View source for User:Andy Bentley

Born and bred in South Africa I first became involved in museums when I accepted the position as the Ichthyology collections manager at the JLB Smith Institute (now the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity [SAIAB]) in Grahamstown, after a major storm event ruined my aspirations as a researcher by wiping out the populations of sand dollars I was working on at the time.  After joining SPNHC and meeting my wife-to-be at the Edmonton meeting in 1998, I offered the position as Ichthyology Collections Manager at the KU Biodiversity Institute in Lawrence, Kansas, and have been there since 2001.  I now serve in that capacity as well as Specify Software usability lead and Bioinformatics Manager for the KU Biodiversity Institute.

I first joined the society in 1998 to attend the meeting in Edmonton, Canada, and after attending the meeting decided that I needed to get involved.  Over the years I have served on, and chaired, numerous committees – Publications, Mentorship, Long Range Planning, Conservation, Conference, Legislation and Regulations.  I also served as newsletter editor from 2003 until 2013.  I am serving a term as President of the society (2014-2016) and am also SPNHC PI on the Biodiversity Collections Network (BCON) 5-year RCN grant.  

I have always been struck by the enthusiasm and dedication of those I have met and worked with in SPNHC.  The society would not function without the passion and hard work of its membership and I encourage you to get involved by joining and becoming active in our committee’s activities.