Dr. John Hertner
Department of Biology chair, 308.865.8603
Long-time Kearney residents Margaret and Henry Hohnholt have donated a collection of shells and other sea life they gathered over their lifetimes to the University of Nebraska at Kearney Department of Biology.
“This rich collection will serve us well in both teaching laboratories and in student research activity,” said Dr. John Hertner, professor and chair, UNK Department of Biology.
“It is too early to tell whether there are any truly rare pieces in the collection, but at very least, there are some quality representative ones,” he said. “It will take time for us to sort through them all.”
The collection numbers over 1,000 individual specimens of shells, corals, sea fans, sea urchins, sea stars and related organisms.
“What makes the donation particularity useful to us is having quality representative materials from a marine origin,” he said. “So many of our students have not yet had an opportunity to walk the beaches of our coasts and discover these shells on their own. This collection will provide those students with an introduction to that rich pleasure.
“We also anticipate the donation of another collection from out-of-state in the near future,” Dr. Hertner added. “Together, these
collections will make UNK an important repository of representative marine invertebrate specimens.”
