Kelly Zamudio

professor and curator of herpetology at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates

Kelly Zamudio, professor and curator of herpetology at the Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates, has worked with specimens at Brazil’s National Museum and does all her amphibian work in Brazil. She has also co-authored a letter in Science Magazine, titled, Lack of science support fails Brazil.

Zamudio says:

“The magnitude of the losses in the Museum Nacional fire have been stated many times in the media, but I think they are difficult for most of us to grasp. Imagine a fire that destroys at once the holdings of the Smithsonian’s National Museums of Natural History, American History, African American History and Culture, and of the American Indian.

“At this point most people shake their heads and think ‘what a pity.’ But many in the scientific community, and especially many Brazilians are rightfully outraged. Funding for all science has decreased precipitously in the last five years. As news and social media lit up with images of towering flames consuming those 20 million artifacts and specimens, scholars across the globe wept in solidarity with their colleagues in Brazil and museum curators felt dread at the thought of a similar event destroying their own collections. The loss of the Museum Nacional is a warning for Museums everywhere — invest in your treasures!”