A Look Inside
UPDATE: We have received a $2,000 match donation from the Owens Foundation.
Your contribution to will help researchers and school children digitally dissect fishes through the creation of 3D computer models of specimens in the VIMS Nunnally Ichthyology Collection. Advances in technology are revolutionizing how collection specimens can be studied, especially tiny, larval fishes. Micro CT scanning (computed tomography) allows us to visualize internal structures such as muscles, bones, nerves, and more. It can even provide visualization of stomach contents, allowing researchers to learn about a fish’s diet. Scans can also help us learn about other aspects of an animal’s life history, such as the number and size of eggs in female specimens.
With $10,000, a W&M undergraduate student will be able to CT scan hundreds of our larval and juvenile fishes at the University of Florida’s state of the art CT scanning facility, and then develop 3D computer models that can be used by students and researchers to study these fishes.
With an additional $5,000, we will be able to print handheld 3D models of these fishes to be used in education and outreach at VIMS and the College of William & Mary. Additional models will be donated to area high schools (James City, York, and Gloucester counties) for use in biology classrooms and curricula. These anatomical models of larval fishes can be printed larger than life, rendering a half-inch specimen as a six inch model!
Please make a contribution and share information about our effort with your friends, neighbors, and colleagues!
A Look Inside Fund
To provide summer support for VIMS students to study and CT scan larval and juvenile fishes from the VIMS Nunnally Ichthyology Collection at VIMS or other institutions, such as the Florida Museum of Natural History, participating in the CT scanning of vertebrate diversity. Monies may also be used for developing and printing 3D models of the CT scans for education and outreach.
$15,000
Decrease the number of specimens that are CT-scanned and decrease the number of 3D models printed.
Increase the number of 3D models printed for education and outreach and increased funding for the Nunnally Ichthyology Collection at VIMS.
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Want a special inside look? Donate a minimum of $100 and you’ll receive an invitation to a behind-the-scenes tour of the Nunnally Collection where you’ll get an up-close look at this technology and fascinating specimens.
