The National Park Service (NPS) and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) have signed an agreement that is intended to aid research on endangered species.
According to NPS documents, the agreement creates the National Park Service Special Collection at the AMNH which will house frozen tissue samples containing DNA of threatened and endangered animals found in parks. The five-year renewable agreement provides NPS with the Museum’s specialized expertise and technologically advanced storage facilities. The overall Monell Collection, launched in May 2001, will eventually house approximately one million frozen tissue samples representing the DNA of a wide range of species. Potentially the largest and most comprehensive initiative of its kind, the Museum’s frozen tissue collection supports a broad range of research by offering an accessible repository of frozen tissue specimens.
According to NPS’s Ann Hitchcock, “NPS welcomes the opportunity to negotiate a repository agreement with each qualified institution that expresses interest in serving as a repository for NPS collections.”
Click here to view a generic version of an NPS Repository Agreement.
Click here to read the full NPS press release announcing the agreement.