New obstacle to taxonomic work

[Robert Mesibov]

Hi again, fellow taxonomists.

I haven't posted to TAXACOM since 2017 but it's good to see it still alive, in a new venue. I hope the Google Groups choice remains OK, as a code-related Google Group I subscribe to has been polluted by advertising posts.

TAXACOM has always been a good place to complain. Field workers like me have long been plagued by difficulties in getting collecting permits, but once the specimens were in a museum, taxonomic work could usually proceed without further hassles or complaints.

In my case that's no longer true. The Australian museums I deal with will no longer loan specimens to private individuals. They will only loan to other institutions, and taxonomic work must be done on museum premises (apart from quick trips, for example, to a separate SEM facility).

This development locks me out of taxonomic work on specimens in those museums, after ca 30 years of working on borrowed material in my home lab. A project I started in 2022 came to an abrupt halt when the new policies came in. There are ca 300 museum specimen lots to be worked up and published as ca 75 new species, which I estimate would take 6 months. Under the new policies, I would need to work in the museums in question for weeks at a time. These museums are several hours' drive away from my home lab, and all travel and accommodation costs would have to be paid by me.

I elevated the issue to several national-level bodies in Australia and also proposed a "whitelist" of trustable work-from-home taxonomists. No joy, because loan policy is an individual museum responsibility. I also advertised that I would help to support a PhD candidate in Australia who would undertake the 300/75 job as a 3-year PhD project, with me as mentor and financial backer. No responses, and the local University declined to support a taxonomic PhD of this kind because no one on staff had the expertise to supervise a candidate.

Although I can no longer work on museum material at home, I can still work on specimens fresh from the field. I did this last year and published 12 new Australian species and 3 new genera which to the best of my knowledge were not already represented in museum collections:

https://doi.org/10.54102/ajt.gxasl
https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1262.176273

Has anyone else in this group experienced this obstacle to taxonomic work?

Please note that my personal email address is no longer robert....@gmail.com, it's mes...@datafix.com.au (result of de-Googling).

[Frederick W. Schueler]

On 3/16/2026 6:52 PM, Robert Mesibov wrote:
> The Australian museums I deal with will no longer loan specimens to private individuals. They will only loan to other institutions

* would it help to incorporate, as what we call in our case a "board
governed household" so you'd be an institution? You'd just need to have
a board made up of friends who think your work is worthwhile, hold an
AGM, and do a bit of paperwork.

fred.
------------------------------------------------------------
---------Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad ------------
Fragile Inheritance Natural History - https://fragileinheritance.ca/
6 St-Lawrence Street Bishops Mills, RR#2 Oxford Station, Ontario K0G 1T0
on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44.87156° N 75.70095° W
------------------------------------------------------------

[Robert Mesibov]

Hi, Fred.

It might be easier in Canada to fake being an institution. Here there are safety, OHS and visitor-related requirements, not to mention insurance obstacles. Because I work with specimens in alcohol, the barrier is even higher. It's not the governance that would be a problem, it's the initial and maintenance cost of turning one room in my house into a "safe and secure" mini-museum facility with restricted access.

Best wishes,

Bob

[Richard Littauer]

Thinking outside of the box - do you need to be an Australian Institution? It might be possible for you to be a Canadian one, but just work in Australia. 

Sorry you're having to navigate these policy changes. 

Best,

Richard

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[Robert Mesibov]

Hi, Richard.

Ingenious, but I don't think Australian museums would accept that. It would be like someone expecting to practice general medicine in Australia with a medical degree and certification from a buy-your-diploma credential fraud outfit. (Meaning no offense to Canada or Canadians...)

Best,

Bob

[Geoff Read]

Hi,

This may be what Bob already does, but a work around is to be a research associate at the nearest museum.  That museum is loaned the specimens and either quietly permits the research associate to have the specimens at home for periods or requires work to be done by attendance at the museum.  It is understandable that museums don't want to loan to individuals.  Such people are prone to dying or otherwise becoming un-contactable.  Result - valuable or irreplaceable collections may disappear forever.  There must be people around with the responsibility to locate & return specimens when the taxonomist involved cannot, despite the best of intentions.

Cheers,

Geoff Read

[Robert Mesibov]

Hi, Geoff.

To be clear: the museums will not loan to private individuals. It doesn't matter if they are RA's or not. They will not "quietly permit" a loan.

There are reasons like the one you mentioned (borrower dies or becomes uncontactable) for museums being cautious, but the risks are manageable. The downside of avoiding all risks is that the taxonomic work simply does not get done. As some museum staff have pointed out to me, getting determinations and new taxonomy done is an important justification for maintaining collections and the new rules are an impediment.

Incidentally, in arguing against the new rules I pointed to the details of my own loan history: thousands of specimen lots borrowed and returned without a single loss over ca 25 years. Response: "What happened in the past is irrelevant."

Best wishes,

Bob