pdf “Arctic Evidence Eight”: An Alliance of Global Arctic Natural History Museums Popular

Jeffery Saarela
Centre for Arctic Knowledge and Exploration, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada

Natural history museums hold millions of specimens from the Arctic, yet museums have been largely on the periphery of Arctic biodiversity science and Arctic data discussions. The "Arctic Evidence Eight" is an alliance of national Natural History Museums in the eight Arctic Council countries: Canadian Museum of Nature; Finnish Museum of Natural History; Icelandic Institute of Natural History; National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution; Natural History Museum of Denmark; Natural History Museum, University of Oslo; Swedish Museum of Natural History; and Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Each institution holds substantive collections of Arctic flora and fauna, cultural artifacts, and genetic resources, which provide a foundation for creating new knowledge. The Arctic Evidence Eight have research expertise in disciplines such as taxonomy and systematics, Arctic ecology, environmental monitoring, climate change monitoring, and Arctic culture, human history and exploration. The Arctic Evidence Eight are engaged in finding ways to better work together and with the broader scientific community to advance Arctic research and collections, and engage, inspire and educate citizens about Arctic biodiversity. This fits into the Congress theme “Education, outreach and engagement” and contributes to the policy recommendation “Improving knowledge and public awareness.”