Fewer data entry errors
Controlled vocabularies and taxon lookups keep entries consistent and reduce typos while the specimen is still in hand.
NAHPU
Natural History Project Utility
A digital catalog for the extended specimen era
NAHPU is a cross-platform digital catalog for natural history collections. It simplifies recording detailed information in the field while preserving the integrity of the data and its associations.
- Works offline
- No network needed in the field
- Cross-platform
- Desktop, tablet, and phone
- Open standards
- Darwin Core, Frictionless, and FAIR
Background photograph taken on Mt. Bandahara, Indonesia, by Heru Handika.
Why it exists
Modern field expeditions need a modern catalog
Field notebooks, camera cards, and spreadsheets are often difficult to reconcile after an expedition. NAHPU keeps records complete and consistent from the time the specimen is collected.
Media stays with the record
Photographs, audio, and video attach to the specimen, site, event, or narrative they document, so nothing is orphaned in a camera folder with only a timestamp to identify it.
Rich field data, entered once
Localities with unlimited coordinates, collecting effort, preparation details, and habitat condition are written once, then reused by every specimen and event that shares them.
More than a paper catalog
Real-time statistics help researchers track progress and identify patterns in the data. Field supplies and preservation materials are often limited, so knowing what has been collected helps prioritize what to collect next.
Inside the catalog
Rich features for comprehensive data management
NAHPU provides a single system for recording as much information as possible during fieldwork. Habitats surveyed today may change or disappear, and records made at the time of collection may be the only documentation that remains.
Specimen records, with measurements and attributes
Field number, collector, taxon, condition, and preparation stay beside the measurements. Specimen attributes support adding a custom field to store additional information. Outlier warnings (work in progress) mark values that fall outside the expected range for the taxon before the record is committed.
The records shown in these screens are for illustrative purposes only and do not reflect real field data.
Catalog formats
A growing list of supported disciplines
Each format includes fields specific to its discipline, and a single project can use more than one format. Custom fields can be added to any format.
Mammalogy
AvailableOrnithology
AvailableHerpetology
BetaInvertebrate zoology
BetaIchthyology
BetaPaleontology
In developmentMedia
Manage and associate media
Photographs, audio, and video are linked to the specimen, site, collecting event, or narrative they document. Audio and video can be recorded directly in the app, so each file is linked to its record from the start.
Photographs by Heru Handika.
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Capabilities
What comes with the catalog
Digital asset management
Attach photos, audio, and video of specimens, habitats, and field notes to collection records.
Multi-taxon support
Keep several taxa in one project or in separate projects. Each specimen uses a catalog format suited to its taxon.
Reusable site records
Create site records with any number of coordinates and reuse them across specimens and events.
Collecting events
Record collection date, method, effort, and personnel, and link each event to multiple specimens.
Tissue sample management
Track large sample sets with barcode and QR code scanning through the device camera.
Real-time statistics
Summaries of collecting activity help guide collecting strategy, reduce collector bias, and avoid over-collection.
Data sharing
Share records with collaborators or prepare them for bulk import into a museum database.
Open source and open standards
Built with open-source software. Records and exports follow Darwin Core, the FAIR principles, and Frictionless Data.
Not all at once
Or start as a spreadsheet replacement
Moving collection workflows to a digital catalog can happen in stages. NAHPU can replace the spreadsheet alone while still keeping the associations between records.
Start where the spreadsheet was
Enter records in NAHPU instead of a spreadsheet and export a tabular file when needed. Workflows that use the exported file do not need to change.
Associations come with the record
Each specimen links to its site, collecting event, personnel, parts, and photographs. Lookup formulas and locality text copied between sheets are not needed.
One project instead of many sheets
Sites, specimens, tissue samples, and digital assets are kept in one catalog rather than in separate files that can diverge between field seasons.
Collaboration
Developed by field researchers
NAHPU is developed by researchers who use it in their own fieldwork, including montane forests in Southeast Asia, the Andes, the Amazon basin, and deserts in North America. It is designed for a range of field conditions, from humid and cold to hot and dry, with unpredictable weather and limited access to electricity.
Interdisciplinary by design
Field research and software engineering
NAHPU is developed in collaboration with the Human-Augmented Analytics Group, which contributes software engineering practice and makes the project an interdisciplinary research and training effort.
Publication
Read and cite the preprint
The preprint describes the design and features of NAHPU and its testing in the field, including 115 days on Sumatra without on-site electricity. If you use NAHPU in your research, please cite the preprint. Citations document how NAHPU is used and support its continued development.
Handika, H., Moncrieff, A., Henderson, C., Dadaian, A., Gordon, C., Canton, R., Chipps, A., Inayah, N., Chornelia, A., Rego, M., Pérez-Amaya, N., Gan, L., Jaiswal, A., Lee, D., Yu, J., Aravind, A., Evangelista, D., Rutledge, S., Elías, D., Troyer, E., Silva de Miranda, G., Vonnahme, L., Shi, B., Nations, J., Del-Rio, G., Thom, G., Porto, A., & Esselstyn, J. (2026). NAHPU: An integrated approach to natural history data acquisition and management in the extended specimen era. EcoEvoRxiv. https://doi.org/10.32942/X21M6D
Get started
NAHPU is free to install and use. See the Get Started page, or follow the walkthrough that builds a project from the first site to the first exported record set.
Funding and support
Who makes this possible
NAHPU is free and open source. Its development has been supported by public research funding, a mammalogy fund, and institutional collaboration.
Federal research grant
National Science Foundation
Funding for this project was provided under two awards.
Endowed fund
Alfred L. Gardner and Mark S. Hafner Mammalogy Fund
Provided additional funding, managed by the LSU Museum of Natural Science.
Logistical support
Human-Augmented Analytics Group
Provided logistical support for collaboration and development at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Other funding sources may have supported this project through the work of individual contributors.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the funders.