The Ambrose Monell Cryo Collection (AMCC) is independent of the five AMNH research divisions, but as a central repository is connected to all zoology departments. It is managed directly by the office of the Associate Dean of Science for Collections.

Julie Feinstein is the Collection Manager. She is responsible for the accuracy and management of the AMCC database system. She oversees the lab's curatorial assistants. She is responsible for the quality control of the specimen accessions both physically (in the vats) and electronically (in the database).

The AMCC has two full time curatorial assistants. The assistants work directly with tissue samples as they come in, accessioning the samples both physically (by transferring them in the appropriate container and in the cryogenic vats) and electronically (by entering the samples associated data in the AMCC database). Curatorial assistants always work in pairs. They are also responsible for training interns throughout the year.  The AMCC has a flourishing internship program and already has a large roster of intern "alumni" from Hunter College, REU, UMEB, ACEND and the Museum's Inside View High School Internship Programs.

The mission of the Ambrose Monell Cryo Collection (AMCC) is to provide an accessible repository of frozen tissue specimens, collected and maintained under rigorously controlled conditions. In a time of massive species loss, such efforts are essential in order to preserve as comprehensive a record as possible of the earth's biodiversity.

The broad scope of the Monell Collection addresses an under-served niche within the cryogenic biorepository community by attempting to catalog all biodiversity at the molecular genetic level. The Monell Collection is further distinguished from other repositories because it exists within the framework of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), where tissue samples can be referenced with documented collecting events involving traditional voucher specimens and associated data. Here, modern bioinformatics initiatives will ultimately link collections with taxonomic determinations, bibliographic citations, geospatial referencing information, genetic data, digital images and photographs.

The AMCC's frozen tissue collection supports a broad range of comparative genetic and genomic research initiatives. We provide our researchers with collecting kits to readily sample and ship genetic material of high quality, enhancing on the potential information content of each specimen. The Monell Collection supports ongoing genetic research by insuring that all research materials are vouchered (i.e. they point back to a specimen or a tissue sample and its derived material in a curated collection, see below). This is a much-needed service that the Museum extends to the entire scientific community, under the guidance of an institutional policy (see also AMCC collection Policies).

Scientists using the Monell Collection have access to legally collected, authoritatively identified and properly documented specimens for use in their research, complete with Museum accession numbers to reference in their scholarly publications. In many cases, each tissue specimen is linked through its catalog number to a morphological voucher maintained in one of the traditional departmental collections. However, many specimens are harvested from living animals (both captive born and wild) and have only a tissue voucher, while still other accessions simply consist of nucleic acid extracts. In each case, we record as much information as possible to document the existence of the sample, where and how it was collected and by whom, as well as how taxonomic identification of the specimen was determined and by whom, and what research has previously been conducted on the specimen.

A fundamental role of the AMNH is building and maintaining biological collections for documentation of biodiversity. Specimens with detailed collection data generate a massive body of information on distribution, seasonality, etc. Such permanently preserved reference collections form a crucial component of the information transfer system of biological diversity. These collections are essential for identification, as vouchers for the application of names and for vouchers of species used in research projects. Thus, responsible scientists are in the habit of depositing voucher specimens of the organisms they study in a natural history museum. This provides a long-term record of their work as they must acknowledge all "specimens examined" in their research publications. Furthermore, it hedges against the changes in taxonomy that could alter the interpretation of their results.

By archiving molecular biodiversity, we make unique and important research materials available to the scientific community. It will allow scientists, today and in the future, to take full advantage of advances in molecular genetic and genomic technology. Ensuring that research materials and their associated data are made widely available is an ethical responsibility of scientific researchers that also facilitates and supports good science. To that end, the Monell Collection offers a searchable, on-line catalog of specimen holdings (See Database Page).

Tissue collections are proving to be an extremely valuable resource to science. This is certainly true of the tissue collections at the AMNH. Yet the long-term viability of this resource is in jeopardy. While storing research materials in individual laboratories during their use is an acceptable practice, it remains an uncontrolled and potentially disastrous way of attempting to preserve valuable specimens over the long term, as shown below.

As both the value and amount of the research material grows, it becomes necessary to maintain it in a centrally managed repository with institutional oversight where standard procedures can be applied, and access and security better controlled. In this context, security means protection against physical disappearance or loss of integrity of the biological specimens through freezer failure, or loss of the association between the physical material and the data that supports it.

The urgency of storing all tissue collections in a centralized bio repository, such as the AMCC, stems from the fact that most tissue storage - at the AMNH and elsewhere - suffers from these shortcomings:

1 - Inappropriate databasing and/or indexing in incompatible databases

2 - Inappropriate organization, labeling, and storage leading to various stages of data loss and tissue decomposition

3 - Storage in mechanical freezers without sufficient backup freezer space in case of mechanical problems. Furthermore, most tissue archives are not currently protected with alarm systems necessary to safeguard them in the event of a freezer malfunction. Moreover, unlike the systems at the AMCC, most mechanical freezers cannot sustain tissues in the face of power interruptions as they lack emergency power service.

The AMCC addresses all of these problems by:

1- Capturing all of the data in a standard database before they become completely dissociated from the tissue specimens by surveying original catalogs, field notes, voucher specimen tags and scanning GenBank for accessions derived from the tissue specimens in question. (See also AMCC Database)

2- Transferring all tissue specimens into standardized archival storage tubes (Nunc Cryovials) and affix computer generated labels designed for cryo-storage. The labels will show both barcoded and human readable AMCC unique ID number as well as any other information requested by the donor (see also AMCC Lab Facilities: Dry Lab)

3- Alleviating the problems of storage capacities and freezer failures by transferring the samples to stable, liquid Nitrogen charged cryogenic freezers maintained in the Monell Collection. The facility has ample backup storage space in case of freezer malfunction, however, specimens must be contained in cryovials before they can be archived in these freezers. The Monell facility uses sophisticated environmental monitoring equipment to document storage conditions and these monitoring programs include both local and remote electronic alarm capabilities (see also AMCC Lab Facilities: Cryostorage Room)

We maintain specimens in an array of liquid nitrogen cooled containers called cryovats. Tissue samples are indexed using a relational database application called Freezerworks Unlimited® (by Dataworks Development, Inc.) designed specifically for freezer inventory management. The computer database tracks each bar-coded entry, in addition to over eighty different data fields, including the specimen's placement in the collection, taxonomic identity (including the person responsible for making this determination), morphological voucher specimen catalog number (or zoo animal identification number), tissue type and quantity, where and how the specimen was collected and by whom, in addition to tracking GenBank accession numbers and bibliographic references associated with a given specimen. The use of liquid Nitrogen cooled vats, which maintain temperatures below-150º Celsius, offers a variety of advantages, from stability in the face of power interruptions, to achieving the extremely low temperatures necessary for the successful long-term cryo-preservation of viable cells