The 59th CETAF General Assembly in Florence marked an important milestone for the network with the accession of UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. Representing the institution was Bastian Fromm, Vice Dean of the Arctic University Museum of Norway, who introduced one of the world’s northernmost centres for natural history research and collections.
Founded in 1872 as Northern Norway’s oldest scientific institution, the Arctic University Museum of Norway today houses approximately one million natural history specimens and plays a key role in the study of Arctic biodiversity. Its collections and research activities span zoology, botany and geology, providing valuable knowledge about ecosystems that are experiencing some of the most rapid environmental changes on the planet.
For Fromm, joining CETAF is first and foremost about strengthening collaboration. During his first CETAF General Assembly, he was already identifying opportunities to connect with institutions across Europe and exchange expertise with colleagues facing similar challenges.
“We’re very happy to be becoming members now because, as we can see here at this General Assembly, we are connecting with all the natural history museums that are already part of CETAF,” he explained. “We have already initiated many collaborations — or potential collaborations — so it’s perfect. It’s really a great opportunity to learn from other museums.”
As a relatively small institution with a highly specialised focus, the museum sees CETAF as an important platform for cooperation, enabling it to contribute its expertise while benefiting from the collective knowledge of the wider network.
That expertise is particularly valuable in the Arctic context. Located at 69° north, the museum is uniquely positioned to document and study biodiversity in a region undergoing profound environmental change. According to Fromm, this is one of the main contributions UiT can bring to CETAF.
“We are the most northern natural history museum in the world,” he said. “We have a very strong focus on Arctic species, and the Arctic is the region in the world that is most heavily affected by climate change.”
Understanding how species respond to changing environmental conditions requires long-term scientific data, and natural history collections provide an essential foundation for that work. Through its collections-based research, the museum helps scientists investigate biodiversity change, species distributions and ecological responses across Arctic ecosystems.
“Collections like we have are a crucial part of understanding this,” Fromm noted.
By joining CETAF, UiT brings a distinctive Arctic perspective to the network, reinforcing collaboration on biodiversity research, collections management and the growing scientific challenges associated with climate change.
As CETAF continues to expand its geographic and scientific reach, the accession of UiT strengthens the network’s capacity to connect expertise from across Europe and beyond, ensuring that biodiversity knowledge remains at the centre of efforts to understand and protect the natural world.
This article is part of CETAF’s coverage of the 59th General Assembly (CETAF59) held in Florence, Italy. Explore related articles on CETAF’s newest members, the 2026 e-SCoRe Award, and key discussions on integrative taxonomy and colonial collections.