University of Texas at El Paso (Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens, University of Texas at El Paso)

The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) will organize its biodiversity collections and enter their associated data into an updated and centralized database. The collections contain tens of thousands of invaluable natural history specimens, including herbarium, paleobiology, herpetology, malacology, mammalogy, ornithology, and invertebrate specimens. UTEP will hire a collections manager who will oversee the migration and cleaning of data for a new database, and the creation of new records for material not yet electronically cataloged. The new centralized database will allow increased student involvement in the collections, easier use of the collections in university STEM courses, and new public outreach activities developed in partnership with the Centennial Museum and Chihuahuan Desert Gardens. The UTEP's majority Hispanic student body and regional community will benefit from this improved resource for STEM education.