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talk · Tuesday 22 September · 14:30–⁠14:45 · SAL C

Digitising heritage for science: the Medical Entomology Museum as a platform for entomological biodiversity research and vector-borne disease surveillance

Eunice Jamesboy · Digitizing Collections & Legacy Data

Recording time 6:44:51–6:58:27Open on Vimeo ↗

Summaries and key moments are machine-produced. Check the recording for the speaker’s exact words.

The short versionDigitised historical mosquito vouchers become reusable evidence that gives context to current vector surveillance.

Overview

What this was about

Eunice Jamesboy presented the century-old Medical Entomology Museum at South Africa's National Institute for Communicable Diseases, rooted in the 1925 entomology department's response to malaria. The museum holds about 60,000 medically important insect specimens, including about 12,000 Anopheles, and about 80% of the mosquito collection is digitised through a workflow of inventory, transcription, taxonomic standardisation, georeferencing and quality control aimed at FAIR, interoperable data. She argued that digitised vouchers provide historical baselines that strengthen contemporary vector surveillance, stressed rescue of orphaned collections and training, and summarised the approach as 'preserve the specimen, mobilize the data, extend science'.

Why it matters. Shows a direct public-health use case for natural history collection digitisation in malaria-affected regions.

Key ideas

In the room

  • The Department of Entomology was established in 1925; early mosquito surveys in malaria areas generated the core collection.
  • About 60,000 specimens including around 12,000 Anopheles; pinned, slide-mounted and fluid specimens, type material and vouchers.
  • About 80% of the mosquito collection, including Anopheles, is digitised.
  • Workflow: inventory/accessioning, label transcription, taxonomic standardisation, georeferencing, QC, publication.
  • Museum data do not replace contemporary surveillance but provide historical context and verifiable vouchers.
  • Orphaned collections need condition assessment, accessioning, metadata recovery and integration.
  • Sustainability depends on training people in taxonomy, curation, georeferencing and informatics.
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Notable moments

In their words

Transcript

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Programme abstract

Digitising heritage for science: The Medical Entomology Museum as a platform for entomological biodiversity research and vector-borne disease surveillance

Eunice Jamesboy

The Medical Entomology Museum (MEM) integrates heritage and science by maintaining one of Africa’s significant collections of arthropods of medical importance. Established primarily to support malaria and vector-borne disease research, the museum houses specimens collected over the past century. These collections serve as an important resource for species identification, biodiversity studies, and monitoring ecological and environmental changes that influence public health. This presentation highlights the museum’s role as both a historical archive and a dynamic research resource supporting FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) biodiversity data standards. Ongoing digitisation efforts aim to convert legacy specimen records, including type material, archival collections, and historically under-curated or orphaned datasets, into structured, machine-readable formats suitable for integration into global biodiversity informatics systems. These outputs support biodiversity research and strengthen vector-borne disease surveillance through improved accessibility, interoperability, and analytical readiness. The digitised collections also provide baseline data for malaria and vector surveillance, enabling historical comparisons and trend analysis. Beyond its scientific contribution, the museum provides insight into the history of medically important insect research in southern Africa and the development of public health interventions. It also promotes public awareness by transforming preserved collections into accessible tools for learning and engagement. In this way, the MEM demonstrates how heritage institutions contribute to science, biodiversity data innovation, and stronger public health systems.

Submitted to the conference programme before the talk, so the talk itself may differ.