ArchIvory: A Citizen Science Project in Indiana to Build the World’s Largest Ivory and Elephant Database
Description
Ivory carvings are time capsules. They contain chemical signatures of an elephant’s life: its DNA, diet, and movements. Some carvings sit in museums; others in our homes. With a growing network of curators, historians, scientists, and citizens, we’re building the largest, most comprehensive ivory archive in the world. Together, we’re recovering forgotten histories, pioneering new forms of collaboration, and using heirlooms to protect elephants today.
Our goal is to model an interdisciplinary, community-based approach to doing history—and show how a single database can serve historians, scientists, park rangers, and Hoosier kids alike. Students in this team learn how to build and publish a rigorous open-access database, put on virtual exhibitions, hone tailored K-12 lesson plans, publish in peer-reviewed publications, and serve communities across all of Indiana’s 92 counties.
Goals and Learning Outcomes
- Expanding the Indiana database of ivory artifacts and heirlooms;
- Conducting scientific testing on 10,000 ivory objects from museums and family collections
- Hosting public engagement and library events across the state and deepening collaboration with local partners.
- Developing and piloting interdisciplinary K-12 lesson plans for science and social studies;
- Building digital visualization and machine-learning tools to analyze historical and biological data.
- Publishing peer-reviewed work in humanities and science forums.