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Susan Weller named director of U of M Bell Museum of Natural History
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 11/10/2008 ) -- Susan Weller, professor of entomology and interim director of the Bell Museum of Natural History at the University of Minnesota, has been named the museum's director. Weller, the first female director in the museum's 136-year history, assumes the post as the university enters its second year of seeking bonding approval for a new Bell Museum facility in St. Paul. Weller is internationally recognized for her research on the evolution of butterflies and moths and will be one of only three women researchers leading U.S. university-based natural history museums. A passionate advocate of engaging both university students and everyday citizens in real research opportunities, Weller may be most familiar to Minnesotans as the leader of the Bell Museum's annual "Minnesota BioBlitz" event in which professional biologists work shoulder-to-shoulder with citizen volunteers to document and count an area's plant and animal life within a 24-hour time frame. Founded by state legislative mandate in 1872 to collect, preserve, display and interpret Minnesota's animal and plant life for research and public appreciation, the Bell Museum is one of the country's premier university-based science museums with the region's largest scientific collections of invertebrates, mammals, birds, plants, fungi and insects. The museum's outreach programs, including STEM-related educational initiatives, reach nearly one million Minnesota adults and students in half the school districts in the state. "Susan Weller has done outstanding work as interim director of the Bell Museum," said Allen Levine, dean of the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences. "Her enthusiasm for making science accessible to citizens of all ages as well as her leadership and communication talents will be essential at this crucial time in the Bell's history." "I feel privileged to serve the Bell Museum in this new capacity," said Weller. "As director, my first priority is to ensure our internationally recognized academic research and public programs continue to thrive and that these programs reach all Minnesotans. I want everyone in the state to be excited by science and to be driven to discover nature in their own backyards." ---------- |
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