Screen Time
DMNS @ Home These were short clips some of us collections managers did to highlight some of our cool collections while the museum was still closed to the public due to COVID-19.
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This bit I did on the "Oldest Rock in the World" - the Acasta Gneiss from the far North of Canada.
Here we have the Scientists in Action episode we did in February of 2020. A live stream DMNS produces that connects students in classrooms with scientists in the field - or in this case, collections managers in their storage rooms.. Wizarding style.
It all started with a blog. While my wife at the time was in a conference, I took my son up to see the Dotsero Volcano near Glenwood Springs, Colorado and wrote a short blog post for the museum's website about our little excursion. The USGS lists Dosterso in their volcano hazards pamphlet...Our local NBC affiliate found said pamphlet, found my blog post on taking my son up there.. and soon I was the "expert" on this little volcano. (which I'm not).
This is our quarantine at home Science on the Spot via Zoom. We literally did this episode with whatever pictures were on our phones for Earth Day 2020. It's rough, but it's us adapting to a pandemic!
PUBLICATIONS
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Kent, J., Sanchez, V.V., Tham, T.R., Busch, R. Gaither, C.
2010
Gallinazo and Moche at Santa Rita B: Middle Chao Valley, Northern Coastal Peru. In Gallinazo: an Early Cultural Tradition on the Peruvian North Coast. Edited by Jean-François with Magali Morlion. UCLA Costen Institute of Archaeology Press. Los Angeles California.
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Gaither, C., Bethard, J., Kent, J., Sanchez, V.V., Tham, T.R., Busch, R.
2010
Strange Harvest: A Discussion of Sacrifice and Missing Body Parts on the North Coast of Peru. Andean Past. Volume 9. University of Maine. Orono, Maine.
Busch, R.
2005
Excavaciones del Sito Cerro Santa Rita. In Informe Final: Manejo Ecosustentable y Desarrollo Cultural del Complejo Arqueologico Santa Rita “B”. Editors: Dr. Jon Kent, Lic. Teresa Rosales Tham and Lic. Victor Vasquez Sanchez. Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Peru.
Kent, J., Sanchez, V.V., Tham, T.R., Busch, R.
2005
Analisis de Pigmentos Mediante EDAX (Análsisde Energía Dispersiva por Rayos X) de Contextos Arqueológicos de Santa Rita “B”, Valle de Chao – Costa Norte del Peru. Universidad de Trujillo, Peru.
Kent, J., Tham, T. R.; Sanchez, V.V.; Busch, R.; Gaither, C.
2004
Las Entidades Gallinazo y Moche en Santa Rita B y Cerro Santa Rita: Valle Medio de Chao, Coasta Norte Peruana. Paper Presented at Gallinazo: Una Tradición Cultural Temprana en la Coasta Norte del Perú. Trujillo, Peru.
Moore, L., Busch, R.
2003
The Hogback Valley and its relation to Denver Area Prehistory. Southwestern Lore. 69(3).
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
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2018 American Alliance of Museums. Phoenix, Arizona
Connect with Me and I Care.
Full Abstract:
This session will explore the ways in which nonpermanent education and teaching collections are used in different institutions and settings to effectively engage and inspire audiences. Panelists will discuss how they assessed legal and documentation requirements, set policies that sync with practice, determined what types of education collections were needed, and more.
2017 Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections Annual Meeting: Denver, Colorado.
All Access: Transcending the Present
Full Abstract:
For a number of years now, we collections professionals have pondered how we might increase access to our collections. Indeed, many white boards and job descriptions alike, have at one point, held the phrase “facilitate access to collections”. But what does this exactly mean? Chances are, you’re currently thumbing your way through the gyri of your brain thinking to yourself “it means a variety of things!” And you’d be not entirely wrong. However, I can probably guarantee there at least a couple words you didn’t think of, that you need to start thinking of. These absent words, however, few and small they are, represent a few key recognitions that we must internalize if we are to be successful in making our collections accessible. In this talk, I will review a few definitions of what it means to have an accessible collections – and perhaps most importantly: why the “build it and they will come” paradigm is no longer valid. Do not despair, we are on the right path, but we are not there yet – there is still work to do (you might say being stewards of a natural history collections is an – evolving – process…). I will also explore a few projects that the Education Collections at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science is experimenting with, while not polished products, we feel will help re-frame what museums should be considering when we say our collections are accessible.
2017 IMERSA (Immersive Media Entertainment, Research, Science & Arts) Summit: Denver, Colorado.
The Reality of Virtual Collections: A Museum Application
Full Abstract:
In the last 5 years, remarkable advances in the accessibility of Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) systems and software have opened entirely new possibilities in granting public access to museum collections. Visitors to museums are well aware of the exhibits and objects we have on display, what they are less aware of, is that those objects account for only 1% of what the museums store and preserve. This session will highlight a DMNS exploratory project to make museum collections accessible to the world via VR. The small project team is developing a prototype workflow to capture 3D likeness of Museum specimens using inexpensive photogrammetry techniques with the end goal of having the models of be interacted with in virtual, native environments. These 3d models are then adapted for display using VR headsets, distribution on the web, and display on the Planetarium dome. Presenters will review the workflow, training and tools utilized for this prototype.
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2016 Peer Revue/Science Riot. Denver, Colorado
Scientists doing Stand-up Comedy… about science.
2016 A DMNS Partnership with Great Divide Brewing Company and TRVE Brewing.
Beers Made by Walking.
2015 Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections Annual Meeting: Gainesville, Florida.
Door-to-Door Natural History: the Education Collections Loan Program at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.
Full Abstract:
The Education Collections at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science has been sending specimens off site to schools in the Rocky Mountain Region for nearly 25 years. Beyond our normal outreach programs, which also prominently feature the DMNS Education Collections, the School Loan Program works directly with teachers and their curriculum to get authentic, natural history objects into the school classroom. In an age where digital media makes up most of our lives, museums remain the Repository of the Real. Working on an individual basis with school teachers of all educational pedagogies–from Montessori to public schools systems–on their terms with their curriculum and standards requirements, the DMNS Education Collections send real dinosaur bones, real minerals, real archaeological material and real animals directly to their classroom or library. This talk focuses on the processes that we have implemented to make this a successful program–not only for the DMNS Education Collections, but also for the teachers that that are accessing the collections–as well as some of the risks we assume with a program such as this (and just how real those risks are). This presentation will also cover some of the additional learning curves we have faced–beyond our normal collections management and preservation knowledge and into the realm of state standards, classroom management, and standardized testing
2015 A DMNS Partnership with Great Divide Brewing Company.
Beers Made by Walking.
2014 Society for the Preservation of Natural History Collections Annual Meeting: Cardiff, Wales
Making Meaning with Museum Collections
Full Abstract:
The museum world is changing. Just in the last 30 years, the museum community has seen a shift in their public audience base from passive observers to active participants. The t transition into the digital age has also given the world unprecedented access to media and information. We must also consider academic audiences and how their research and collecting practices have changed with technology and the impact this has had on our collections. The Education Collections at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science has been exploring this topic of making our museum collections relevant and accessible to our audiences for the last 20 years. Education Collections Manager, Rich Busch, will share some insights and strategies on what has worked for this department, what we understand about our audiences, what challenges we have faced and what direction we hope to take in the f future.