Title: Decline of Paleontology at the Museum fuer
Naturkunde,
This just in from Hans-Peter Schultze in Berlin.
Norm MacLeod
----------
A few days
ago, the Expert Commission built up to determine the future of the
Museum fuer Naturkunde in Berlin deemed that:
"Regarding the professorship of paleontology,
the problem arises that this subject as such has no scientific
autonomy but derives from the objects it studies, namely fossils,
and from the way it works, namely by expeditions and preparation
techniques. Apart from that, there is no specific need to
separate paleontology and the other areas of biology, as it
horizontally covers the fossilized forms of zoology and botany, while
providing a time dimension to evolution. It would, therefore,
be better to base the subject of the professorship on the general
research profile of the Museum, namely the study of systematics and
evolution based on collections, and appoint a professor of Systematics
and Biogeography (including molecular aspects). This would
also bring in a hitherto-lacking theoretical approach to the
area."
Consequently, and as recommended by the Expert
Commission to the President of this University, the Institute of
Paleontology at the Museum fuer Naturkunde may disappear.
I was
awarded the position of Professor of Paleozoology and Director of the
Institute for Paleontology, at the Museum fuer Naturkunde of the
Humbolt Universitaet in Berlin, in the summer of 1994. My
desired objective (and that of the University administration at that
time) was to develop an internationally acclaimed program at the
Institute, after 45 years of post-Second World War social and
economical constrictions.
Although
the economical support once promised by the University administration
upon acceptance of my position has gone on unfulfilled, I have
employed a staff that is comprised of 15 professional scientists
(professors and curators) and approximately 45 individuals (technical
personnel, Emeritus scientists, research assistants, and graduate
students). All positions are nationally and internationally
advertised, allowing the University to acquire highly qualified and
internationally recognized German and foreign
professionals.
In the
last eight years, the Institute of Paleontology has expanded and
evolved: To name a few, we branched our research to include
collaborative national and international efforts, created professional
academic training programs for researchers abroad (e.g., Argentina,
China, Mongolia, Spain, Switzerland), and organized national and
international meetings, conferences, and special symposia in Berlin
and abroad (e.g., Mesozoic Fishes; IPC Sydney: Pelagic ecosystems
through time) to further the study of paleontology.
Included
here are the major contributions that the Institute fuer Paleontology
has contributed to the Museum fuer Naturkunde of the Humboldt
Universitaet, Berlin:
Research
Original research in the fields of systematics in paleobotany,
invertebrate and vertebrate paleontology is an important role of the
Institute. In addition, the Institute covers the applied side of
paleontology (which is not covered by the Institute of Systematic
Zoology) such as biostratigraphy, paleoclimatology, taphonomy, and
biofacies analysis. In the last few years, 360 papers and 224
abstracts were published in international scientific journals,
alongside six published books.
National and international postdoctoral research fellows
supported by national (e.g., DAAD, DFG: German Science Foundation) and
international (e.g., A. von Humboldt Foundation, Argentinian
Scientific and Technological Research Commission, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Fulbright, Max Planck Foundation, Spanish Ministry of
Education) institutions contribute to the research activities of the
Institute.
We created a scientific journal, Mitteilungen aus dem Museum
fur Naturkunde in Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe, was
initiated and four volumes have already been published and
distributed.
The participation of 20 countries in the active and productive
group, Mesozoic Fishes, (developed by one member of our staff,
G. Arratia) has produced three international meetings and two
books (with a third one in preparation).
Collaborative research projects in Vertebrate paleontology
include national and international contributions with Argentina,
Australia, the Baltic States, Baltic States, Brazil, Canada, Chile,
China, England, France, India, Italy, Mongolia, Poland, Russia, Spain,
Tanzania, and the USA.
Collaborative research projects in Invertebrate
paleontology include national and international contributions with
Argentina, Australia, Chile, Hungary, Iran, Japan, Mexico, Morocco,
Russia and Tanzania.
Collaborative research projects in Paleobotany include
international contributions with Bulgaria, Greece, and
Sweden.
Members
of our staff are editors and/or belong to the editorial board of books
and international journals.
Collections and Curation
It is
estimated that our Institut holds roughly four million fossils,
several thousands of which are typed and illustrated
specimens. These are permanent collections and are
currently in the process of being electronically catalogued.
Education
Staff members of the Institute are involved in the Graduate
College Program Evolutive Transformationen und
Faunenschnitte which has been positively evaluated by the German
Science Foundation (DFG) in 2001 with a recommendation to emphasize
the importance of Paleontology.
The
professors and curators of this program instruct students of various
fields, including the Department of Biology at the Humboldt
University, the Department of Geology at the Potsdam University, the
Department of Paleontology at the Freie University Berlin, and in the
technicals schools of Berlin.
Honors and Awards
Gloria
Arratia, one of our staff members, was awarded the Humboldt
Prize for her contribution to the field of Paleontology, as
well as honored as Honorary Member of the Society of Ichthyologists
and Herpetologists of the U.S.A. (the largest society in these
fields). She has also been nominated as a Member of the
Academy of Sciences of Chile.
As documented, the Institute of Paleontology is an active and
invaluable entity to the scientific community. Paleontological
specimens (e.g. dinosaurs of Tendaguru, Archaeopteryx, etc.)
are the heart of Museum exhibits that generate interest and
appreciation to the general public and to the advancement of
scientific interest. The statements of the Expert Commission to
the President of the Humboldt University, concerning paleontology,
will generate not only overall irreversible repercussions to the study
of paleontology but are globally symbolic of the future changes to
other fields of study deemed to have "no scientific
autonomy."
I ask you
and the members of your institution to write letters in support of
paleontology and the Institute of Paleontology, so that this field of
study may continue to survive and thrive. The Humboldt
University wants to settle this matter swiftly and hurriedly, so time
is of essence. Please fax and/or email your support ot the
following German authorities listed below.
Thanking each and everyone of you for your collaborations and
support.
Sincerely,
Hans-Peter Schultze
An den
Regierenden Bürgermeister
Klaus Wowereit
Berliner Rathaus
Rathausstr. 15
10173 Berlin
GERMANY
Fax: XX49-30-9026-2013
email: Der-Regierende-Buergermeister@SKZL.Verwalt-Berlin.de
Senator fur Wissenschaft, Forschung, and Kultur
des Landes Berlin
Herrn Dr. Thomas Flierl
Brunnenstr. 188-190
D-10119 Berlin
GERMANY
Telefax: XX 49-30-9028-450/-451
Der Präsident
Prof. Dr. J. Mlynek
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Under den Linden 6
D-10099 Berlin
GERMANY
Telefax: XX49-30-2093-2729
email: praesident@hu-berlin.de
--
___________________________________________________________________
Dr. Norman MacLeod
Keeper of Palaeontology
The Natural History Museum,
Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD
(0)20-7942-5204 (Office)
(0)20-7942-5546 (Fax)
Web Page: http://www.nhm.ac.uk/palaeontology/a&ss/nm/nm.html
___________________________________________________________________