In some ways, collecting at the MBL hasn’t changed very much in the past 125+ years. Though the supply department has gotten bigger and employs many more people, the majority of the practices and tools remain the same. 
Dredges are still a crucial part of collecting, as are smaller collecting missions on the shore. Scuba diving is still a valuable tool for targeting particular organisms. The Gemma still heads out on collecting trips every day in the summer, and the supply department, now known as the MRC, continues to house and maintain over two hundred different marine species, both animals and plants.
Suggested citation
Madison, Paige. 2016. "Collecting @ the MBL." MBL History Project Digital Exhibit. Available online: http://history.archives.mbl.edu/exploring/exhibits/collecting-mbl
Bibliography
- Dolgin, Elie, “The Squid Collector,” http://www.nature.com/news/not-your-average-technician-1.16785
- “John J. Valois, Obituary” http://www.mbl.edu/obituaries/john-j-valois/
- “John Valois, Longtime Specimen Collector and Naturalist, Honored at the Marine Biological Laboratory,” July 12, 2011, http://hermes.mbl.edu/news/press_releases/2011/2011_pr_07_12.html
- The Collecting Net Spring 2006, Vol. 2, No. 1 http://hermes.mbl.edu/publications/collecting_net/2006/06_01net06.html Accessed on July 16, 2015.
- Maienschein, Jane, and Ruth Davis. 100 years exploring life, 1888-1988: the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole. Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1989.
- “MBL Moment with Dave Remsen,” MBL Catalyst January 2014, p 12-13. http://www.mbl.edu/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Catalyst.Winter13-14.web_.pdf Accessed on July 16, 2015.
- Williams, Wendy. Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid. Abrams, 2011.
