page_title: Lincoln University Entomology Research Collection
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Lincoln University Entomology Research Collection / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Carol Muir, curator of the Lincoln University Research Museum in the 1980s. From a collection of staff photos kept by the Lincoln University Entomology Department.
context_page_description: The Lincoln University Entomology Research Collection is a collection of approximately 500,000 insect, spider, and other arthropod specimens housed in Lincoln University, New Zealand. One of New Zealand's largest insect research collections, it is the only one based in a university.
context_section_description: The insect collection at Lincoln University, New Zealand can be traced back to the first days of its existence as the School of Agriculture, Canterbury University College. Upon its opening in 1880, William Ivey was the sole academic staff member, so visiting lecturers were common. In the first two years, natural science was taught by Frederick Hutton, at that time Professor of Biology at Canterbury College and later director of the Canterbury Museum, who had half his salary paid by the school. He presented an insect collection to the institution, some elements of which still remain including their original drawers; these formed the nucleus of the current research collections.
  The entomology collection initially consisted mostly of boxes of specimens used for teaching, and was supplemented through light-trapping on campus in the Orchard Car Park. It began to grow following the appointment of Roy Harrison as the University's first Professor of Entomology. Roy Harrison and fellow entomology lecturer Rowan Emberson were instrumental in acquiring specimens from the late 1960s onward. For years they led and took part in annual departmental summer field trips all over New Zealand; the first of these was a collecting trip to Mt Cook in 1969, followed by expeditions to the West Coast, Stewart Island, D'Urville Island, Fiordland, Central Otago, and many other locations, with a focus on areas that were entomologically poorly-known. From 1969 to 1991 there were 1–3 Departmental field trips every year, after which they became small-scale research-focussed events. Emberson and others also made substantial collections in their free time for the benefit of what was then known as the Entomology Research Museum.
  The collection moved to the newly-completed Hilgendorf Wing in 1968, and the newly-formed Department of Entomology under Professor Harrison had a room set aside for the Entomology Museum, under the care of technician Margaret McPherson. The Department then moved to the Burns Wing in 1976; while under construction, an entire floor of the Burns building was reallocated to Wool Science, and the Entomology Museum layout had to be redesigned by Peter Pottinger in 24 hours to fit into the remaining fifth-floor space. In 1977 Carol Muir became the curator of the collection, with a special interest in Lepidoptera. After Muir's departure in 1990, John Marris took over as curator, and has continued in this role to the present day.
caption: Carol Muir, curator of the then-Lincoln University Research Museum 1977–1990
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