19-05-2025
Here's what to know about Natural Sciences Research Laboratory at Texas Tech
From ancient mammoth tissue to radioactive Chernobyl creatures to the first evidence of new biological discoveries, the Natural Sciences Research Laboratory (NSRL) at the Museum of Texas Tech University houses the largest collection in the state.
It consists of more than 9.5 million objects and specimens, some of which are displayed in the museum's exhibits. The collection includes traditional taxidermy, but mostly consists of research vouchers, which are items meant for study.
"They're prepared different ways," said Heath Garner, NSRL's curator of collections. "All around the building, we'll have freezers of specimens that are waiting to be researched or prepared."
The facility holds several collections and labs, including:
The Robert J. Baker Genetic Resources Collection, which stores about 400,000 frozen tissue samples in liquid nitrogen vapor tanks.
A Radioactive Collection, most from Chernobyl, Ukraine, and holds 3,000 mammal specimens and 14,000 genetic samples. University researchers went to the site and surrounding areas between 1994-2011.
The Fluid Preserved Collection, where entire specimens are preserved in ethanol.
The Invertebrate Zoology Collection which consists of mainly insects, endo- and ecto-parasites, and arachnids. It has a particularly extensive collection of ants among the 3,010,700 items.
A Bird Collection, which includes skins, skeletal material, preserved bodies, nests, eggs and taxidermy mounts.
A Mammal Collection that includes holotype specimens, which are the ones used to "verify the identification of other specimens thought to be the same species or subspecies."
All creatures in the collection are ethically sourced and followed collecting permits and standards.
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"We're not allowed to take anything endangered, anything protected," Garner said. "We don't take anything domestic, like kitty cats or dogs."
Through its vast array of items, the NSRL researchers can look at genetics, diseases, similarities and more.
"There's various things you can learn from the tissue samples we take," Garner said. "You can look at the genetics of the specimen. You can learn about how a species has evolved over time. I won't say it's endless, but it's essentially endless what you can learn from these."
Garner pointed out that in the 1960s, it would have been impossible to sequence the genomes of a mouse. Now, the researchers can. This is why NSRL keeps all of their specimens as technology advances.
This article continues after the gallery.
The taxidermy specimens, all of which were donated to NSRL, are used as teaching tools. For example, people can view the moose and see the specific types of scoops on the antlers, versus just looking at a photo.
One of the, literally, coolest spaces at the Museum can be found here - the Robert J. Baker Genetic Resources Collection, which was established in the late 1960s. It holds about 400,000 frozen tissue samples, including those of a 53,000-year-old Khatanga Mammoth and a 70,000-year-old mammoth, both discovered in the 1950s-1960s.
"These were in a glacier, never found before, and so it was kind of mummified," said Kathy MacDonald, Genetic Resources collection manager. "They divided the tissue up between several museums so that they would have them for study."
The tissue samples are stored in liquid nitrogen vapor tanks set to about negative 185 degrees Celsius. Each is color coded to indicate tissue type, such as liver or skin.
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The mammal collections are labeled differently, broken down by kingdom, class, family, genus or species. Country, states, and regions also help sort the massive collection.
"That way you can look at the same species for a similar region over a period of time," Garner said. "It provides a time capsule so you can look back at different things."
Another element of the NSRL involves holotypes, or paratypes if the sample is an invertebrate.
"There's a classification of the animals called holotypes, which is the first example of a new species," Garner said. "You use it to describe that species. Researches use it to say this new species is unique or is different for the following reasons, and this is the animal that represents that."
These are kept separate from the other collections for security reasons. At NSRL, most of the holotypes are rats and bats, Garner said.
"There are still many, many new species waiting to be discovered, whether it's mammals or insects," Garner said. "There could be new species hiding and hiding among those, you never know."
The Museum of Texas Tech is a multidisciplinary university museum covering more than 200,000 sq. ft., nearly 50,000 sq. ft. of that is used for exhibitions. The museum covers anthropology, art, clothing and textiles, history, natural sciences and paleontology.
People can keep up with the museum at Facebook and Instagram.
Alana Edgin writes about business for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Got a news tip? Contact her via email at aedgin@
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: What is Museum of Texas Tech Natural Sciences Research Laboratory
