What's this? Visit the OSAC website to see!
Today The Oregonian brought us two stories about the work of the OSAC (Oregon State Arthropod Collection).
Part 1 features the work of Jim Young, and his work at the Insect ID Clinic:
The deliveries to the Insect ID Clinic at Oregon State University arrive with the same question — what is it? And Young, the clinic’s only insect diagnostician, endeavors to find the answer. The clinic, which receives as many as 25 insects a week, is one of a handful in the United States that will accept such submissions from the public.
Part 2 of the story highlights the work of curator Chris Marshall, students, and staff at OSAC in cataloging the collection, and making images available to the public on the OSAC website:
After expertly adjusting the lighting system, Martinez snaps an image. The tiny, unremarkable beetle under the microscope is transformed into a fierce-looking creature with iridescent armor on the computer screen. This image, along with several others, is available to the public via the collection’s Web site.
Visit the images here, and don’t forget to play around with that zoom option!
