Environmental Monitoring at the Buffalo Museum of Science

FAIN: PG-51114-11

Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences (Buffalo, NY 14211-1208)
Kathryn Leacock (Project Director: May 2010 to November 2012)

The purchase of 10 dataloggers to monitor environmental conditions in the museum's storage areas. The collections contain the records and photographs of scientist Wilson A. Bentley, who pioneered photomicrography to study the structure of snowflakes; the records of South Pacific ethnographer P.G.T. Black; archaeological and anthropological artifacts; a large rare book collection that includes Mayan codices and classic works in the natural sciences; and the archival records of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences.

Funding is sought in the amount of $2,990 to establish an environmental monitoring program at the Buffalo Museum of Science (BMS). The grant will support the purchase of 10 dataloggers for the Museum's humanities collection storage areas. Data recording the fluctuations in temperature and relative humidity will be maintained in order to better understand the conditions in which the collections are housed. This information will be utilized to establish preservation priorities.