EAST LANSING, Mich. - A Michigan State University scientist is putting his rather unique skill of preserving anatomical tissue and other artifacts to work for the Smithsonian Institution.
Peter Ocello, director of preservation in MSU's College of Veterinary Medicine, has been contracted by the Smithsonian to preserve a number of natural history and cultural artifacts for some of its upcoming exhibits. Among the specimens he's working on: African rhino beetles and several salmon that are nearly three feet long.
This marks the second time Ocello has been hired by the Smithsonian to do some preservation work. Two years ago he prepared small marlin larvae - valued at $60,000 - for an exhibit titled "The Mighty Marlin." That exhibit remains on display today.
"I was quite flattered that they contracted with my laboratory again to prepare such valuable artifacts," said Ocello, who heads the college's Preservation and Research Education unit. "It's quite an honor to do some work for the country's most prestigious museum."
Ocello is the developer of a tissue preservation process that allows samples to be handled safely and easily. The method, which involves the injection of a silicone polymer into freeze-dried tissue, preserves the specimens in an extremely life-like state indefinitely.
Currently, he is working on three 30-inch-long salmon for an exhibit titled "Ainu: Spirit of a Northern People," which looks at the cultures and traditions of the people of northern Japan.
"These fish are going to be part of a diorama depicting the interior of a Chisei, a sacred grass house," Ocello said. "The fish were actually sent from Hokkaido, Japan, for this exhibit."
The exhibit opens April 29 at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum and will run for a year. The exhibit will then take to the road and be displayed at several museums around the country.
The rhino beetles, which are native to Africa and approximately the size of a person's fist, will be part of the re-designed rotunda of the Museum of Natural History.