{"id":7241,"date":"2026-08-31T22:00:59","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T22:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/?p=7241"},"modified":"2026-09-09T20:29:17","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T20:29:17","slug":"curating-curiosity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/2026\/08\/31\/curating-curiosity\/","title":{"rendered":"Curating Curiosity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--article-hero \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--article-hero\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n<div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--image\">\n\n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n    \n              \n      <img\n                            data-src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_52-768x432.jpg\"\n          data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_52-1920x1080.jpg 1920w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_52-1280x720.jpg 1280w,https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_52-768x432.jpg 768w\"          data-sizes=\"(min-width:1200px) 75vw, (min-width:768px) 83vw, 100vw\"          class=\"lazyload\"\n        \n                  alt=\"conservation intern holds a goat skull\"\n        \n        \n                                      \/>\n\n    \n    \n  \n  \n\n<\/div>\n  \n      <div class=\"image-caption\">\n          \n<div class=\"f--field f--description\">\n\n    \n  <p>Conservation intern Anjali Sehra spent her summer working with the Mammalogy Research and Collections team at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, helping prepare, preserve, document, and digitize specimens for the museum&#8217;s research collection. Here, she takes a closer look at a skeletal specimen. Examining specimens like this one can reveal a bigger story\u2014subtle differences in anatomy offers clues about how an animal lived, moved, and adapted to its environment. (Photo: Nick Neumann\/USC Wrigley Institute)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n    <\/div>\n  \n  <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n    \n              \n<div class=\"f--field f--page-title\">\n\n    \n  <h1>Curating Curiosity<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n    \n    \n          <strong class=\"author-field\"><span >By<\/span>Anjali Sehra<\/strong>\n    \n          <span class=\"post-date-field\">August 31, 2026<\/span>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n\n  \n    \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--social-share \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--social-share\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n  <div class=\"content-wrapper\">\n    <span class=\"a2a_kit a2a_kit_size_32 addtoany_list\" style=\"line-height: 32px;\">\n      <span class=\"title\">\n        Share\n      <\/span>\n                        <a class=\"a2a_button_copy_link\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/#copy_link\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"Link\">\n            <span class=\"a2a_svg 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   \n\n\n\n\n\n\n<div\n  class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text \"\n\n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  \n  >\n  <div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\"\n    \n      >\n\n    \n      \n<div class=\"f--field f--wysiwyg\">\n\n    \n  <p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The experiences that shape me the most are always the ones that begin with uncertainty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just a few weeks before beginning my summer internship, I was studying ecology, evolution, and conservation in Ecuador. I learned that growth doesn&#8217;t come from always knowing what you&#8217;re doing; rather, it comes from trusting your curiosity enough to step into spaces where you don&#8217;t. I returned home determined to continue following that feeling at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I accepted the position as a conservation intern with the Mammalogy Research and Collections team, I knew I was stepping into another unfamiliar world, ready to ask questions, learn from incredibly knowledgeable people, and discover where my own experiences would contribute in meaningful ways. Thanks to the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Scully and the USC Wrigley Institute, I was able to spend ten weeks doing exactly that.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whether I&#8217;m studying environmental science, geospatial technology, business, longevity science, policy, or communication, I find myself asking the same central question: How do all of these pieces fit together? To me, sustainability has never existed within a single discipline. A healthy environment influences public health, business, government, education, and every community that depends upon it. Solving environmental challenges requires understanding those connections.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Museums are places that quietly preserve the future. Every specimen entering the museum carries the possibility of answering questions that scientists haven&#8217;t even thought to ask yet. <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This curiosity is what drew me to this internship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Museums are places that quietly preserve the future. Every specimen entering the museum carries the possibility of answering questions that scientists haven&#8217;t even thought to ask yet. Some arrived from retired museum collections. Others came from zoos, wildlife rehabilitation centers, roadkill, or private donations. My role was to help move each specimen through the entire collection process, from the moment it arrived to its permanent place within the museum&#8217;s research collections. Along the way, I prepared specimens, preserved tissue samples, managed scientific records, digitized historical collections, and helped ensure that every piece of information would remain accessible to future researchers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each specimen serves as a time capsule. A tissue sample collected today may one day help scientists understand how climate change affected a population decades earlier. A bone preserved now could later reveal changes in diet through isotope analysis. DNA stored in our freezers might answer questions that don&#8217;t exist in the present. The work happening behind the scenes isn\u2019t simply about preservation\u2013it\u2019s about protecting future possibilities.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7306\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7306\" style=\"width: 1950px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7306 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/Resize-Anya-Copy-of-5.27.25_MM_13-e1788544846586.png\" alt=\"left: conservation intern peeks into freezer holding tissue samplesright: box with tissue samples\" width=\"1950\" height=\"637\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/Resize-Anya-Copy-of-5.27.25_MM_13-e1788544846586.png 1950w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/Resize-Anya-Copy-of-5.27.25_MM_13-e1788544846586-300x98.png 300w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/Resize-Anya-Copy-of-5.27.25_MM_13-e1788544846586-1024x335.png 1024w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/Resize-Anya-Copy-of-5.27.25_MM_13-e1788544846586-768x251.png 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/Resize-Anya-Copy-of-5.27.25_MM_13-e1788544846586-1536x502.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1950px) 100vw, 1950px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7306\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: A freezer full of what Sehra calls &#8220;biological time capsules.&#8221; Tissue samples from museum specimens are preserved at -80\u00b0C, allowing researchers to study their DNA, isotopes, and other biological information far into the future. By preserving this material over time, collections create an invaluable record scientists can use to compare wildlife across the past, present, and future.<br \/>Right: One small box can hold up to 100 individual tissue samples, each with its own unique barcode and Los Angeles Freezer (LAF) number linking the vial to digital specimen data. By making these records accessible through global research databases, museum collections let scientists around the world discover what material exists and unlock entirely new research from specimens collected years\u2013or even decades\u2013ago. (Photos: Nick Neumann\/USC Wrigley Institute)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One project that especially stayed with me involved digitizing the museum&#8217;s tissue collection. Thousands of samples, some collected more than a century ago, had existed only as handwritten records. We carefully labeled each sample with individual QR codes, entered the information into digital databases, and prepared it to become part of a global network accessible to researchers around the world. What once lived quietly inside a freezer at -80\u00b0C suddenly became available to scientists everywhere. I found that transformation incredibly meaningful. Knowledge only creates impact when people can access it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That idea surfaced again and again throughout the summer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One week, I was helping unpack USC\u2019s former education collection (transferred in 2024) as it officially became part of the museum&#8217;s permanent holdings. Another week, I was preparing a langur specimen (a species of primate) whose fingers still carried traces of glitter from the Los Angeles Zoo. Later, I found myself working alongside six other interns to prepare a giant orangutan, and then led the cataloging of a newly recognized Southern California woodrat species. No two days ever looked the same, and that constant change became one of my favorite parts of the internship.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Equally memorable were the opportunities to step beyond mammalogy altogether. Throughout the summer, we visited departments across the museum, including anthropology, community science, conservation and collection care, entomology, herpetology, ichthyology, mineral sciences, ornithology, vertebrate paleontology, and invertebrate paleontology. Every department approached similar challenges from a completely different perspective, and every conversation introduced another way of thinking, another question I hadn&#8217;t considered, and another connection I hadn&#8217;t made.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7257\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7257\" style=\"width: 1947px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-7257 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/NHMLA-Anjali-e1788209849972.png\" alt=\"right: conservation intern looking at marmot specimens. left: conservation intern with specimen\" width=\"1947\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/NHMLA-Anjali-e1788209849972.png 1947w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/NHMLA-Anjali-e1788209849972-300x99.png 300w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/NHMLA-Anjali-e1788209849972-1024x338.png 1024w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/NHMLA-Anjali-e1788209849972-768x254.png 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/NHMLA-Anjali-e1788209849972-1536x507.png 1536w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1947px) 100vw, 1947px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7257\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Sehra organizes marmot specimens by taxonomy, locality, and catalog number, keeping the collection both carefully preserved and accessible so researchers can continue uncovering new stories from specimens collected across places and time.<br \/>Right: Sehra carefully documents specimen data by hand to help preserve the story behind each specimen: from where it was collected to how it can support future research. (Photos: Nick Neumann\/USC Wrigley Institute)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That collaborative spirit reminded me of why I chose USC in the first place.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Throughout college, I&#8217;ve found myself continually drawn toward opportunities that sit at the intersections of different fields. My experiences have all pointed toward the same realization: I&#8217;m not only interested in generating scientific knowledge; I&#8217;m equally interested in what happens after discovery. How do we communicate it? Who has access to it? How do we use the information for societal benefit? This internship strengthened my belief that my future lies in bridging those answers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This summer was a reminder that the most meaningful growth happens when you are willing to become beginners again. Each experience has added another perspective; another question; another piece of a much larger picture. And for that opportunity, I am incredibly grateful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Scully and the USC Wrigley Institute for supporting students who choose exploration, embrace uncertainty, and trust that every new experience has something valuable to teach. Your generosity didn&#8217;t simply fund an internship\u2013it gave me another place to discover and evolve who I am becoming and the mark I want to make.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_7272\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-7272\" style=\"width: 2048px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-7272\" src=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_85.jpg\" alt=\"conservation intern, inches away from lion skull, gazes at its eye sockets \" width=\"2048\" height=\"1365\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_85.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_85-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_85-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_85-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_85-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_85-900x600.jpg 900w, https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/116\/2026\/08\/USC_WIES_2026_NHMLA_Intern_Anjali_Sehra_20260709_85-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2048px) 100vw, 2048px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-7272\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sehra stares into the eye sockets of an African lion skull. Getting this close to the skull of one of Africa\u2019s top predators offers a look at the anatomy behind the powerful animal, from its massive canine teeth to the structures that supported its strong jaws. (Photo: Nick Neumann\/USC Wrigley Institute)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n  <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":617,"featured_media":7244,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[76,43,10],"class_list":["post-7241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-conservation","tag-internship","tag-undergraduate"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Curating Curiosity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/wrigley\/2026\/08\/31\/curating-curiosity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Curating Curiosity - 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