CBR explores additional uses of museum collection data through new geographic and computational tools. Our focus is to explain distributions of plants and animals in our changing world based on the verified records provided by museum collections, for our collaborators and our many public audiences.
This refined understanding of the spatial distribution of biodiversity is required to protect it, as conservation planners operate in a geographic landscape. Our research in this newly emerging field can be summarized as Conservation Biogeography. Explore our research projects to find out more.
Why Map Biodiversity?
Biodiversity is being rapidly eroded by the natural resource demands and activities of increasing human populations. These activities reduce the number of species, potentially useful genes, and key services provided by ecosystems. To manage biodiversity, we need basic knowledge about species and ecosystems. The specimen collections maintained by natural history museums contain the most fundamental of all information about biodiversity: what occurs where. By integrating museum biodiversity data with modern geographic tools, natural history museums have a novel approach for contributing to the informed management of our planet’s biological resources. At CBRI, these efforts can be summarized as Biodiversity Mapping. Read more >>> |
Research Projects
Visit our six research project areas here
Personnel |
CBR Director, staff, students, and collaborators.
Acknowledgements |
See a list of our supporters.
Contact Info |
For general inquiries about CBR please contact:
CBR Administrator
415-379-5201
lirving@calacademy.org