Natural history collections in museums are incredibly valuable to scientists, providing biological snapshots in time that add important historical context to many contemporary studies. Preservation of museum specimens, biological in nature or not, is the job of curators and collection managers. All of which makes the decision of the New Zealand National Museum (Te Papa) to make redundant some of the few remaining scientific staff it still possesses all the more incomprehensible. It is not the first time that Te Papa has shed scientific staff, in a drawn-out journey that has gradually marginalised the museum's science capacity. Perhaps of even greater concern, the loss of collection management capability may lead to gradual deterioration in the museum's collections.

Source: Stuff April 05, 2019 00:56 UTC