Digital Data in Biodiversity Research Conference

Natural history collections serve as vital infrastructure for monitoring and combating emerging zoonotic diseases by documenting wildlife-pathogen interactions through time and space. Flexible and searchable databases are essential for storing and facilitating access to the object data, preparation types, and collection occurrences that document the full story of the extended specimens within these collections. This poster presents the development of a Specify database and Darwin Core metadata schema for the Michigan Pathogen Biorepository (M-PABI), addressing this need for accommodating various specimen data types and complex host-pathogen relationships. The challenges and solutions discussed provide insights into creating flexible data architectures applicable to interconnected organismal collections. Holistic databases such as the one detailed here can enable interdisciplinary collaboration, open science, and enhanced pathogen surveillance, ultimately contributing to zoonotic resilience and biodiversity research.