210004900090260002700139520147900166653002001645653001801665653001201683100002801695700002501723856004301748       2013                        eng d00aDigging on the origins of the Coral Triangle0 aDigging on the origins of the Coral Triangle  aEilat, Israelc12/20133 a<p>Reefs in the Coral Triangle host the richest coral diversity today, and palaeontological and molecular evidence suggest that the Miocene (5-23 Ma) was an important period for diversification in this region. As part of the Throughflow ITN, the aims of this study are to determine which coral species occurred during this period and to understand how environmental factors controlled coral diversification on both temporal and spatial scales. Our new collections include tens of thousands of specimens from the rich and well-preserved Miocene fossil record of small patch reefs that developed in turbid habitats that are now preserved in the sediments of the Kutai Basin of East Kalimantan (Indonesia). Preliminary results suggest that species diversity was high and comparable to modern coral settings living under turbid environmental conditions. A total of 150 morphospecies from 70 genera have been identified, including nine genera known as extinct. Our findings have revealed that some lineages that were previously known from the Plio-Pleistocene record were already present during the Miocene time. These discoveries have a profound impact on our understanding of the origins of today&rsquo;s diversity in the Coral Triangle. Further research will focus on the incorporation of these fossils into phylogenetic analyses in order to estimate divergence times and explore the relationship of evolutionary trends with environmental changes at biogeographic scale.</p>
10aEast Kalimantan10aFossil corals10aMiocene1 aSantodomingo, Nadiezhda1 aJohnson, Kenneth, G.  uhttps://ipaeg.myspecies.info/node/2046