Presidential Profile
Jean-Marc Gagnon
Chief Collections Manager
Invertebrate Collections
Canadian Museum of Nature
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Background
As Chief Collections Manager at the Canadian Museum of Nature, I have been formally involved in collections management for the past 15 years. Prior to that, my academic training (M.Sc., Université de Montréal; Ph.D., Memorial University of Newfoundland) and postdoctoral research (Fisheries & Ocean Canada, Mont-Joli & University du Québec à Rimouski) provided great opportunities to get well acquainted with taxonomy and basic collection management principles. My specialty group is soft-bottom marine invertebrates; with particular interest in deep water polychaetes, bivalves and crustaceans.
Involvement with SPNHC
Like many SPNHC members, I did not actually train for a career in the field of natural history collection management, but my early experience in zoology and marine invertebrate ecology and taxonomy, particularly aspects related to collection and preservation of samples, attracted a lot of my attention (a trait acquired probably under the influence of my former supervisor, Dr. Pierre Brunel). On the research side, I still try to keep my feet wet by working on a few collaborative projects.
Thanks to Rob Waller, I was quickly introduced to SPNHC as soon as I joined the Museum, with my first annual meeting attendance in St. Louis, MO, in 1994. Since then, I have missed only three meetings. And of course, working closely with Jerry Fitzgerald, Rob Waller and Judith Price for so many years has been a great experience, allowing me to learn a lot from their different perspectives, and being encouraged to take on a more active role within the Society. Undoubtedly, along with recent past SPNHC president, they have been mentors during by career. So, if you are new to SPNHC and to the field of natural history collection management and conservation, I welcome you and encourage you to find good mentors! If you have been with us for many years and don’t have one, or would like to be a mentor, it is not too late. We now have a sessional committee working on that.
Vision for the Future
And like my predecessors, I hope that you will find the next two years exciting as SPNHC continues to work hard on improving best practices in the field of natural history collection management and conservation, our international representation and collaboration with other organizations on projects that will benefit all of us.